And it was lining up in Zags' favor ...

Wow.

They say good pitching beats good hitting.

On Saturday, a great defense defeated a great offense.

And still scored 75 points to boot.

And with that, Gonzaga’s basketball season, with players and media alike continually saying this team was good enough to win a national title, came to an end two wins short on Saturday, in a place formerly known as the “Pond.”

To Texas Tech, of all teams. A school mostly known, at least in basketball circles, as the last coaching stop of Bob Knight.

On this day, the Red Raiders were a team that slowed down Gonzaga when it mattered on defense, and got away with an offense consisting of using up the shot clock and hoping for something good at the end of the clock.

AND TO think it was all lining up in favor of the Zags heading into Saturday.

Those Florida State bullies who knocked Gonzaga out last year in the Sweet 16, out — bullied by the Zags in this year’s rematch in the same round.

An athletic Michigan team — out.

North Carolina ­— which defeated the Zags in the 2017 national title game, and beat Gonzaga earlier this season in Chapel Hill — out.

Duke, a team the Zags beat in Maui in November, but was considered the odds-on favorite to win the national title, was still in the tourney — but barely, after a couple of great escapes against not-so-powerhouses UCF and Virginia Tech.

Even Kansas, a perennial Final Four contender, even though the Jayhawks looked very un-Kansas-like this season — out.

But ...

RUI HACHIMURA getting his shot blocked is a surprise in itself.

Him getting a 3-point attempt blocked appeared even more of a shocker.

So much so, that the officials missed the fact that Tariq Owens, Texas Tech’s 6-foot-10, 205-pound stringbean who closed out and checked Hachimura’s shot from the right wing back over his right shoulder, had clearly stepped out of bounds with his right foot before he jumped up and saved the ball back inbounds.

But that wasn’t what cost the Zags the game.

Heck, a well-placed Zag foot caused a Texas Tech turnover moments later, and led to a 3 by Josh Perkins that gave Gonzaga life.

But Perkins’ inadvertant swipe of the ball, while Texas Tech’s Matt Mooney was still holding it, trying to inbound the ball on his own baseline, was the unfortunate last straw for the Zags, with the ensuing free throws, and all that.

The Zags have no one to blame but themselves for this loss.

NOW WE’LL see what happens with Hachimura, Brandon Clarke and even Killian Tillie — do any (or all?) leave early, or do they come back for their senior season?

Those decisions, plus whatever develops on the free agent — er, grad transfer — market, will impact next year’s expectations.

Plus, the Zags appear to have another batch of future stars coming in next season, a group which includes former Coeur d’Alene resident Anton Watson, the Gonzaga Prep standout and brother of former Coeur d’Alene High star Deon Watson.

But the reason Gonzaga has been mentioned among the top programs in college basketball in recent years is pretty simple — not only has the depth and talent level gone up, but in a college basketball era where many players are anxious to leave for the pros after a year, most of these Zags actually stay a while.

And with that formula, that success doesn’t figure to change anytime soon.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.