This Week in Gonzaga History: The Kevin Pangos Game

In this edition of “This Week in Gonzaga History,” we look back at the birth of Kevin Pangos, a heartbreaker at Breslin, and the Billy White game. Here is the week of November 11-17.

November 11, 2007 - #14 Gonzaga defeats Montana 77-54

Austin Daye put up 20 points and 10 rebounds in his Gonzaga debut to give the Zags their first win of the season. Jeremy Pargo added 17 and Matt Bouldin chipped in 13. Austin Daye, of course, was the highest recruit to ever come to Gonzaga before Zach Collins hit campus in 2016. He left school for the NBA after an.. interesting.. sophomore season.

November 12, 2010 - #12 Gonzaga defeats Southern 117-72

Steven Gray led the charge with 25 points and nine assists. Gonzaga had six players in double figures. Have a look at this list: Gray, Sam Dower, Elias Harris, Robert Sacre, Kelly Olynyk and Mathis Monninghoff. That’s a roll call of Gonzaga greats (and Mathis Monninghoff). If only they could have all played together during their primes. Southern, if you remember, would give Gonzaga fits as a 16 seed in 2013.

November 12, 2012 - #19 Gonzaga defeats West Virginia 84-50

For whatever reason, Mark Few owns Bob Huggins. This game tipped off the now-extinct 24-hour college hoops marathon, which makes me very depressed because it should never be taken away from us. Gonzaga had 17 assists on 26 field goals and Mike Hart made two 3s. Guy Landry Edi, one of my personal favorite random Gonzaga players, put up 14 points and seven boards.

November 13, 2015 – Slippery Conditions Cancel Armed Forces Classic

Gonzaga and Pittsburgh traveled to Okinawa, Japan to begin the 2015 season. The game was canceled at halftime with Pitt leading 37-35 because the humidity and rain (and no air conditioning) made the court conditions unsafe. Players were slipping all over the place and it was painful just to watch. It was an unfortunate result to what is usually a really cool event. Kyle Wiltjer had 15 points in the first half for the Zags.

November 14, 2003 – #17 Saint Joe’s defeats #10 Gonzaga 73-66

Saint Joe’s and Gonzaga played a couple instant classics in the early 2000s. This was the least tame of the three and was highlighted by Jameer Nelson. The All-American put up 20 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Blake Stepp was a disappointing 2-for-12 on the night and the Saint Joe’s faithful at Madison Square Garden went home happy. Corey Violette led the Zags with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

November 14, 2011 – #22 Gonzaga defeats Washington State 89-81

The Kevin Pangos Game. He tied a school record by hitting nine threes. Also, Rob Sacre was 13-for-13 from the line that night. Relive the magic.

November 15, 2006 – Gonzaga defeats Baylor 78-69 in Spokane Arena

As part of the NIT Season Kick-Off, Gonzaga got 18 points from Derek Raivio to advance to Madison Square Garden to take on number two North Carolina (more on that next week!) Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes added 14 points and Josh Heytvelt chipped in 13 for the Zags.

November 16, 2001 - #2 Illinois defeats Gonzaga 76-58

In a battle of All-American guards, Dan Dickau got the better on the stat sheet, but Frank Williams and Illinois came away with the win. Dickau put up a game-high 19 points, but didn’t get much help along the way. After the Zags fought to within two late in the first half, Robert Archibald took charge. The Illini big man finished with 16. Zach Gourde added 15 for the Zags.

November 16, 2010 - #25 San Diego State defeats #11 Gonzaga 79-76

In a battle of Steven Gray vs Kawhi Leonard, it was Billy White who became the hero. Steven Gray poured in a career high 35 for Gonzaga. Kawhi Leonard put up 18 points and 12 rebounds. But Billy White, a career 10 ppg player, owned Gonzaga on the offensive glass, went 14-for-18 from the field and finished with 30 points, the most he ever scored in any college game. Gonzaga gave up 18 offensive rebounds, 13 of them to Leonard and White. That Aztec team started the season 20-0 before losing to BYU because Jimmer put up 43. Jimmer did something pretty similar to Gonzaga a couple months later. Did you know Jimmer put up 75 the other night in China? He’s still ballin.

November 17, 2009 - #2 Michigan State defeats Gonzaga 75-71

Michigan State had won 40 straight home games against non-conference opponents. For 37 minutes, it looked like Gonzaga was going to end the streak. They built a double-digit first half lead and re-gained a 10-point advantage early in the second half. But Michigan State kept chipping away and chipping away and they got timely shots from Durrell Summers down the stretch. After Rob Sacre’s bucket gave Gonzaga a 65-61 lead, Gonzaga was outscored 14-6 in the final 4:35 where the Zags went 1-for-7. Bouldin, Gray, Sacre, and Harris combined for 62 of Gonzaga’s 71 points. Sacre was the best player on the court for most of the night, but only played 19 minutes because of foul trouble.

—Tune in next week when we re-live Gonzaga-UNC from Madison Square Garden and the greatest game in the history of the Maui Invitational.