I think the loss in Spokane all but GUARANTEES Gonzaga will be out for blood in Vegas. I think BYU would see their A-game, and nothing short of a PERFECT game AND a few lucky breaks and bounces would get a win for BYU.

Taking a step back, though, I've wondered the same. In the last three years, did our win in Spokane make it much harder for us against Gonzaga in Vegas, "when it counted?" Maybe. We did play them both of the previous years, though last year, I'd forgotten, was in the semifinal, so we'd have still had St Mary's to go through to get the auto-bid (though, perhaps another quality win against GU, even if they subsequently lost to SMC, would have been enough to get into the Tourney, who knows). That game was tight, but the game year before last, Gonzaga was still feeling the burn of losing at home as the #3 team in the nation. They WERE out for blood in Vegas, and handled BYU pretty easily.

This year mirrors the year before last almost exactly, so it's not like Gonzaga has had most of the conference season to forget about the home loss, like they did last year. Regardless, I don't think we can expect the lack of focus, poor outside shooting, and abysmal freethrow shooting that Gonzaga showed last weekend. Some of that was BYU's defense, enough of it wasn't that I can't expect lightning to strike twice.