From the beginning of the game, aside from Mallon’s five early points, Indiana was the aggressor while the Zags played hard but somewhat passive and tentative. The Hoosier’s guards sought out their shot attempts, on their way to 9 three pointers led by 6 from Wilmont, while White established himself on the block in the second half to continually halt any Bulldog comeback attempts. Indiana was also very solid defensively, pressuring Gonzaga’s guards and not allowing open threes or dribble penetration, whereas the Zags were able to contain Indiana either outside or inside, but were unable to take away both aspects of the Hoosiers’ offense. In the first half Gonzaga effectively doubled White and caused him to be a non-factor, but the double teaming inside let Indiana hit 7 three pointers in the game’s first 12 minutes. In the second half Gonzaga concentrated on taking away the outside shot, which they did very well, but it allowed White to be singled covered and he hurt the Zags badly in the game’s final 20 minutes. Indiana deserves a great deal of credit for imposing their style of play and executing their game plan very well, which enabled them to play a style they were comfortable with while also forcing the Zags into a style Gonzaga struggles with, which is what is needed to win in the NCAA tournament when all teams have talent and can win when they play their style of play.

Thursday night was an off night for the Zags and unfortunately it was in the NCAA tournament and it ended Gonzaga’s year. The Zags shooting was cold all night, 34% on the night, including at least 7 missed lay-ins. Along with the cold shooting Gonzaga was unable to rebound the ball with the aggressive and athletic Hoosiers, as Indiana dominated the glass 45-30. In the NCAA tournament winning games often comes down to defense, taking care of the ball, making the easy shots, and rebounding. Thursday night the Zags defended and took care of the ball well enough to win, holding the Hoosiers to only 37% from the floor and committing 10 turnovers; however Indiana made the easy buckets while the Zags could not and more importantly Indiana won the battle of the boards by a huge margin which was just too much for the Zags to overcome in the end.

While Thursday was not the Zags’ best performance it is important to reflect on the year’s successes at this time and not the failures. This year’s team won some huge out of conference games, as well as the WCC regular season (which is what a good year should be measured by) and tournament championship, all of which many questioned if they could accomplish, even before the suspension of Heytvelt in early February. The Zags met and exceeded what was expected of them this year and when the adversity they faced is factored into the equation this season has to be viewed as another incredibly successful run for the Zags.

Thursday night was the final game for Gonzaga’s two great seniors, Sean Mallon and Derek Raivio. Both these seniors have been true Zags, giving everything they have to help the team win and often sacrificing their individual play and statistics for the good of the team, even more so than most players in years past. This season both provided good leadership through their play and the manner in which they responded to both on and off court problems for the team and Sean and Derek were primarily responsible for continuing the Zags league success and NCCA appearance streak. Mallon leaves the program as one of its all time leaders in games played and games won, to go along with almost 900 career points and over 400 rebounds, but it was the intangibles and his willingness to give up his body for the team, things not measured in the box scores, where he contributed the most in the past four years. Derek leaves Gonzaga as one of the top 15 scorers, top 4 in steals and assists, as well being the school’s, league’s, and NCCA’s all time leading free throw shooter, to go along with the same accomplishments as Mallon in terms of games won in his Bulldog career. Raivio ends his fantastic career as a point guard along side the long tradition of great guards to wear the Bulldog uniform. While Sean and Derek were vital members of the program and will be dearly missed next year, the future is bright with the returnees and incoming freshman and Gonzaga’s success should not only be maintained but hopefully rise in the next few se