2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
WCC Regular Season Champions
WCC Tournament Champions
NCAA, #4, South Region
Sweet Sixteen
Conference West Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches #13
AP #13
2008–09 record 28–6 (14–0 WCC)
Head coach Mark Few
Assistant coach Ray Giacoletti
Assistant coach Leon Rice
Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd
Home arena McCarthey Athletic Center
Seasons
« 2007–08 2009–10 »
2008–09 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#10 Gonzaga† 14   0   1.000     28   6   .824
Saint Mary's 10   4   .714     28   7   .800
Portland 9   5   .643     19   13   .594
Santa Clara 7   7   .500     16   17   .485
San Diego 6   8   .429     16   16   .500
Pepperdine 5   9   .357     9   23   .281
San Francisco 3   11   .214     11   19   .367
Loyola Marymount 2   12   .143     3   28   .097
† West Coast Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team is currently representing Gonzaga University in NCAA men's Division I competition. The Bulldogs, also nicknamed the Zags, have emerged in recent years as a legitimate national power despite playing in the mid-major West Coast Conference, having appeared in every NCAA tournament since their 1999 run to the West Regional finals.

This edition of the Zags was highly touted as one, if not the best, Gonzaga teams of all time. Gonzaga is also scheduled to have one of their toughest schedules ever, by playing teams like Oklahoma State, Maryland, Tennessee (on two occasions), Arizona, Washington State, Portland State, Connecticut, Utah, Memphis, and St. Mary's. Also by being ranked in the top 10, and winning their first seven games, Gonzaga improved their all-time regular-season record to 53–2, while ranked in the top 10, their only two losses being to then #3 Connecticut in a Maui Invitational Championship game, and #4 Memphis. During the course of the season Gonzaga lost to unranked Arizona and Portland State, Arizona becoming the first team to beat Gonzaga as an unranked team while "the Zags" were ranked in the top 10 during the regular season, as well as #2 Connecticut, making UConn the first team to beat Gonzaga twice under these circumstances, Gonzaga's current record while ranked in the top 10 during the regular season is now 54–5. During the streak of losing to #2 UConn in overtime, Portland State, and Utah, Gonzaga lost three games in a row for only the second time in eight years.

The Zags, however, would recover in conference play, becoming one of only two men's teams in NCAA Division I to finish the 2008–09 regular season unbeaten in conference play—the other being Memphis in Conference USA. They punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by crushing Saint Mary's 83–58 in the WCC Tournament final. Going into the NCAA Tournament, their only loss since New Year's Day was to Memphis, considered a potential #1 seed in the "Big Dance" and ultimately a #2 seed.

Contents

Roster

No. Position Year Player
2 G Sr Jeremy Pargo
3 G Fr Demetri Goodson
4 G Jr Chris Pontarolo-Maag
5 F So Austin Daye
10 G Fr Grant Gibbs
11 G So Andrew Sorenson
14 F Fr Andy Poling
No. Position Year Player
15 G Jr Matt Bouldin
21 C So Robert Sacre
22 G Sr Micah Downs
32 G So Steven Gray
42 F Sr Josh Heytvelt
45 C Jr Will Foster
50 F Sr Ira Brown

Recruits

Demetri Goodson

Grant Gibbs

Andy Poling

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
11/15/2008* 4:00 PM Montana State-Billings #10 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 83–52  6,000 1–0
11/18/2008* 6:00 PM Idaho #9 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 80–46  6,000 2–0
2008 Old Spice Classic
11/27/2008* 6:30 PM vs. Oklahoma State #9 Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex • Lake Buena Vista, FL ESPN2 W 83–71  4,644 3–0
11/28/2008* 2:30 PM vs. Maryland #9 Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex • Lake Buena Vista, FL ESPN W 81–59    4–0
11/30/2008* 4:30 PM vs. #12 Tennessee #9 Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex • Lake Buena Vista, FL ESPN2 W 73–64  3,914 5–0
Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge
12/06/2008* 10:30 AM at Indiana #5 Lucas Oil Stadium • Indianapolis, IN Big Ten Network W 70–54    6–0
12/10/2008* 7:00 PM at Washington State #4 Beasley Coliseum • Pullman, WA KHQ W 74–52  10,984 7–0
Duel in the Desert
12/14/2008* 3:00 PM vs. Arizona #4 US Airways Center • Phoenix, AZ
(Duel in the Desert)		 FSN L 69–64  6,207 7–1
12/18/2008* 6:00 PM Texas Southern #8 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 84–42  6,000 8–1
Battle in Seattle
12/20/2008* 1:00 PM vs. #2 Connecticut #8 KeyArena • Seattle, WA
(Battle in Seattle)		 CBS L 88–83 OT 16,763 8–2
12/23/2008* 5:00 PM Portland State #7 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ L 77–70  6,000 8–3
12/31/2008* 5:00 PM at Utah #16 Jon M. Huntsman Center • Salt Lake City, UT CBS College Sports L 66–65  12,571 8–4
1/7/2009* 6:00 PM at #15 Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN ESPN2 W 89–79 OT 22,326 9–4
1/10/2009 5:00 PM Portland McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 67–50  6,000 10–4 (1–0)
1/15/2009 6:00 PM Santa Clara McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 95–53  6,000 11–4 (2–0)
1/17/2009 5:00 PM San Francisco McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 85–51  6,000 12–4 (3–0)
1/22/2009 6:00 PM at Pepperdine #23 Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, CA KHQ W 83–69  2,342 13–4 (4–0)
1/24/2009 5:00 PM at Loyola Marymount #23 Gersten Pavilion • Los Angeles, CA KHQ W 93–60  3,796 14–4 (5–0)
1/29/2009 8:00 PM #22 Saint Mary's #20 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPN2 W 69–62  6,000 15–4 (6–0)
1/31/2009 3:00 PM San Diego #20 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPN W 64–47  6,000 16–4 (7–0)
2/5/2009 8:00 PM at Portland #18 Chiles Center • Portland, OR ESPN2 W 93–78  4,987 17–4 (8–0)
Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic
2/7/2009* 6:00 PM vs. #14 Memphis #18 Spokane Arena • Spokane, WA ESPN L 68–50  11,339 17–5
2/12/2009 8:00 PM at Saint Mary's #19 McKeon Pavilion • Moraga, CA ESPN2 W 72–70  3,500 18–5 (9–0)
2/14/2009 8:00 PM at San Francisco #19 War Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, CA ESPNU W 78–73  3,367 19–5 (10–0)
2/19/2009 6:00 PM Loyola Marymount #17 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 91–54  6,000 20–5 (11–0)
2/21/2009 8:30 PM Pepperdine #17 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA ESPNU W 92–58  6,000 21–5 (12–0)
2/26/2009 8:00 PM at Santa Clara #17 Leavey Center • Santa Clara, CA ESPN2 W 81–73  4,700 22–5 (13–0)
2/28/2009 4:30 PM at San Diego #17 Jenny Craig Pavilion • San Diego, CA ESPN2 W 58–47  5,100 23–5 (14–0)
3/3/2009* 6:00 PM USC Upstate #14 McCarthey Athletic Center • Spokane, WA KHQ W 90–40  6,000 24–5
West Coast Conference Tournament
03/8/2008 6:30 PM vs. Santa Clara #14 Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV ESPN2 W 94–59  7,845 25–5
03/9/2008 6:00 PM vs. Saint Mary's #12 Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV ESPN W 83–58  7,845 26–5
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
3/19/09* 4:25 pm vs. (#13 seed) Akron #10 (#4 seed) Rose Garden • Portland, Oregon
(NCAA Tournament First Round)		 CBS W 77–64    27–5
3/21/09* 5:30 pm vs. (#12 seed) Western Kentucky #10 (#4 seed) Rose Garden • Portland, Oregon
(NCAA Tournament Second Round)		 CBS W 83–81  18,794 28–5
3/27/09* 6:57 pm vs. #2 (#1 seed) North Carolina #10 (#4 seed) FedExForum • Memphis, Tennessee
(NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen)		 CBS L 98–77  17,103 28–6
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Scout.com: Men's Basketball Recruiting". Gonzaga.scout.com. http://gonzaga.scout.com/a.z?s=130&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2008. Retrieved 2008-11-11.