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Gonzaga–Washington men's basketball rivalry

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Gonzaga–Washington men's basketball rivalry
SportBasketball
First meetingFebruary 14, 1910
Washington 23, Gonzaga 14
Latest meetingDecember 9, 2023
Washington 78, Gonzaga 73
Next meetingTBA
Statistics
Meetings total50
All-time seriesWashington leads, 30–20
Largest victoryWashington, 59–11 (1921)
Longest win streakWashington, 9 (1944–1979)
Current win streakWashington, 1 (2023–present)
Locations of Gonzaga and Washington

The Gonzaga–Washington's men's basketball rivalry is a cross-state college basketball rivalry between the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and the Washington Huskies team of University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Series overview

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Gonzaga and Washington have met a total of 50 times dating back to 1910 and have met annually since 2015. The Huskies dominated the series up until the end of the 20th century, but Gonzaga has won 14 of the last 16 meetings, dating back to 1998. The Huskies hold a 19–7 lead in Seattle, Gonzaga leads the series 12–11 in Spokane, and the Zags own a 1–0 record in neutral locations, but they have never met in any postseason tournaments.[1][2]

Hiatus

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Washington and Gonzaga met 11 times between 1995 and 2006, including a true home-and-home series annually from 1997 until 2006, but then Washington cancelled the series. Gonzaga was dominating the series, ascending from a Cinderalla in the 1999 NCAA Tournament to regular in the top 25 polls and the NCAA Tournament every year. Bad blood surfaced between the schools with Huskies assistant coach Cameron Dollar breaking NCAA rules while recruiting Josh Heytvelt, who ended up signing with the Zags.[3] In 2009, Lorenzo Romar and his Washington staff proposed a series three games in a row at KeyArena in Seattle, but Gonzaga head coach Mark Few took insult to that, retorting with "the chances of that happening are about the same as Bigfoot having my baby. That's like me saying, Gonzaga proposes a five-year deal at Spokane Arena. There, I just made a proposal. That's as logical as this deal [would be]."[4]

Renewal

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In 2014, Washington State Senator Michael Baumgartner proposed a bill that would require Gonzaga and Washington to play once a year in men's basketball.[5] Later in the year, it was announced that the dormant rivalry between the Huskies and the Bulldogs would be renewed with a 4-year home-and-home series beginning in the 2016–17 season and running through the 2019–20 season.[6] A year later, with Gonzaga and Washington both among the field of the 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis Thanksgiving week basketball tournament, they were selected to play each other in the opening round of the tournament, ending the rivalry drought at 9 years.[7] In 2019, The Zags and Huskies extended their home-and-home series from the 2020–21 season through the 2023–24 season, starting in Spokane.[8]

Game results

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Below is a complete list of series results, according to Sports Reference and GoHuskies.com.[1][2] Rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.

  • Gonzaga wins are in red, Washington wins are in purple.
Gonzaga victoriesWashington victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 1910 Spokane, WA Washington 23–14
2 1912 Spokane, WA Washington 37–17
3 1913 Spokane, WA Washington 37–20
4 1921 Seattle, WA Washington 59–11
5 1923 Spokane, WA Washington 48–20
6 1923 Seattle, WA Gonzaga 24–21
7 1925 Spokane, WA Washington 40–23
8 1926 Seattle, WA Washington 35–12
9 1926 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 30–24
10 1926 Spokane, WA Washington 52–12
11 1927 Seattle, WA Washington 44–18
12 1930 Seattle, WA Washington 35–21
13 1930 Seattle, WA Washington 42–11
14 1930 Spokane, WA Washington 24–22
15 1930 Spokane, WA Washington 28–17
16 1931 Seattle, WA Washington 33–25
17 1935 Seattle, WA Washington 57–40
18 1942 Spokane, WA Washington 62–41
19 1943 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 48–44
20 1943 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 76–39
21 1944 Seattle, WA Gonzaga 49–41
22 1944 Seattle, WA Washington 53–40
23 1944 Spokane, WA Washington 59–48
24 1944 Spokane, WA Washington 78–47
25 1945 Seattle, WA Washington 37–30
26 1945 Seattle, WA Washington 39–29
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
27 1971 Seattle, WA Washington 86–78
28 1972 Seattle, WA Washington 93–61
29 1973 Seattle, WA Washington 75–53
30 1979 Seattle, WA Washington 63–59
31 1981 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 73–69
32 1982 Seattle, WA Washington 49–48
33 1995 Seattle, WA Washington 62–58
34 1997 Seattle, WA Washington 88–82
35 1998 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 82–71
36 1999 Seattle, WA #24 Gonzaga 76–66
37 2000 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 86–74
38 2001 Seattle, WA #25 Gonzaga 67–47
39 2002 Spokane, WA #20 Gonzaga 95–89OT
40 2003 Seattle, WA #17 Gonzaga 86–62
41 2004 Spokane, WA Gonzaga 99–87
42 2005 Seattle, WA #18 Washington 99–95
43 2006 Spokane, WA #18 Gonzaga 97–77
44 2015 Nassau, Bahamas #10 Gonzaga 80–64
45 2016 Spokane, WA #8 Gonzaga 98–71
46 2017 Seattle, WA #12 Gonzaga 97–70
47 2018 Spokane, WA #1 Gonzaga 81–79
48 2019 Seattle, WA #9 Gonzaga 83–76
49 2022 Spokane, WA #18 Gonzaga 77–60
50 2023 Seattle, WA Washington 78–73
Series: Washington leads 30–20
Source:[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Matchup Finder | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "2018-19 Huskies Basketball Record Book" (PDF). October 16, 2018.
  3. ^ "Truth behind the feud between Zags, Huskies". December 3, 2010.
  4. ^ "Gonzaga coach Mark Few mocks UW's proposal to resume series". October 23, 2009.
  5. ^ "There's grandstanding, and then there's GRANDSTANDING. For state Senator Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane), it". March 11, 2014.
  6. ^ "Gonzaga, Washington To Renew Men's Basketball Rivalry In '16". August 4, 2014.
  7. ^ "No. 10 Gonzaga, Washington renew rivalry in the Bahamas". November 23, 2015.
  8. ^ "Gonzaga and Washington Extend Series through 2023-24 Season". June 10, 2019.
  9. ^ "2018-19 Washington Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved 18 March 2019.