ZAGS TRACKER with STEVE CAMERON: Playing, losing to Duke will help Zags in the NCAAs

They needed that.

Really.

After all Gonzaga’s success over the past two decades, the one thing that’s eluded Mark Few’s team — and Zag junkies all over the world — is a national championship.

They had a shot at it in the final game a year ago, but then were stunned and overrun by Baylor’s strength and physical domination all over the floor.

Ironically, the Zags were scheduled to play Baylor earlier in the year, but the game had to be cancelled because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Few won’t carry on about this in public, but he believes that if the first game had been played and the Zags had dealt with Baylor’s bruising style, they likely would have made the April title game a lot more competitive.

And that brings us to the present.

Pounding dysfunctional Texas and UCLA’s lack of elite athletes was fun, but to prepare for the real deal, Gonzaga had to run up against a deep team with skill everywhere — and no fear of the Zags whatsoever.

They also needed to encounter a foe who would press them half to death, to force uncharacteristic mistakes, and ultimately …

Inflict a defeat to put the whole big picture into focus.

YOU’D BE hard pressed to find an opponent more suited to accomplish all that than Duke.

That’s exactly what we saw in that 84-81 loss Friday night, as the relentless Blue Devils got the game into the final three minutes, then converted tough shots while forcing Gonzaga into goofy errors.

Even the retiring Mike Krzyzewski out-tricked Few in the last seconds of the game, just to emphasize what a task it can be to put the sword through Duke’s heart.

With the Devils up by four with 17 seconds remaining, Coach K called timeout to put his quickest defenders on the floor — better to harass a 3-pointer — and set up a full-court press.

Result: It took the Zags forever to get the ball up court and then to set up some kind of play.

When they finally got a two-point hoop, there was only one tick remaining.

One.

Game, set, match.

The final few possessions told a story — Duke scoring, Gonzaga committing three turnovers — but that, actually, was the story of the whole, wild night.

YOU NEED a long look at the box score to understand how the Zags could have lost.

How this year’s group might ever lose, matter of fact.

They outshot Duke, 53 percent to 46.

They won the rebound battle by an amazing 42-31.

They basically matched the Devils in 3-point shooting (not great for either team), and at the free-throw line (also not exactly lights out).

But Duke’s platoon of fast, aggressive guards often forced the Zags into uncomfortable positions, and by the end they had forced 17 turnovers — including those critical mistakes near the finish — while Duke committed just eight miscues.

That disparity allowed Duke to score some easy transition baskets (normally the Zags’ forte), while limiting Gonzaga to very few transition scores.

On the plus side, Gonzaga’s mind-numbing passing game — even in the halfcourt — kept things close, and even allowed the Zags to build a four-point lead.

It was still a two-point advantage with 5:02 on the clock.

You’d take the Zags in that scenario, wouldn’t you?

ALL THE hype surrounding the game seemed to center on Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren, the two best freshmen anywhere — and likely the first couple of picks in next year’s NBA draft.

Banchero was unconscious in the first half, hitting everything in a 20-point outburst — before cramping (for the second time this year) and needing IV fluids.

On the other hand …

“Chet flipped the switch in the second half,” Few said, and indeed, the big kid wound up with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

Holmgren, though, made a mindless error that seemed to turn the game for good.

Remember, the Zags were leading late, and looked for all the world has through they could win this heavyweight brawl.

However …

Gonzaga squandered two possessions in which it could have taken a chokehold on the game, and then came a few disastrous seconds that turned things around.

Duke’s Jeremy Roach, who wound up just 3 of 13 from the floor, tied the game with an unlikely second-chance bucket.

Holmgren went to take the ball out of bounds after that basket, but he was too casual — oh, never against Duke! — and didn’t see the brilliant Wendell Moore Jr. (20 points) lurking right in his passing lane.

Moore picked off the inbounds pass, got fouled on a shot attempt, and restored Duke’s two-point lead.

That four-point swing felt enormous to the psyches of both teams, and it played out that way.

Duke got better and more confident, while the Zags couldn’t find answers.

Even Drew Timme, in foul trouble all night, missed two shots that he’d normally make a thousand straight times.

FEW SAID he was proud of his guys.

“They came out and really did a great job of punching us in the mouth, but we also did every bit as good a job of withstanding it,” Few said. “We were able to claw back into that thing.

“It was basically just getting back to what we were supposed to be doing on a lot of our ball-screen coverages, then just not settling on the offensive end.”

His analysis is correct, but …

Incomplete.

Few left out the fact that Duke had a big punch left, and unleashed it in the final few minutes.

Look, it was a fantastic game, played in front of 20,389 at T-Mobile Arena — the largest crowd ever to see a basketball game in Nevada.

It was also a loss, however, despite a magnificent performance by Vegas hometown kid Julian Strawther (20 points, 10 rebounds) and others.

Still…

Let me say it again.

The Zags needed that game to understand the kind of team they would probably have to beat if they want to win it all.

Lessons need to be learned.

If they are, I suspect the Zags can beat Duke or anyone else.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

He also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which is published weekly during the season.