Last night was a perfect storm. 

1. Gonzaga thinking they couldn't be beat (effort/energy was lacking)
2. SMC playing excellent - rebounding, defense, clock mgmt
3. GU having a rare "off-night" shooting. - everything from FT's to missed bunny shots. Guards were 5/25 shooting. Not just one player.. rather almost the entire team. Perkins was SO bad, I was wondering if he had money on SMC - kidding/not-kidding.
4. SMC playing with their entire season on the line
5. GU playing like even with a loss, they are at worst a 2 seed out west. 

It was VERY similar to the BYU game in 2017. In that game, BYU had nothing to lose, had some breaks fall their way, had some crazy shots fall... and GU was out hustled. 

The real question is did the loss in the 2017 season help or hurt GU in the NCAA? And will this loss correlate the same way?

Either way, congrats to SMC. Those kids earned their way in to the dance.