THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Another chance for Zags to prove it

Was it a fluke?

Or?

Hmmm.

It’s fair to say that Gonzaga Nation has been wondering … wondering … wondering.

Should fans dismiss that hideous overtime loss to West Virginia as an early-season bump of turbulence — way out in the Bahamas, no less — or take on some serious stress over how good these super-hyped Zags might actually be?

Yes, they rallied from the shock of that surprise defeat to beat Indiana and Davidson without breaking a sweat.

But the Zags’ first real opportunity to find out if they’re still something special comes Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle with a visit from Kentucky.

The Wildcats are No. 4 in the AP poll and the Zags sit at No. 7 — having fallen four spots after the surprising loss to West Virginia.

Puzzle: Are the Zags a true national powerhouse, as that 38-point hammering of No. 14 Baylor and wins over No. 24 Diego State on the road and No. 30 Arizona State would suggest?

FYI, West Virginia’s upset of the Zags has made them an equally puzzling team.

The Mountaineers are 5-2, having bagged OT wins over the Zags and Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis, but they’ve lost to Louisville and been drilled by a very good Pitt bunch (7-1, No. 18).

LOOKING at the big picture from way out at 30,000 feet, Gonzaga has played a truly tough schedule — perhaps even more rugged than was expected.

The Zags are 7-1, and even if you give just mild credence to the AP rankings, five of their opponents so far are tabbed at No. 36 or higher.

West Virginia, ironically, is the lowest of the crowd.

Kentucky, meanwhile, has a single quality win (77-72 over Duke) and beaten six cupcakes by massive margins.

I’m not kidding about those six non-Duke victories, incidentally.

Under first-year coach Mark Pope, the Wildcats have thrown down 96.7 points per game, and enjoyed an average winning margin of 28 points.

Kentucky has six players scoring in double figures so far, and that doesn’t include point guard Kerr Kriisa, the Arizona transfer who came in to help run the offense.

Kriisa is averaging almost five assists per game, but the Cats have so much talent running on and off the floor that he’s been limited to 15 minutes per game.

No matter what the Zags’ other plans and schemes on Saturday, the coaches surely will put everyone’s attention on Koby Brea, who comes off the bench for Kentucky.

Brea is averaging a whisker under 15 points, but he’s scorching from distance — 61 percent behind the 3-point line.

We’re not talking about a tiny sample, either.

Brea has launched 41 bombs and hit 25 of them, so he falls into the “instant offense” category.

Since the Zags have been burned by opponents’ 3-point shooting so far — remember Javon Small and Tucker DeVries of West Virginia burying them from deep? — they’ll need to continuously bother Brea and the rest of the Wildcats.

THE TWO teams feeling each other out tonight have a similar issue.

Both are deep, deep, deep, but still not entirely sure how to use some of the talent available.

Mark Few has mixed and matched his veteran team, and so far has discovered he has very little consistency — except with point guard Ryan Nembhard’s ability to run the offense.

Nembhard is averaging an eye-popping 10.8 assists, but he’s an erratic shooter who went 1-for-10 from the floor in that loss to West Virginia.

Shooters like Nolan Hickman, Khalif Battle and Dusty Stromer have run hot and cold — sometimes depending on the lineup around them — and a couple of players who get hefty minutes (Michael Ajayi and Ben Gregg) rack up almost all their points on the boards.

Post players Graham Ike and Braden Huff have been up and down, as well, especially since Ike routinely gets in foul trouble.

Few may be considering an experiment with Ike and Huff playing together, since they’re both terrific and finding space in the lane and they’re excellent shooters in close.

Fiddling with different matchups might be useful, since Kentucky will give ANY group of Zags plenty of challenges.

More than anything, we have to assume that Few wants to find consistency, and doing against the team ranked No. 4 in the nation should teach him plenty.

The Zags have been considered a Final Four contender since the first autumn practice.

It’s just about time to learn if that’s more than simply wishful thinking.

Saturday's bout, and the Zags’ meeting a week later with UConn in Madison Square Garden, will be fantastic tests.

So, how good are they?

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.”