The BYU Cougars shocked the Gonzaga Bulldogs Saturday night 79-71 in Spokane in one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball regular season. The Cougars, who went into the contest as 20.5-point underdogs, came back from a slow start to outlast the #1 Zags on their home floor. Gonzaga’s loss is particularly significant because they were 29-0 going into the game and needed one more win to close out a perfect regular season. Much to the surprise of everyone, it wasn’t meant to be.
For one thing, the Zags were killing it against the spread this year…
Remember… the Zags are becoming one of the best bets ever per @Covers_Caley https://t.co/qgqNKc2yL9 pic.twitter.com/SzcJyxpBR8
— Covers (@Covers) February 26, 2017
Zags. Covering machine.
— Brad Evans (@NoisyHuevos) February 26, 2017
And when Gonzaga jumped out to an 18-2 lead to start the game, everyone thought it was over…
Gonzaga – whoa.
— Ilan Ben-Hanan (@IBH) February 26, 2017
Gonzaga ain't giving up an undefeated season. They're dialed in tonight.
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 26, 2017
Remember when I tried to educate you about Gonzaga last week?https://t.co/PsuDRFAgat https://t.co/9k3H0jaXlu
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) February 26, 2017
Gonzaga is a machine.
— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) February 26, 2017
I hope the whole "Gonzaga is overrated" crowd stuck around after UCLA-Arizona to watch. This team is loaded + capable of beating anybody
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) February 26, 2017
Gonzaga is preposterous right now.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) February 26, 2017
Zags on pace to win this game 128-16.
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) February 26, 2017
Oh. My.
BYU is about to get rolllled over with the energy going on in this building right now. #Zags
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) February 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/bswinneyscout/status/835694255960010753
Gonzaga is on pace to beat BYU by 112 points.
— Keith Shirts (@CougarCast) February 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/utebuntu/status/835694327569342466
Perhaps the biggest blunder of the night belonged to The Spokesman Review, who accidentally made this cover public online the day before the game…
Well this is awkward. pic.twitter.com/HaTtmz0Vab
— The ROC (@byuROC) February 26, 2017
The paper’s editor Rob Curley explained what happened.
But a version of our newspaper that no one was supposed to see unless the Zags won on Saturday was seen by some people on Friday.
Our publishing systems inadvertently made them public for a few hours on Friday to readers of our newspaper’s e-edition.
No one was more horrified than we were. Or maybe sad is the better word.
Preparing things ahead of time is something lots of newspapers do. Newspapers often write obituaries for famous people well in advance so that they are honored appropriately when they do pass.
Twitter had a lot of fun with this of course…
Zags Make History #BYU #BYUvsGonzaga pic.twitter.com/2Q7yfwwikc
— Jeremiah Jensen (@JeremiahJensen) February 26, 2017
Here’s front page of The Spokesman Review’s Sunday morning sports section that was actually published…
Sunday's Spokesman-Review sports front pic.twitter.com/z6Un91O2j9
— Jay Drew (@drewjay) February 26, 2017
Consider this a lesson learned. You always have to remember…
Lloyd Christmas was right. There's always a chance!
— Kyle Chilton (@kylechilton) February 26, 2017
The Zags may not be 30-0, but they still will go into the NCAA Tournament as one of the major contenders to win it all.
