West Virginia’s very bad final possession gets Yakety Sax treatment

Tough and physical and again strong on the boards, it’s still better offensively than on defense, where containing Arizona freshman forward Lauri Markkanen (15.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg) could prove overly hard.

The Zags (35-1) will play either Arizona or Xavier on Saturday for the West regional title. In the interest of fairness, the Mountaineers did get two attempts off during the wild final possession, but none of them were particularly credible and the way in which West Virginia went about their offensive approach was simply mind-boggling. He already had four three-pointers on the night and he was the only Mountaineer with 20 points – he was the only West Virginia with even ten points.

After the Mountaineers called a timeout, Carter responded with a big 3 and then a minute later he converted a traditional three-point play to pull WVU within two points.

Or, do whatever it was West Virginia did. However, the Mountaineers turned the ball over 13 times.

The reason I liked Gonzaga coming into the tourney was their versatility. Yes, Gonzaga can win it all.

At times the Gonzaga offense looks brilliant. “They are just really, really big”. It could do what it had done all season along, one more time. That is tied for the second lowest total by a Gonzaga opponent this season, and before West Virginia pats themselves on the back for not being the lowest, they should know that distinction belongs to the San Diego Toreros. West Virginia capitalized on these errors jumping out to a 10-0 lead and never gave it up.

How did this happen?

One long-standing narrative is one game away from being shattered for good.

The Bulldogs shot 40.9 percent (18 of 44) and 4 of 10 from 3-point range. If he gets help from Macura (14 points) and Malcolm Bernard.

“Yeah, yeah, come on, Final Four”, Tarik Phillip, 23, of West Virginia, said to USA Today. In the words of President Donald Trump: Wrong! Phillip scored 28 points on the opening weekend of the tournament.

Along with that, the Musketeers need Trevon Bluiett to be as efficient from the field as he was with his 9-of-17 shooting performance in the Sweet 16.

The game will be a classic offense vs. defense chess match. But Nigel [Williams-Goss] made a great play.

This team STILL has a losing record in their last 13 games!

Now, they’ll go up against No. 11-seeded Xavier. So I don’t think these guys think I have one. “We had shots (during the game)”.

None of the stats suggest Xavier had any right to make it this far.

But here is the thing, Gonzaga is the top ranked defense in the nation.

Arizona was the force when the teams met in 2003, defeating the Bulldogs 96-95 in double-overtime. And my dad used to tell me there’s a game within a game. WCC Player of the Year Williams-Goss was held to 10 points on 2-for-10 shooting with five turnovers.

Obviously, the Zags present a whole new set of challenges. And OK, the selection committee also granted Gonzaga a No. 1 seed in the West, ahead of the prestigious Arizona program. And we were excited and giddy and felt like we were playing with house money.

For the Ducks (32-5), it’s on to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.

And the victor of that, well, will earn a trip to the Final Four. If the game is close down the stretch, which it undeniably will be, do the Bulldogs have what it takes to get over the pressure? This team checks off all the boxes.