"Underdog" Zags happy with seeding

This was a surprise Gonzaga didn't mind.

As the Bulldogs watched the brackets unfold, they were expecting to be an No. 11 or No. 12 seed, and almost certain they would be called on to make a trip across several time zones.

Instead, the NCAA tournament selection committee handed Gonzaga a No. 10 seed and a short jaunt south to Sacramento, Calif., for a first-round game Thursday against seventh-seeded Indiana.

"It's nice to get a little higher seed and to be close to home," said forward Micah Downs.

The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 23-10 record, their most losses since 1998, indicative of what guard Derek Raivio called "a roller-coaster season." It included the suspension of center Josh Heytvelt after his arrest for possession of illegal mushrooms, and a four-game losing streak, the longest in 10 years.

But Gonzaga rallied from the loss of Heytvelt to win the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles and ensure a ninth straight NCAA tournament bid.

And now, it gets a little taste of the past with a rematch with the Hoosiers.

Gonzaga beat Indiana 90-80 in a second-round NCAA tournament game in Salt Lake City last season.

And should Gonzaga beat Indiana, it could experience even more déjà vu in the second round, where it would likely face UCLA. In the round of 16 last year, the Bruins scored the last 11 points in the final 3:12 to beat Gonzaga 73-71.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few, however, isn't sure there will be a lot of familiarity with this Indiana team, which finished 20-10 overall and 10-6 and in third place in the Big Ten.

Last year's Hoosiers were led by Mike Davis and included guard Robert Vaden, who transferred to Davis' new school, Alabama-Birmingham.

This one is coached by former Washington State coach Kelvin Sampson, who brought his brand of slug-it-out basketball from his previous stop, Oklahoma, in contrast to Davis' more wide-open style.

"I've really respected the way his teams always played," Few said. "How hard they play, just how tough they are. They are so tough, just like him. That's why I know how difficult this is going to be."

Sampson returned the compliments.

"When I think of [Gonzaga] this year, I think of them beating North Carolina in New York," Sampson told reporters in Indiana. "Tells you they're pretty talented. High-octane offensive team. Nobody talks of 'em in terms of being a Cinderella anymore. They just talk about them being a basketball power, which they are."

It's not just Sampson that makes this game different, however.

Just three players on Indiana's current roster — A.J. Ratliff, Earl Calloway and Rod Wilmont — were on the floor for more than 20 minutes last year against Gonzaga. D.J. White, this year's leading scorer, sat out the season with a broken foot.

"Their style of play and philosophy is a major difference," Few said. "Some of their personnel is the same, and some of our personnel is the same, but we are both quite a bit different than we were last year."

Like Gonzaga, Indiana's players were pleasantly surprised by their high seed after losing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament to Illinois.

"We're excited," senior guard Errek Suhr told the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald Times. "We thought we could have played better last year. We're just excited to go out to Sacramento and prove to everyone that we're a No. 7 seed."

Interestingly, Sampson doesn't have much history with Gonzaga despite spending seven years at Washington State. The two schools played only once in that time, in Sampson's first year, with Gonzaga winning 64-63. WSU then decided not to play Gonzaga, and the series didn't resume until after Sampson left in 1995.

Despite being seeded higher than anticipated, the No. 10 seed is Gonzaga's lowest since 2001 when it was a No. 12. That was back when the Bulldogs were considered one of the tournament's gutty little underdogs, a role the team seems to be embracing a bit again this year.

"I think the underdog role we have taken since the [Heytvelt suspension] has kind of helped in jelling our team together and guys stepping up and knowing they have to play a bigger part than they have in the past," said senior forward David Pendergraft. "We're going to be an underdog as long as we keep winning."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com