2007–08 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

2007-08 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
Championship WCC vs. San Diego L, 69-62
1st Round NCAA vs. Davidson, L, 82-76
Conference West Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches #-
AP #20
2007-08 record 25-8 (13-1 WCC)
Head coach Mark Few
Assistant coach Ray Giacoletti
Assistant coach Leon Rice
Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd
Home arena McCarthey Athletic Center
Seasons
« 2006-07 2008-09 »

Contents

Roster

No. Position Year Player
2 G Jr Jeremy Pargo
5 F Fr Austin Daye
11 G Fr Andrew Sorenson
15 G So Matt Bouldin
20 F So Larry Gurganious
21 C Fr Robert Sacre
22 G Jr Micah Downs
No. Position Year Player
25 G Sr David Pendergraft
31 F Sr Abdullahi Kuso
32 G Fr Steven Gray
42 F Jr Josh Heytvelt
45 C So Will Foster
50 F Jr Ira Brown

Season build-up

Coach Mark Few hit the recruiting trail hard in the offseason with the Coach proclaiming it's "the best we've ever had here". Few managed to recruit sought-after forward Austin Daye, Junior College transfer Ira Brown, Robert Sacre (a 7 foot Center from Vancouver, Canada) and Steven Gray, a prized point/shooting guard. Also returning from a suspension would be the teams leading scorer from the season before Josh Heytvelt, and Theo Davis. The team entered the season ranked 14th in the AP Poll.

Tournament build-up

Gonzaga received a 7 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament, and were paired against the 10 seed Davidson University, a sleeper pick by many experts. During the season the Bulldogs played ten teams that eventually made it to the tournament, and played a total of 13 games against teams who made it into the tournament. The Zags won seven of those thirteen games beating a 10 seed in Saint Mary's, a 13 seed in San Diego (Gonzaga won twice against San Diego), an 11 seed in Saint Joseph's, Western Kentucky, a 12 seed, a 14th seeded Georgia team, and a 4 seed in UConn. Gonzaga also lost six games against eventual tournament teams, they lost to Saint Mary's on the road, San Diego in the WCC Conference tournament, and also lost to a 1 seed in Memphis, a 2 seed in Tennessee, a 6th seeded Oklahoma Sooners team, and a 4 seed in Washington State at home.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
11/11/2007* 1:00 PM Montana #14 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 77–54  6,000 1–0
11/13/2007* 8:00 PM Idaho #14 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 80–43  6,000 2–0
11/17/2007* 5:00 PM UC-Riverside #14 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 84–48  6,000 3–0
2007 Great Alaska Shootout
11/22/2007* 8:30 PM vs. Western Kentucky #14 Sullivan Arena • Anchorage, AK
(Great Alaska Shootout)		 ESPNU W 74–71  8,383 4–0
11/23/2007* 9:00 PM vs. Texas Tech #14 Sullivan Arena • Anchorage, AK
(Great Alaska Shootout)		 ESPN360 L 73–63  8,700 4–1
11/24/2007* 7:00 PM vs. Virginia Tech #14 Sullivan Arena • Anchorage, AK
(Great Alaska Shootout)		 ESPN360 W 82–64  8,576 5–1
11/29/2007* 5:00 PM at Saint Joseph's #19 Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse • Philadelphia, PA ESPNU W 70–65 OT 3,200 6–1
12/01/2007* 12:30 PM at UConn #19 TD Banknorth Garden • Boston
(Basketball HOF Challenge)		 ESPN W 85–82  18,007 7–1
12/05/2007* 8:00 PM #8 Washington State #17 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPNU L 51–47  6,000 7–2
12/08/2007* 5:00 PM Cal State Northridge #17 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 85–59  6,000 8–2
12/17/2007* 5:00 PM Northern Colorado #18 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 77–57  6,000 9–2
12/20/2007* 6:00 PM vs. Oklahoma #18 Ford Center • Oklahoma City, OK
(All-College Challenge)		 ESPN2 L 72–68  13,135 9–3
12/29/2008* 5:00 PM vs. #11 Tennessee KeyArena • Seattle, WA
(Battle in Seattle)		 ESPN2 L 82–72  15,141 9–4
12/31/2008* 5:00 PM Utah McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 61–59  6,000 10–4
01/05/2008* 5:00 PM vs. Georgia Spokane Arena • Spokane, WA
(Ronald McDonald House Charities)		 FSN W 75–67  12,064 11–4
01/12/2008 5:30 PM at Loyola Marymount Gersten Pavilion • Los Angeles, CA FSN W 91–68  3,692 12–4 (1–0)
01/14/2008 9:00 PM at Pepperdine Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, CA ESPN W 92–57  2,954 13–4 (2-0)
01/19/2008 1:00 PM San Diego McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 80–70  6,000 14–4 (3–0)
01/21/2008 9:00 PM San Francisco McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPN W 72–64  6,000 15–4 (4–0)
01/26/2008* 9:00 AM at #1 Memphis FedEx Forum • Memphis, TN ESPN L 81–73  18,152 15–5
01/28/2008 5:00 PM Portland McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 79–41  6,000 16–5 (5–0)
02/02/2008 4:00 PM at Santa Clara Leavey Center • Santa Clara, CA KHQ W 87–82 2OT 4,500 17–5 (6–0)
02/04/2008 8:00 PM at #21 St. Mary's McKeon Pavilion • Moraga, CA ESPN2 L 89–85 OT 3,500 17–6 (6–1)
02/09/2008 5:00 PM Pepperdine McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 101–59  6,000 18–6 (7–1)
02/11/2008 5:00 PM Loyola Marymount McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA FSN W 83–50  6,000 19–6 (8–1)
02/16/2008 5:00 PM at San Francisco War Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, CA ESPNU W 83–63  4,500 20–6 (9–1)
02/18/2008 8:00 PM at San Diego Jenny Craig Pavilion • San Diego, CA ESPN2 W 59–55  5,100 21–6 (10–1)
02/25/2008 8:00 PM at Portland #24 Chiles Center • Portland, OR ESPN2 W 73–51  4,527 22–6 (11–1)
03/01/2008 5:00 PM #25 St. Mary's #24 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 88–76  6,000 23–6 (12–1)
03/03/2008 8:30 PM Santa Clara #22 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPN2 W 88–54  6,000 24–6 (13–1)
2008 West Coast Conference Tournament
03/09/2008* 6:30 PM Santa Clara #22 Jenny Craig Pavilion • San Diego, CA
(Semifinals)		 ESPN2 W 52–48  5,100 25–6
03/10/2008* 6:00 PM San Diego #20 Jenny Craig Pavilion • San Diego, CA
(Finals)		 ESPN L 69–62  5,100 25–7
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
03/21/2008* 9:25 AM vs. #23 (10) Davidson #20 (7) RBC Center • Raleigh, NC
(NCAA Tournament Round of 64)		 CBS L 82–76  N/A 25–8
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.