This Week in Gonzaga History: Adam Morrison Torches the Dons

Before we get started this week, I would like to thoroughly apologize for neglecting to add two Ira Brown dunks in last week’s post. I had the videos ready to go, but somehow overlooked them. So enjoy some vicious Ira Brown throw downs before we get down to business this week.

Now that we have watched those glorious pieces of work, it’s time to move on to this week. In the edition of Gonzaga History, we look at a ridiculous Adam Morrison performance, some ugly losses, and the perfect Kelly Olynyk game. Hop in the time machine and lets revisit the week of January 20-26.

January 20, 2011- Kevin Foster Goes Off

Santa Clara beat Gonzaga in the Bay Area for the first time since February of 2000 after Kevin Foster scored a career-high 36 points. The Broncos’ 85-71 win ended Gonzaga’s nine-game winning streak and the usual court storming ensued. The Zags scored three points in the final four minutes. Marc Trasolini and Evan Roquemore also were in double-figures for Santa Clara. Those Brocnos teams from early this decade had some really fun players. This game, however, was not fun.

January 21, 2016 – Gonzaga loses at Saint Mary’s

In classic 2016 fashion, the Bulldogs built a double-digit lead and faltered late in the second half in a crushing defeat. They did it against Arizona and UCLA at home and then again to BYU and this time on the road in Moraga. Gonzaga led by 15 with 12 minutes remaining, but the Gaels chipped away and chipped away and eventually took a 65-64 lead with two minutes remaining. With the game tied at 67, Joe Rahon made one of two free throws, but then accidentally fouled Eric McClellan on the rebound, setting the stage for a possible Gonzaga win. But EMac missed the front end of the 1-and-1, the Gaels secured the rebound and held on to the win.

January 22, 2011 – Sacre’s Elbow, Cody Doolin, and Hilltop Shenanigans

Everything about the end of this game was bananas. The Dons rallied in the second half to tie the game at 77. David Stockton would eventually hit a three that put Gonzaga up by two with 40 seconds to play. Rashad Green missed the second of his two free throws, Rob Sacre got the rebound, swung his elbows and was called for a foul. After video review, they deemed it was an intentional foul, which gave USF two shots and the ball. They seemingly had the victory in hand, but Demetri Goodson nailed a three right before the buzzer to send the game to overtime. With the game tied late in overtime, Cody Doolin finished a left handed layup over Mathis Monninghoff for a three-point play to seal the win. The Zags lost at both Santa Clara and USF in the same season for the first and only time under Mark Few.

January 22, 2015 – Gonzaga stymies Saint Mary’s

Gonzaga was 18-1 and ranked third in the nation. They were rolling through the WCC, but Saint Mary’s was coming to town riding a nine-game winning streak, fresh off a win over BYU. Gonzaga held them to 47 points in a 68-47 win. It remains their lowest point total in the last five regular seasons. Brad Waldow had 14 points, but turned it over four times and watched Przemek Karnowski go 6-for-7 from the field. Emmett Naar had an offensive rating of 32 in 27 minutes off the bench. He was 0-for-7 from the field. Aaron Bright, the grad transfer from Stanford, had an offensive rating of 7, which is the worst I think I’ve ever seen from any starter in any game. Angel Nunez hit a garbage time three in the game, which is fun for those Angel Nunez fans in the audience.

January 23, 2006 – Adam Morrison Torches USF

Adam Morrison went 15 minutes of game action between the end of the first half and the start of the second half without scoring a basket. He had 41 points in the game in 37 minutes on 14-of-23 shooting, which essentially means he scored those 41 points in 22 minutes. It was one of the most insane first half scoring outbursts, as you can see in the video. (Also, can we get a throwback game with these red jerseys??)

January 23, 2017 – Gonzaga wins at Portland

The only reason this game was notable is because Gonzaga and Portland were forced to play back-to-back games with each other after a nasty winter storm postponed their first match-up. Gonzaga won the game in Spokane on Saturday night by 21 and then the rematch in Portland by 19 two days later on a rare Monday game. The Zags improved to 20-0 en route to their Final Four run.

January 24, 2013 – Kelly Olynyk’s Perfect Game

Gonzaga defeated BYU at home, 83-63 in a totally one-sided affair. The Zags held Tyler Haws to 0-for-9 shooting – the ONLY time his final three seasons that he did not score a basket. But the big story was Kelly Olynyk, who went 9-for-9 from the field and 8-for-8 from the foul line en route to 26 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, a block and a steal. Elias Harris also added 25 points and 10 rebounds.

January 26, 2008 – Gonzaga loses at #1 Memphis

Back when Gonzaga would routinely schedule non-conference games in mid-January, there was probably none bigger than traveling to undefeated and top-ranked Memphis. Gonzaga held their own, for the most part, but gave up a whopping 15 offensive rebounds and the 32-14 free throw disparity ended up being the difference. Memphis would go on to win it 81-73. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers with 21 points and Derrick Rose put up a casual stat line of 19 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and a block. Jeremy Pargo scored 25 points for the Bulldogs. Memphis shot 19-for-32 (56%) from the line, something that kinda sorta bit them in the butt a few months later, I would say.