THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Zags showing they can out-muck teams — and having Timme helps

Admission: I’m bummed.

Well, let’s call it SORT of bummed.

Like most hoops fans in the area, I was uninspired by Gonzaga’s 12-point win over Grand Canyon in the NCAA tournament first round — and then felt exhausted after the Zags squeezed out an 84-81 victory over TCU on Sunday night.

Yes, there were the obligatory thrills, like Gonzaga reaching the Sweet 16 for the eighth straight time — best in the nation.

Beyond that bright, shiny accomplishment, though, I’ve got to say that other than the heroics of Drew Timme (ho-hum), the Zags seemed forced to manage their business with far more fuss than necessary.

The struggle against TCU felt like an evening experiencing multiple root canals.

It was only relaxing at the end, with the aid of a pain pill (or a cocktail alternative) and a good night’s sleep — an exhausting triumph after all the pushing, pulling, yanking and banging on every part of your jaw.

Note: I’m not suggesting the dangerous notion of drugs and drinking together, just mentioning that some light sedation might be helpful after dental work — or after sweating out a Zags’ win like that punch-out against those Frogs.

WORTH noting …

After an earlier second-round upset of Duke, a few Tennessee players mentioned that their goal was to “muck up” the game.

I’m sure you grasp the reference.

The Vols were confessing they couldn’t play pretty, up-and-down ball against Duke, and needed to turn the game into a gang fight — taking their chances with physical defense, rebounding, bumping and grinding all over the court.

It worked, because Tennessee has a bunch of go-for-it bruisers who struggle to shoot well and occasionally handle the ball like a live grenade.

But their hard work paid off, and Duke was sent home.

That notion of mucking it up stuck with me as the Zags tried and tried to escape the clutches of TCU — a team with one solo artist (guard Mike Miles Jr.) and a supporting cast of musclebound characters who can muck with the best of ‘em.

As the game unfolded, though, with the Zags scrapping to erase an early deficit (caused by hideous shooting from the field and foul line), the teams traded mini-runs to keep things close and tense, and …

Something dawned on me.

The up-tempo, run-with-the-ball after makes and misses, whipping it up court and fast-breaking teams into exhaustion …

Those Zags that we’ve come to know and love seem to have disappeared.

In fact, the Zags were knocking heads, running into people and mucking it up just like TCU.

They got away with it because, as Mark Few said afterwards, Timme is the best player in America.

Drew scored every time it was needed (despite being hacked and shoved over and over), he fouled out most of the free-swinging Frogs — and he hit a shock 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Gonzaga up by six as the game wound into its final minutes.

Meanwhile, our once-breathtaking Zags were going muck for muck with rock-fighting TCU.

Referees in the NCAA shootout tend to let play go, so rebounding turns into warfare and if you want to survive, you’ve got to bring it.

To their credit, Anton Watson, Julian Strawther and Timme dug in and administered some knocks, all while they were taking the same from the feisty Frogs.

THERE’S a point to this tale, and I don’t particularly enjoy sharing it.

The Zags learned a lesson last spring, when Arkansas shoved, elbowed and bullied them out of a Sweet 16 game (with the help of some zebras who whistled Chet Holmgren just for adjusting his socks, or maybe even for the crime of being tall).

Now, fast forward to Sunday and the wrestling match with TCU …

That version of a weekend-at-the-playground game is now NCAA hoops.

So many teams are evenly matched, you either catch fire shooting 3-balls — like Creighton dispatching Baylor — or you go into battle.

Mano a mano.

It was interesting that the Zags tossed up a bunch of 3-point tries in the first few minutes against TCU.

Almost everyone tried, and nobody buried a thing.

It felt like the Zags wanted to find out if they were going to have a fun, sizzling evening, failed the test, fell 10 points down — and realized they’d have to meet the Frogs in an alley someplace to settle things.

Every team’s motto at The Dance is the same: “Survive and Advance.”

Gonzaga can do it, even when the Zags are shooting sideways, because of Timme.

If teams don’t double-team him, he scores at will.

If they do, it leaves so much open space that the snipers eventually can relax and drill a string of shots.

Either way …

It all comes back to whether you can out-muck the other guys.

It ain’t pretty, but just to advance …

“We have to keep fighting,” Timme said. “We’re going to keep digging and fighting, no matter what.”

Ah, the glamor of tournament hoops.

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.”