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Gonzaga’s loss to Tennessee will go down as “The Admiral Schofield Game” and join the likes of “The Brandon Paul Game” and “The Billy White Game” and “The Draymond Green Game” in Gonzaga’s list of dudes who just couldn’t be stopped. Go ahead and add Steph Curry and Jimmer in that, too. Speaking of Draymond Green, that game happened seven years ago today. You know what else happened on December 10? Adam Morrison’s bank shot in Seattle. That one leaves a little better memory. Let’s hop in the time machine and take a look at the week of December 9-15 in Gonzaga History.
December 9, 2000 – Gonzaga falls at Boise State
Gonzaga has only played twice on this date under Mark Few and the other time was a shellacking of a Division III school. Boise State handed Gonzaga their worst loss since 1991 when they defeated them 94-69 at the BSU Pavilion. Abe Jackson hit NINE threes for Boise State in the victory. Jimmy Tricco (blast from the way past) scored 13 for Gonzaga off the bench.
December 10, 2011 – The Draymond Green Game
Tom Izzo brought his Michigan State Spartans into The Kennel in honor of Jud Heathcote. He left with a victory over the 23rd ranked Bulldogs thanks to a career day from Draymond Green. The future NBA Champion could not be guarded by anyone. He shot 11-for-13 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the line en route to 34 of Michigan State’s 74 points. Gonzaga committed 20 turnovers and only dished out nine assists. In his first collegiate start, Gary Bell Jr scored 13 points. It was David Stockton, though, who led the Zags with 19 points and almost single-handedly brought them back late in the second half. But Draymond Green was too much. Sparty would win 15 straight games and become a number one seed in the tournament that season.
December 10, 2005 – “When you’re sleepless in Seattle, why not get a little kiss”
Oklahoma State led by double digits in the second half. Gonzaga stormed all the way back and it culminated in one of the most iconic moments in program history. It is still, to this day, one of my favorite videos of all time. Adam Morrison. Onions.
December 11, 1999 – Gonzaga beats UCLA at Pauley Pavilion
Seven months after shocking the world and making the Elite Eight, Gonzaga walked into Pauley Pavilion and held UCLA to their lowest point total in the history of the building, beating the Bruins 59-43. Richie Frahm and Casey Calvary both had double-doubles, but it was Ryan Floyd who poured in 17 points and hit five threes off the bench to lead Gonzaga to yet another program-defining victory.
December 12, 2009 – Gonzaga beats Davidson in Seattle
It didn’t quite make up for the loss to Steph Curry in the NCAA Tournament months prior, but Gonzaga got career days from three different players and beat the Wildcats without Matt Bouldin in the lineup. Elias Harris scored a season-high 27, Rob Sacre a career-high 23 and Demetri Goodson a career-high 22 to lead Gonzaga over Davidson 103-91 at Key Arena.
December 13, 2003 – Gonzaga beats #3 Missouri in Seattle
Ronny Turiaf scored 21 of his 23 points after halftime and led Gonzaga to a dramatic overtime victory over third-ranked Missouri, 87-80. The game was a seesaw affair throughout and it was highlighted by big moment after big moment from Turiaf. Ronny played the final five minutes of regulation and overtime with four fouls and still gave Gonzaga the lead on a post move and drew a charge at the other end with a minute to go in overtime. Erroll Knight took another charge with 30 seconds to go and Gonzaga up by three to seal the deal. Blake Stepp played all 45 minutes and was two rebounds shy of a triple-double. Freshman Adam Morrison scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half before Turiaf took over in the second.
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December 14, 2008 – #4 Gonzaga Goes Dry in the Desert
Arizona got 22 points from Jordan Hill, including the dagger over Josh Heytvelt with 30 seconds to go to beat the fourth-ranked Zags, 69-64 inside the US Airways Center in Phoenix. Gonzaga shot just 6-for-20 from beyond the arc and Jeremy Pargo turned it over seven times. Austin Daye led the Bulldogs with 22 points and five blocks, but the trio of Hill, Chase Budinger, and Nic Wise proved to be too much. Both teams would lose in the Sweet 16 that season to number one seeds.
December 15, 2001 – Gonzaga beats up Washington State
For the first time since 1977, Washington State played a game on Gonzaga’s campus. And they got smacked. Dan Dickau put up a game-high 23 points as the Bulldogs smoked the Cougs 67-44. Wazzu shot under 30 percent from the field, including 2-for-15 from beyond the arc. This win was part of a seven-game winning streak in the series for Gonzaga, their longest in the storied history of Zags-Cougs. Their current streak is five, but who knows when they’ll play again after how the series came to an end in 2015.
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There’s not too much going on next week because of finals and the holidays, but I’ll see what I can muster up. One story will be Elias Harris’ commitment, so we can talk about his career a little bit. Join us next time.