Men's Basketball

No. 1 Unbeaten Zags Return to the Final Four

Gonzaga chases history in Indiana

2020-21 #WCCHOOPS SCHEDULE  |  WCC STATISTICS
#WCCHOOPS ALMANAC
 
2020-21 ALL-WCC TEAM | #WCCHOOPS IN 2021 POSTSEASON
 
No. 1 Zags Storm to Second Final Four
Gonzaga remained unbeaten (30-0) and continues its Championship quest Saturday vs. UCLA in the NCAA National Semifinals. Making their fourth Elite Eight since 2015, the Zags advanced to the second Final Four in program history (2017) by routing No. 6 USC 85-66 to win the West Region. Gonzaga owns a margin of victory of 24 points per game in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, 18.5 points in the two Regional round games.
 
Gonzaga Joins Elite, Unblemished Trio
Gonzaga is one of just three teams to carry an unbeaten record into the Final Four since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985, joining UNLV (1991) and Kentucky (2015). The last team unbeaten NCAA Champion: Indiana (32-0) in 1976.
 
Streaking Zags
Gonzaga enters the Final Four winners of 34 straight games, the second best in WCC history. San Francisco owns the second longest streak in NCAA history at 60 games (1954-56) which included back-to-back NCAA Championships (1955-56).
 
NO. 1 GONZAGA #WCCHOOPS NOTABLES
  • Gonzaga’s 85-66 NCAA Elite Eight triumph against USC was its 30th consecutive win - the best single-season streak in program and WCC history. The previous record of 29 was held by San Francisco (1956 & 1977) and Gonzaga (2017).
  • Gonzaga’s Elite Eight victory against the Trojans secured more history, extending its own NCAA record for most consecutive double-digit wins (27) and set the NCAA record for most consecutive seasons with at least 30 victories at five (2017-21).
  • Gonzaga’s Mark Few enters Saturday’s NCAA National Semifinal game vs. UCLA with 629 career wins. Few owns the top active career winning percentage in Division I (629-124/.835).
  • Three Zags were named to the NCAA All-West Region Team: Corey Kispert. Jalen Suggs & Drew Timme. Timme was named Most Outstanding Player with 45 points and 11 rebounds in the round.
  • No. 1 Gonzaga leads the nation in multiple offensive categories, including: scoring offense (91.6), field goal percentage (54.9), two-point percentage (63.6), scoring margin (23.1) and points in the paint (49.5) - as of 3/30/21.
  • Three Gonzaga student-athletes were named Wooden All-Americans, headlined by Wooden Award Finalist Corey Kispert. Jalen Suggs & Drew Timme gave the Zags three on the 10-member team – the most from a single program in the history of the award.
  • Gonzaga’s Drew Timme posted a 30-point, 13-rebound double-double in a 87-71 win against No. 8 Oklahoma. Timme is the 10th WCC player to score 30 in the NCAA postseason and first since Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke scored 36 vs. Baylor (3/22/19).
  • Gonzaga entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll and in the USA Today Coaches polls. The Zags received all 60 first-place votes in the final 2020-21 AP Poll.
  • For the third straight season, the Zags reached the top of the AP national poll and have spent 33 weeks at No. 1 since 2012-13.
  • No. 1/1 Gonzaga has been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for 17 consecutive weeks, extending its program record, and becomes the first WCC team to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 since San Francisco in 1955-56 and the first overall since Kentucky in 2014-15.
  • The Zags are the first WCC program to enter the NCAA Tournament unbeaten (26-0) since the 1956 Dons.
  • The 1956 Dons were the first team in NCAA history to go unbeaten (29-0) en route to winning the championship. 
  •  No. 1/1 Gonzaga extended the longest active Division I home winning streak to 51 games in a 86-69 win vs. LMU (2/27)
 
#WCCHOOPS POSTSEASON LAY-UPS
  • Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross closed his standout career leading Pepperdine to the 2021 CBI Invitational Championship. Ross concluded his collegiate career as the first Division I player with 2,200 points, 800 assists and 400 rebounds, finishing with 2,236/854/455.
  • Ross departs ranked No. 5 on the WCC career all-time scoring list (2,236) and is No. 2 in career assists (854).
  •  Pepperdine’s Kessler Edwards collected Most Valuable Player honors at the 2021 CBI Invitational, averaging 19.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in three tournament contests.
  • Pepperdine downed Longwood (80-66), Bellarmine (82-71) & Coastal Carolina (84-61) in the finals to become the second WCC program to win the CBI Invitational Championship. Santa Clara won the 2013 event.
  • Senior Saint Mary’s point guard Tommy Kuhse turned in a strong performance in the opening round of the NIT, scoring 17 points and dished 11 assists in a tough 69-67 setback against Western Kentucky (3/17/21).
  • Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert drilled six 3-pointers in an NCAA opening round win against No. 16 Norfolk State (3/20/21). The six triples rank tied for the fourth most on the WCC single-game NCAA Tournament record book. The last WCC player to make six or more was Gonzaga’s Zach Norvell Jr., with six vs. Ohio State (3/17/18).
  • BYU’s Alex Barcello scored 20 points in a 73-62 loss to No. 11 UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (3/20/21).
 
GENERAL #WCCHOOPS POSTSEASON NOTES/HONORS
Gonzaga Dominates AP All-America Teams
No. 1 Gonzaga made more history with the announcement of the 2020-21 AP All-American teams. The Zags placed a program record three student-athletes on the first (Corey Kispert) and second teams (Jalen Suggs & Drew Timme), becoming just the third program since 2000 to accomplish the feat, joining Duke (2002) and Illinois (2005). Remarkably, the Gonzaga trio finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the overall balloting.
 
Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi and BYU’s Alex Barcello earned AP All America Honorable Mention selection. The five total AP All-American honors are the most in conference history. The previous best was four in 1982 when San Francisco’s Quintin Dailey (1st) headlined a group featuring honorable mention picks Boot Bond, Pepperdine, Bill Dunlap, Gonzaga & Jose Slaughter, Portland.
 
Gonzaga’s All-American Trio
No. 1 Gonzaga’s All-American trio of Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme continue to rake in postseason honors. Kispert, the 2021 WCC Player of the Year, was named First Team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Sporting News and Sports Illustrated, while Suggs and Timme were second team selections in all three outlets.
 
Mark Few - National Coach of the Year Lists
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few is once again a finalist for multiple national coach of the year honors. The AP, Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year and the Henry Iba Award-winner back in 2017 seeks to become just the ninth coach to win the Henry Iba honor multiple times. In addition, Few is one of four finalists for the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year.
 
Few has coached the Bulldogs from the top spot in the national polls all season and led Gonzaga to its first unbeaten regular season in program history (26-0) with a ninth straight West Coach Conference regular-season title. He earned his 14th WCC Coach of the Year honor and this week also garnered the USBWA District IX Coach of the Year honor.  
 
Shantay Legans Named Head Coach at Portland
The University of Portland has hired Shantay Legans as men’s basketball head coach. Legans, 39, comes to The Bluff after 12 years at Eastern Washington University where he helped lead the Eagles to five of its seven all-time postseason appearances. In his four years as head coach in Cheney, he compiled the best overall (.605) and conference (.726) winning percentages in school history. Legans is a finalist for the 2021 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award which goes to a coach achieving success on the court with moral integrity.
 
Johnson Named Ben Jobe Award Finalist
Stan Johnson of LMU was named a finalist for the 2021 Ben Jobe Award presented annually to the top Division I minority coach. In his first season as a head coach, Johnson led the Lions to a 13-9 overall record. Pacific’s Damon Stoudamire won the Ben Jobe Award in 2020.
 
Presenting the Russell Rule
The WCC unveiled a groundbreaking series of social justice initiatives during the Summer of 2020. The jewel in the crown is the Russell Rule, named for the iconic Bill Russell.  READ  |  WATCH
 
#WCCHOOPS POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
**All dates/times subject to change