So tell me why Garland never even got a rough ridin' hearing then?
Because the GOP held the Senate Majority. Just as they do now. That's not a filibuster. This really isn't all that complicated. Nothing but a parliamentary rule currently gives the Dems the power to stop Gorsuch, and that rule can be changed. Again - the power of the Senate Majority.
The GOP decided that they were not going to allow a lame duck Obama to replace Scalia with another "Living Constitution" political hack. They decided to let the next president pick the successor, thereby letting the American People decide. At the time, it seemed like an exercise in futility, given that Hillary seemed destined to succeed Obama. But then a funny thing happened on the way to her coronation.
None of this seems particularly hard to understand.