SEATTLE — By almost every measure, the consistency of Gonzaga’s basketball program has been unambiguously positive.
The Bulldogs have been to a ridiculous 17 straight NCAA tournaments, 16 under current head coach Mark Few. They’ve won 14 of the past 15 West Coast Conference regular-season titles, and have at least 25 victories in eight straight seasons, including a program-best 33 so far this year.
But remember, we said almost every measure. Because there is one trend the second-seeded Zags really need to end when they play No. 7 Iowa at KeyArena Sunday afternoon.
Win, loss; win, loss; win, loss; win, loss; win, loss.
That’s how things have gone for Gonzaga in five straight NCAA tournaments since their last Sweet 16 appearance in 2009. So far this year, the Bulldogs have the tournament-opening win part crossed off, and now they’d really like to avoid the loss that keeps them from advancing past the tournament’s opening weekend.
Now a lot of college basketball programs would love to have been one of the final 32 teams standing in each of the past five seasons, but Gonzaga isn’t most programs. The Bulldogs in so many ways are one of college basketball’s elite, but to really get over the hump they need a deep tournament run.
The Bulldogs’ profile in college basketball only continues to grow with each impressive season. They were a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history two years ago; they were a top-10 team throughout this season. They are as far removed from their early years of being a tournament darling pulling off upsets as any team from a mid-major conference could possibly be.
“I think everybody knows that Gonzaga is a top-10 program,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “They have been that for quite some time now. You win 33 and you look at the streaks that they have had in terms of winning. They step out of their conference and schedule pretty difficult teams regularly and are able to win on the road and win in tournament situations with really good teams.
“So, I think the days of anyone even remotely trying to refer to them as a mid-major program is somebody that’s clearly not tuned into the college basketball world.”
Becoming a big-time program also comes with a lot more expectations, however. No longer is getting there, or even to the round of 32 considered enough for Few’s program. Obviously it would be absurd to question the job Few is doing if they don’t win Sunday, but for one of the best regular-seasons in Gonzaga history to be considered a success, everyone on the court will know they need to end a five-year trend and get to the Sweet 16.
“We’re tuning it out,” senior guard Kevin Pangos said. “If anything, no pressure, it just makes us hungrier, because that’s something that all the guys in this locker room want to be able to experience. But we know we have to focus on the process, I’ve been saying that all week. You can’t look past anything, you can’t hope it happens, you’ve got to make it happen. Do the things that will help you get to that point, and focus on that.”
Iowa, which was the most impressive of the eight teams to play at KeyArena Friday, will provide a very stiff test for the Zags, matching up with Gonzaga’s size up front, while featuring guard play that can challenge the Bulldogs’ senior duo of Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. But tough test or not, playing what will be a de facto home game as a No. 2 seed, winning at least one more game is a must for Gonzaga, which is built as tournament-ready as perhaps any team in its recent history.
Kentucky transfer Kyle Wiltjer, a 6-10 forward, is a matchup nightmare who can score inside and out, and 7-1 center Przemek Karnowski can be a huge (pun intended) problem even for a Hawkeyes squad that starts three players who are 6-9 or taller. Then of course there’s Bell Jr. and Pangos, the heart and soul of this team, guards who have won 120 games in their Gonzaga careers while losing just 19.
When Pangos and Bell Jr. arrived at Gonzaga, Few thought, “these two together have a chance to be something really, really good.” That partnership turned out to be even better than Few could have imagined.
“I think it’s worked out perfectly,” he said. “I don’t think I could have envisioned the amount of success they have had. They got a school record for wins and all that, so. But it’s been an awesome ride, because you couldn’t find two better people. And I’ve said this before and I hate to be redundant, but in four years, I can’t even…those guys have never had a bad practice. It’s just an insane statement. They’re just so consistent with their approach.”
Now, Bell Jr. and Pangos need their storybook ending, or at least one that doesn’t end in disappointment two games into the tournament.
“We have never been past the first weekend,” Bell Jr. said. “So, we have won a lot of games, we have accomplished a lot, been No. 1 and stuff, but we just want to get past this first weekend. And the first step is beating North Dakota State, and that’s our mindset right now.”
As Few has noted, the tournament is “a one-and-out deal. It’s not a five-game series. So, things happen.” And Iowa is a formidable foe, to be sure, but for a program that has done so many things well, and that has created so many great March memories, victory on Sunday is a must.
Herald Columnist John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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