THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Zags let the players that could beat them, beat them

This sounds overly dramatic, but …

Gonzaga gave away the WCC regular season title last Saturday night.

They just handed it to Saint Mary’s, much to the delight of everyone in that mosh pit that used to be called McKeon Pavilion.

Yes, I’m ABSOLUTELY giving credit to Gaels freshman guard Aidan Mahaney, who simply grabbed the basketball and wouldn’t give it back in the final six minutes of regulation.

He did it again in overtime as Saint Mary’s executed brilliantly (while the Zags did not) in the 78-70 thriller that left Randy Bennett’s team with a two-game lead in the WCC standings.

Mahaney is a dude, and he’s proved it over and over this season, so his late takeover shouldn’t have come as a shock to the Zags — who led for 37 minutes of regulation time.

Once we’ve established that Mahaney is a special player, though, the guy who will beat you at the finish if given half a chance, a huge question pops up.

Why did the Zags allow Mahaney to simply go solo, when it was obvious that none of the other Gaels would (or could) make a shot from more than a couple of feet?

IT’S ALMOST considered a form of heresy to criticize Mark Few in this part of the world.

But guess what?

Even Few, with his zillion wins, umpteen conference titles and a pair of Final Four appearances, can screw it up.

That’s especially true when Gonzaga doesn’t have its opponents overmatched with a gang of future NBA players just knuckling down for fun at winning time.

News flash …

The Zags don’t have a squad loaded with future pros this time around, so they have to make the correct plays in the clutch.

And the coaches have to make the right calls, too.

They didn’t do it in that loss to Loyola Marymount at The Kennel, when they simply allowed Lions guard Cam Shelton to dribble out the entire shot clock — again and again — and then burn the Zags with a step-back 3-pointer or a sudden burst to the rim.

I watched that in something like shock, thinking: “Get the ball out of that kid’s hands. You can’t let him decide the game by himself.”

They never did deny Shelton possession whenever he pleased, and yep, he did decide the game on a gorgeous last-second drive.

Malachi Smith was probably the best candidate to check Shelton (because Smith’s height made 3-pointers tougher), but nobody was going to prevent him from getting a half-step toward the rim.

So why let him have the damn ball?

Not just once, but every possession in the final few minutes.

Trap him. Double-team him, but …

Make him give up the ball, and hound him so he can’t get it back.

It’s not like that is a foreign concept to Few and the Zags.

They did it to former Pepperdine star Colbey Ross, when he came to Spokane and nearly won a game by himself.

The Zags froze out Ross, dared someone else to make a play, and survived.

It’s pretty basic stuff.

SO, THAT brings us to Saint Mary’s, and a loss that didn’t have to happen.

After a chilly first half (1-for-7 shooting), Mahaney turned up the heat — just as he’s recently done to San Francisco and BYU.

Saint Mary’s was only in the game down the stretch because they battered the Zags on the boards (nine offensive rebounds), and because Gonzaga fell into a deadly crunch-time pattern of forgetting how to play as a team, and simply forcing the ball into the mob of bruisers hammering Drew Timme.

All those slick drives and pull-up floaters that we saw for 30 minutes?

Nah.

Some comfy catch-and-shoot 3-pointers?

Nope.

Gonzaga is shooting 39% as a team from behind the arc — with Smith draining an obscene 55%, Julian Strawther and Rasir Bolton over 40.

Yet with practically the entire Saint Mary’s student body collapsing on Timme, the Zags attempted just three long balls in the second half.

It’s like they abandon the offense when it matters.

FINALLY, we get to the issue of Mahaney taking over the Saturday game.

Few gave tons to credit to Mahaney in a postgame interview, noting that on three of the FIVE consecutive drives on which he scored, the Gaels freshman had to shoot over Anton Watson.

Few continually calls Watson his best defender, and I’d agree that he’s the most versatile.

But playing one-on-one with a guy like Mahaney, I’m sorry.

No.

He’s not quick enough.

Once Mahaney got his shoulders past Watson, he was going to score.
 Which leads me to ask …

Where was Hunter Sallis?

If you’re not going to try trapping Mahaney and making him give up the ball, then put your quickest, most athletic defender on him.

Somebody with foot speed, long arms, instant reactions.

That is Hunter Sallis.

Period.

Sallis played just 13 minutes at Saint Mary’s, despite looking at times like Gonzaga’s best perimeter player.

I don’t get it.

But I CAN read, and the conference standings are now pretty clear.

Saint Mary’s is going to be the WCC champion, and the Zags helped it happen.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”