It shouldn’t have been as close, or maybe it should have, or maybe it shouldn’t have. Gonzaga would have won by more for a few reasons.

• One, Elias Harris was 2-10 from the field. I think around five of those shots were blocked at the rim. SU’s front line combined for seven blocks. Seemed like all of the blocks were on Harris.
• Two, the refs made some iffy calls. Kelly Olynyk was the victim of a few suspect blocking/charging calls that went against him. Gary Bell, Jr. was also the victim of an iffy foul. It seemed as if he got “Reggie Miller-ed” while contesting a shot. Just saying.
• And finally, three, Southern’s three-point shooters were ridiculous. Gonzaga got “Jimmered” a couple years ago, and the ridiculousness of the shots had me feeling a wee bit of déjà vu.

Other Notes-

• Gonzaga wasn’t the only higher seed to be given a run for their money. Marquette got all it could ask for and the kitchen sink from Davidson before pulling out a nail-biter. Butler staved off Bucknell in the final minutes as well as the hell Memphis got from a Saint Mary’s team who I picked to win.
• John Stockton got about as much air time as his son, which is saying something when his son played nearly three-quarters of the game for one of the teams on the court, and John is watching the game from the stands. You have to wonder how he feels about this.
• Supposedly the “blueprint” to beat Gonzaga is to out tough them and beat them on the glass. GU’s frontline outscored the Jaguars’ 33 to 17, out rebounded them by 16 and held them to one offensive rebound overall. Southern obviously didn’t go that route. They went with the “jack up some ridiculous three pointers, make them and make some more ridiculous threes.” That strategy works once every 100 times. It almost worked, but it fell short.

Next up for the Zags is Saturday’s matchup with Wichita State.