St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills and the other spectators at McKeon Pavilion are likely filled with the same 'what if' fantasies after Gonzaga defeated the home team, 72-70, on Thursday night. A crushing defeat for the Gaels who entered the season with tournament hopes.You can never say never in college basketball. Not with conference tournaments looming a few weeks away. But any hope that St. Mary's had of getting an at-large bid floated away as the Gaels failed to rally for the second time this season against Gonzaga with their injured point guard languishing on the bench.
Fellow Australian Carlin Hughes almost willed St. Mary's to a win. A win that would have kept those at-large hopes alive. But in the end, he came up just short. The Gaels are also in danger of finishing out of the top two in the West Coast Conference, which guarantees a bye into the semifinals. But then again, playing extra games didn't seem to bother San Diego last season.
Gonzaga looked pretty good, holding off undermanned St. Mary's. The Bulldogs don't play too well in McKeon Pavilion, so escaping with a win is key and not a given. Not like, say, going to LMU.
Josh Heytvelt, in particular, looked really good. Heytvelt is the Lamar Odom of Gonzaga. He has all of the talent in the world, but sometimes you wonder where his heart is at. Much like the Lakers and Odom, Gonzaga is only going to go as far as Heytvelt will take them. He has to have a presence down low for the Bulldogs to have any sort of sustained run.
In another mid-major game of note:
Utah State 62, Idaho 53: This game was closer than it should have been. The Aggies are the Gaels last chance for a true "quality win" prior to the conference tournaments when the teams battle in the BracketBusters next week. So you can't blame Utah State for looking ahead. That happens.
