Man, what a heartbreaking loss -- to come so close to winning it all and fall just short. Still, the Zags have nothing to hang their head about. They had one heck of a run this year and showed the entire nation that they most certainly deserve to be mentioned right up there with all the elite programs in college basketball.
That said, I DO have to agree that with those who are complaining about the referees in this game. I'm not usually one to complain about the refs ... but in this case, I believe this was a clear case of how the refs really impacted this game. That was SUCH an entertaining and hard fought battle by both teams in the 1st Half ... but in the 2nd Half, IMO the refs really got in the way of what had been a very entertaining game -- and by that I mean of BOTH TEAMS.
The rhythm of both teams clearly got affected by how tight and ticky-tack the refs were calling the game in the 2nd Half. IMO in so doing, they kind of robbed the nation of what had been a very good game up until that point. Now, I'm not going to make excuses and say THAT's the reason Gonzaga lost this game tonight. I AM going to say though that it clearly threw them off and took them out of their rhythm -- Collins fouling out was simply a blow that they couldn't overcome.
That's sports though -- you have to overcome adversity and be able to adapt to things like that. And in this case, North Carolina did ... and Gonzaga didn't. Bottom line.
Still as I said, the Zags have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Congratulations again on a fantastic season and good luck again next year. I fully believe that this team will be right there contending for the title again in 2018.