Gonzaga men's basketball has lost its zip

They left their heart, or at least their bounce, in Seattle. It's not much of a song title, but that's what Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few figures has happened to his sagging Zags, who play a rematch game at 15th-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday night.

"If A.J. Price's 'prayer' three doesn't go in, I think it changes our whole mentality," Few said Monday. He was referring to a tightly contested trey with nine seconds left Dec. 20 at KeyArena by Connecticut's Price that tied the Zags before UConn won in overtime.

"Mentally, that has had a huge impact on this club," said Few, adding that he wasn't minimizing opponents' performance. "Even though we can talk, sit down on couches and try to move them past it, if that shot doesn't go in, I think we're in a lot better place mentally for the Portland State game, and probably the same could be said of the Utah game, as well."

Thwarted by Connecticut, which was second-ranked, Gonzaga was upset three days later by Portland State. A one-point loss followed at Utah on New Year's Eve, leaving the Zags at 8-4.

"I keep trying to tell our guys that what we should be taking from that [the Connecticut loss] is, we can play with anybody in the country," says Few. "But they're 18 to 22 years old, and that kind of knocked us back confidence-wise and made us lose our swagger a little bit."

Whatever impact the UConn loss might have had, the numbers from the PSU and Utah defeats don't lie: The Zags were outshot in both games and outrebounded by a total of 15. They made just 9 of 32 three-pointers in the two losses.

"We've been working on everything," Few said. "We've certainly been working on offensive execution, and we need to get back to defending a little bit better."

Tennessee would be a difficult test under any circumstances, but almost everything seems stacked against Gonzaga, which beat the Vols on Nov. 30 in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla., a title that caused a quick rise in the Zags' barometer.

That was then, this is now. The fact the Zags held Tennessee to 34.1 percent shooting, far less than PSU or Utah, reflects Gonzaga's current state of affairs.

"For the most part, we defended the right way," said Few. "Quite frankly, that's slipped the last couple of games."

Tennessee was the media pick to win the Southeastern Conference, and forward Tyler Smith — the only player in the league's top 20 in scoring, rebounding and assists — was preseason player of the year. The Vols lead the SEC in scoring (84.6), but are last in scoring defense (73.8) and field-goal-percentage defense (.433).

Analyst Jay Bilas, writing on ESPN.com, questioned the Vols' defense in a 92-85 loss Saturday at Kansas, saying, "If that were the only game I watched of them this season, I would believe that good teams could get any shot they wanted on the Vols."

Few said backup sophomore center Robert Sacre is out indefinitely. Sacre missed much of preseason practice with a fractured foot, then played five games but reinjured his foot in a workout before the Arizona loss Dec. 14.

Few said a rehabilitative screw in the foot bent upon impact from that mishap and "we're just waiting to see if the crack is going to heal." If that process drags on, Sacre should be a candidate for gaining a medical redshirt season.

Gonzaga, which fell from the rankings Monday for the first time this season, returns to begin league play with a home game against Portland on Saturday. After Tennessee, Gonzaga's only opportunity approaching a "statement" game outside the West Coast Conference is in Spokane on Feb. 7 against Memphis.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com