THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Kudos to Zags and Cougs, despite differing results

Serious question.

How good is this Gonzaga team?

Really.

You probably know by now that the Zags exploded in the second half to maul an exhausted Kansas team 89-68 Saturday in Salt Lake City, punching their ticket to the NCAA regional semifinals in Detroit.

Gonzaga will play the winner of what seems like a mismatch today, with top seed Purdue facing Utah State.

There was an eerie similarity to Saturday’s tournament games featuring teams from our region — except that the results were reversed.

Washington State led 2-seed Iowa State (a team many experts have picked to win the whole thing) 7-0 right out of the gate, and hung on for 47-all tie at halftime behind the shooting of Jaylen Wells.

However, the game was officiated perfectly for the physically overwhelming Cyclones.

In other words, not at all. 

They wore down Wazzu in the second half with endless bumping, shoving, hacking and double-teaming.

Iowa State made it a bullying battle of attrition, and eventually advanced with a 67-56 victory.

I want to be careful how to describe this game, so, let’s just say it will never hang in the Louvre.

A COUPLE of hours earlier, the Zags ran away from shorthanded and exhausted KU after trailing 44-43 at halftime.

Quick note: The national TV audience had to wait quite a while to be certain that was the score, since CBS cut away for a seemingly endless string of commercials with exactly 1.2 seconds remaining in the half.

Ben Gregg had just scored on a drive while being fouled, and normally the TV gurus would just let the kid shoot his free throw — then wrap up the half with a string of ads, yada, yada.

But, no.

America got to see the ads, no doubt nervous about Gregg’s missed free throw (I’m kidding), and THEN were treated to the halftime commentary.

Sheesh.

Oh, about some MORE fun notes, as long you’re here?

This marked the first time in Kansas history that it lost by at least 20 points after leading at halftime. 

The 21-point loss was tied for the largest turnaround by a top-4 seed that led after halftime since seeding began in 1979. 

And finally, the 22-point differential in the second half was the second worst in an NCAA tournament game in the Jayhawks’ history.

Coach Bill Self wrapped those gruesome notes with one overriding explanation.

“Our guys were gassed,” Self said. “I had a guy on the bench that I took out for a rest, and when I told him to go back in the game, he asked if he could sit for a few more minutes.

“So, yeah, they were gassed after that close and emotional game Thursday night.

“Gonzaga just ran us out of the building.”

YOU CAN take Self’s explanation, and draw the conclusion that the Zags are pretty good but nothing all that special.

You know, that Kansas was simply on the floor for the second half because the rules demanded it — but that the Jayhawks were too exhausted to make a fight of it.

To borrow a quote from the legendary Vince Lombardi: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

Focusing in on Kansas’ second-half tiring (and that of Washington State, as well) isn’t completely fair to the winners, however.

I’ll buy that the Jayhawks were tested more than Gonzaga on Thursday night, but that doesn’t fully explain the utter collapse once the Zags took a lead on Saturday.

The Zags ripped off a 15-0 run to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, then turned that into 32-4.

I’m sorry, but no matter how gassed they might have been, Kansas has athletes who could have prevented that onslaught.

On the other hand, we need to be fair to the Zags (and Wazzu, for playing hard all the way against a much deeper team).

Ryan Nembhard tied his career high with 12 assists, and in fact, the Zags as a group shot 60 percent from the field and 8-for-15 behind the arc, with those numbers spread all across the box score.

No matter whether the Jayhawks needed a nap or not, this was still a memorable day.

Gonzaga has qualified for its ninth straight Sweet 16, the longest active streak in the nation and third-longest in tournament history.

“That’s an amazing thing when you think about it,” coach Mark Few said.

“What a compliment to the players and everyone who’s been part of the program.

“These things haven’t been easy, and I hope people understand that.”

Oh, by now I suspect fans get it.

Winning is tough, so the Zags — and yes, Kyle Smith’s Cougars — deserve applause for how far they’ve taken this ride.

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.”