Sweet, Sweet Sixteen

Is it Thursday yet? Say, about 4:40 or so? No? Well then, dear FIBbers, maybe the Free Ira Brown crew can give you something to help pass the time.

In our latest episode our heroes humbly offer a pod stuffed to the brim with NCAA goodness. We got facts, we got figures, we got losers, we got winners. Well, actually, no, we don’t have losers, we have a Sweet 16 team. A Sweet 16 team. A third straight Sweet 16 team. Sounds pretty…s..w..e..ll doesn’t it?

(Not sorry.)

We’re also not sorry about how deep we delve into the weeds. How deep you ask? So deep we forgot to discuss the Crying Northwestern Kid. Trust us, we couldn’t quite believe it, either.

What we didn’t forget is a top-to-bottom review of Gonzaga’s wins over South Dakota (not to be confused with San Diego) State and Northwestern. A meh first half, a great second half, a great first half, a meh second half. Zach Collins being awesome. Jordan Mathews having a strong weekend. Killian Tillie hitting clutch free throws. Defenses collapsing all over Huge Piece. And something about a goaltending call that wasn’t.

Those stories, plus we check in with some concerns we have moving forward, a Tweet of the Week replete with buzzkills and we offer up a few things we think you should know.

We also take a look at West Virginia from all the pressing angles (…get it?), their turnover-happy defense, their hit-or-miss offense (though really, aren’t they all?) and their work on the boards. There are also some old favorites with a Tale of the Tape and an appearance by the Creature Report.

And finally, we end with nine reasons why Mark Few will be cutting down some nets on Saturday. Optimism reigns supreme.

All that and more on the latest NCAA edition of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do join in on the sweetness, won’t you?