Coming into the game Gonzaga was a bit overmatched physically and in depth, but this problem grew as the game went on. Early in the second half Sean Mellon went down with a sprained ankle, and despite his valiant efforts to come back he simply could not go, leaving the Zags very thin on the front line. Furthering the Bulldog’s depth issues was foul trouble, with Gonzaga committing an unusually high 26 personal fouls, including two players fouling out. Memphis did a fantastic job attacking the Zags with the dribble and by getting the ball inside, which is what led to the Bulldogs foul problems. Considering Gonzaga’s lack of depth and foul trouble Saturday afternoon the effort they put up against the Tigers was very impressive, and if the Zags can continue to play with the same passion and intensity they have good chance to make the NCCA tournament by winning the conference tournament.

For the second straight game the Bulldogs got behind in the first half and were forced to play catch up in the second half, before running out of energy and falling just short of the win. Saturday the Bulldogs got behind by turning the ball over, leading to easy baskets for the Tigers. Memphis feeds off pressure defense, using their length and athleticism to make the opponent uncomfortable and create turnovers, and unfortunately the Zags played right into the Tigers hands by turning the ball over 11 times in the first period. While the 11 turnovers were far too many for a single half, the types of turnovers were even more harmful to Gonzaga. The majority of Gonzaga’s first half turnovers were steals by Memphis, either stealing the ball from the dribbler or getting in the passing lanes to steal Gonzaga’s perimeter passes, especially the slow horizontal bounce passes the Zags guards were throwing early in the first half. Theses types of turnovers were extremely costly to the Zags because they led directly to fast break points for the Tigers, which is the Tigers best offense and allowed Memphis to build a double digit lead in the first half.

Every Gonzaga player that hit the floor for the Zags contributed to the Zags great comeback on Saturday, but once again it was the Bulldog’s backcourt that led the way. The play of Raivio and Pargo has been remarkable as of late, some of the best guard play in the country recently, and Saturday was no different. Jeremy scored 17 points and once again led the team with 9 rebounds and 5 assists, while only committing 3 turnovers as Gonzaga’s primary ball handler against the Tiger’s full court pressure for all 45 minutes. Derek also took great care of the ball with just one turnover in 45 minutes and handed out four assists, but as is usually the case with Raivio it was his scoring that had the greatest impact on the Zag’s effort. Derek had a game high 21 points, including four more free throws on his way to breaking his own school and league records for consecutive free throws made with 46. With 38 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists Derek and Jeremy provided the majority of the Bulldog’s attack, but Pendo, Micah and Kuso all chipped in nicely. As he as been doing for the last month Pendo provide a great third scoring option for the Zags. David hit two huge three pointers in Gonzaga’s second half comeback on his way to 11 points, and as always his effort and heart went a long ways to the team’s success on Saturday. Micah played his most minutes as a Zag and responded very well, with 7 points, 5 rebounds and a couple huge defenseive stops. Downs looked much more comfortable and confident attacking the basket offensively, and his length and quickness led to some crucial defensive stops for Gonzaga, especially in the second half. Due to the foul trouble and the injury situation Micah was asked to play almost every position on the floor Saturday and he was able to find a way to help the team from each spot on the floor, displaying his incredible versatility and value to this club as a component that can be inserted effectively anywhere in the lineup. Kuso was solid all game with 9 points and 8 rebounds, but it was his play at the end of overtime where he really shined. With the Bulldog’s down one late in overtime they tried to run an on ball screen to free Pargo up for a shot, but he was double teamed and fed Kuso who was fouled going to the goal. Kuso calmly toed the line and hit two huge free throws to give the Zags the lead, and then when Memphis tried to catch the Zags off guard and attack quickly for the game winning basket Kuso was there with a huge block of the Tiger’s lay-in attempt.

It is never good to lose and this loss essentially assured that the Zags must win the WCC’s automatic berth in order to qualify for the NCAA tournament, but Saturday’s game had some bright spots and should make be proud to be Zags fans. Gonzaga went toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s most talented and athletic teams despite being undermanned all night, essentially staying the game with guile, heart, and skill. It took some huge shots from the Tigers, including a fantastic individual effort on the game’s winning shot, to down the Zag’s. Saturday’s effort was a joy to watch and if the Zags can bring that type of intensity and play to the rest of the WCC games, while getting off to better starts, they should be able to secure the necessary automatic NCAA tournament berth.

With their last non-league game over, Gonzaga must now focus solely on the WCC race, starting with Portland Monday night at home. Hopefully Sean can get healthy quickly and the Zags can build upon Saturday’s performance against Memphis and get back on the winning track by beating the Pilots and building momentum for the conference tournament in two weeks.