Zags check all the boxes in first-round rout
Bury the ghost of Saint Mary’s.
Check.
Enjoy a stress-free first game as a No. 1 seed.
Check.
Let the defense carry the offense.
Check.
Discover that Killian Tillie is close to game shape.
Check.
Advance in the NCAA tournament for a record-tying 11th straight year.
Check.
That would be just about marking the whole list for Gonzaga Thursday night, as the Zags moved along with an 87-49 blowout of play-in winner Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Zags turned their most active, most ferocious defense on the Knights straight from the opening tip and ran off to a ridiculous 53-17 halftime lead against a team that — honestly, now — isn’t really all that bad.
Some of the Zags’ fury no doubt stemmed from that embarrassing 60-47 defeat in the WCC tournament title game.
Even Coach Mark Few more or less admitted to it during a post-game interview when he said: “We had to get back to playing Gonzaga basketball.”
NEXT UP, Gonzaga must deal with the red-hot shooting of Baylor, which fired an endless stream of 3-balls over the Syracuse 2-3 zone and pounded the boards to post a 78-69 victory in the late game at Salt Lake City.
Memo to the Zags: Get out quickly to cover the fire-away Bears, who spread out four good shooters and didn’t let Syracuse cover all of them.
Result: Baylor dropped in season-high 16 shots from deep, with Yale grad transfer Makai Mason running the point and either scoring or finding an open man.
Further memo: Gonzaga also might want to pay attention to the defensive glass — something of a weak spot all year — since Baylor averages 15 offensive rebounds per game.
Having issued those preliminary warnings, however, we were reminded again Thursday that when Gonzaga brings its A-game, you can see why this team was ranked No. 1 in the nation on various occasions this season.
This is a special group.
When the Zags pay special attention to defense and switch effectively, they are pretty close to unbeatable.
For one thing, turnovers, rebounds and loose balls allow them to get out and run, and there might not be anyone in the country who can get up and down the floor with the Zags.
Poor Fairleigh Dickinson, having won a play-in game over Prairie View A&M on Tuesday night in Dayton and thus forced to travel west to on a so-called “off day,” never heard the starter’s pistol against Gonzaga.
The Zags didn’t even shoot particularly well in the first half, but turnovers and fast breaks off rebounds simply buried the Knights under a blizzard of points.
IT’S NOT likely to be such an enjoyable track meet Saturday against Baylor, which came into the tournament on a four-game losing streak but literally shot its way out of it.
The pace will be slower if Baylor has its way, and the Zags surely will have to be more precise in looking for shots.
Unless, of course, they throw in a bucket of 3-pointers.
There were 75 points scored in the first half of the Syracuse-Baylor game, and 57 of them came from deep balls.
Of course, neither of those teams has Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke and now Tillie to hurt you near the basket.
Tillie has the (well-earned) reputation of a deadly 3-ball shooter, but he may have provided the highlight Thursday night by throwing down a hammer dunk in traffic.
The Frenchman looked almost like the guy who was nominated for WCC player of the year in preseason.
Tillie’s presence changes the equation against teams that want to slow the pace and make you struggle for shots.
When you have a versatile 6-10 player who’s excellent both inside and out, any defense is going to have problems.
I know, it was Fairleigh Dickinson put to the sword — not Duke or North Carolina.
But the Zags ticked off everything on their checklist, and look terrific doing it.
If you were worried about the Saint Mary’s loss and a possible hangover coming into the tournament…
I’d say that was a non-issue.
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
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Email: scameron@cdapress.com