Bulldogs Post-Season

Transcription

1 GONZAGA POST-SEASON & NATIONAL RANKINGS NCAA TOURNAMENT 1995: West Region (#14 seed) (at Salt Lake City, UT) #3 Maryland 87, Gonzaga : West Region (#10 seed) (at Seattle, WA) Gonzaga 75, #7 Minnesota 63 Gonzaga 82, #2 Stanford 74 West Regional (at Phoenix, AZ) Gonzaga 73, #6 Florida 72 #1 Connecticut 67, Gonzaga : West Region (#10 seed) (at Tucson, AZ) Gonzaga 77, #7 Louisville 66 Gonzaga 82, #2 St. John s 76 West Regional (at Albuquerque, NM) #6 Purdue 75, Gonzaga : South Region (#12 seed) (at Memphis, TN) Gonzaga 86, #5 Virginia 85 Gonzaga 85, #13 Indiana State 68 South Regional (at Atlanta, GA) #1 Michigan State 77, Gonzaga : West Region (#6 seed) (at Albuquerque, NM) #11 Wyoming 73, Gonzaga : West Region (#9 seed) (at Salt Lake City, UT) Gonzaga 74, #8 Cincinnati 69 #1 Arizona 96, Gonzaga 95 (2ot) 2004: St. Louis Regional (#2 seed) * (at Seattle, WA) Gonzaga 76, #15 Valparaiso 49 #10 Nevada 91, Gonzaga 72 Overall NCAA Record: 9-7 (.563) * Starting with the 2004 NCAA Tournament, Regional sites were designated by host city and not region of the country. In 2002 the NCAA also started to keep teams located to a geographic region with teams playing the first and second rounds at a site closest to the higher seeded teams location. Teams then advance to their pre-selected regional site for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. Bulldogs Post-Season GONZAGA AT THE NIT 1994: 1st Round (at Palo Alto, CA) Gonzaga 80, Stanford 76 2nd Round (at Manhattan, KS) Kansas State 66, Gonzaga : 1st Round (at Pullman, WA) Washington State 92, Gonzaga : 1st Round (at Laramie, WY) Gonzaga 69, Wyoming 55 2nd Round (at Honolulu, HI) Hawai i 78, Gonzaga 70 Overall NIT Record: 2-3 (.400) Gonzaga Record at NCAA Sites: Last Site Record Apperance Albuquerque Atlanta Memphis Phoenix Salt Lake City Seattle Tucson Photo by Allen Hubbard 2005 NCAA Sites First & Second Round Sites (March 17-20) Boise, ID Cleveland, OH Tucson, AZ Indianapolis, IN Charlotte, NC Worcester, MA Nashville, TN Oklahoma City, OK Regional Sites (March 24-27) Albuquerque, NM Chicago, IL Syracuse, NY Austin, TX GONZAGA NATIONAL RANKINGS USA TODAY/ Date AP ESPN NR * NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR * NR * NR NR * * NR * * 3 12 * The Associated Press does not do a final college basketball poll at the end of the NCAA Tournament. The rankings listed are the rank Gonzaga held in the final poll released by each national ranking organization. 18 Final Four (April 2 & 4) St. Louis, MO

2 Photos by Allen Hubbard GONZAGA BASKETBALL Erroll Knight Final Associated Press Poll Team 04 Record 1. Stanford (55) Kentucky (9) GONZAGA (2) Oklahoma State (4) Saint Joseph s (1) Duke Connecticut (1) Mississippi State Pittsburgh Wisconsin Cincinnati Texas Illinois Georgia Tech North Carolina State Kansas Wake Forest North Carolina Maryland Syracuse Providence Arizona Southern Illinois Memphis Boston College Utah State 25-4 * The final 2004 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics. * Gonzaga was ranked No. 12 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll NCAA Second Round Gonzaga once again perched itself near the top of the collegiate basketball world running off a 28-3 record for the season and climbing as high as No. 2 in the national rankings. Along the way Gonzaga set a school record with 20 straight wins while earning first-place votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. Ranked as high as No. 10 in the preseason polls, Gonzaga dropped its opening game of the season against Saint Joseph s University in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Madison Square Garden. Gonzaga faltered in the polls but never dropped out marking the first time in school history that the school has been ranked for an entire season. After a mid-december loss to Stanford University, Gonzaga ran off 20 straight wins to finish the regular-season ranked No. 2 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll and No. 3 in the Associated Press poll. GU would end the season ranked No. 12 by the coaches poll after a second-round loss to the University of Nevada in the NCAA Tournament. Along the way Gonzaga posted its first undefeated campaign in the West Coast Conference going The Bulldogs dominated WCC opponents winning games by an average of 19.1 points-per-game. Their 15.6 points-per-game scoring margin ranked first in the nation ahead of Saint Joseph s University, the University of Connecticut, Duke University and Oklahoma State University. Gonzaga also posted impressive numbers in several other categories ranking second nationally in field goal percentage behind Oklahoma State; second nationally in rebound margin behind Connecticut, and third nationally in field goal percentage defense behind Connecticut and the University of Louisville. In addition to team success Gonzaga also had numerous individual honors with Blake Stepp earning his second WCC Player of the Year award. Stepp was also a second team Associated Press All-American and a second team John R. Wooden All-American. Joining Stepp on the All-American stage was junior forward Ronny Turiaf with honorable mention AP honors. That marked the first time in school history that two players earned All-America recognition. Cory Violette ended his career with his third straight All-WCC first-team appearance while head coach Mark Few was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Kyle Banhead Photo by Allen Hubbard 19

3 Photo by Matthew Thayer NCAA Second Round In a season most likely to be remembered for the Bulldogs titanic battle with Arizona in the NCAA Tournament, 2003 also proved to be a season of many firsts for Gonzaga. The season started for Gonzaga with a first-ever trip to the Maui Invitational as the Bulldogs finished fourth in the prestigious event after games against storied programs like Utah, Indiana and Kentucky. From that point Gonzaga appeared in the Peach Bowl Classic against Georgia, the Jimmy V Classic against North Carolina State and the Pete Newell Challenge against Stanford. It was the first appearance in the Peach Bowl or Jimmy V Classics and first meeting between the Bulldogs and two of the top programs from the SEC and ACC. 20 Richard Fox NCAA Consecutive Tournament Appearances (Active Streaks) Number & School (Year Started) Arizona 20 (1985) Kansas 15 (1990) Kentucky 13 (1992) Cincinnati 13 (1992) Maryland 11 (1994) Stanford 10 (1995) Duke 9 (1996) Michigan State 7 (1998) Oklahoma State 7 (1998) GONZAGA 6 (1999) Wisconsin 6 (1999) Texas 6 (1999) Florida 6 (1999) NCAA Tournament Wins Over Last 6 Years School Wins Duke 21 Connecticut 18 Michigan State 17 Maryland 16 Kansas 16 Kentucky 12 Arizona 11 Syracuse 11 Oklahoma 10 GONZAGA 9 Florida 9 Oklahoma State 9 Texas 9 The Bulldogs carried a 29-game home winning streak into the midway point of the season prior to having it snapped on New Year s Eve by Saint Joseph s, a Hawks win in overtime. The home winning streak was the nation s third longest at the time. Gonzaga breezed through the WCC schedule with a 12-2 record earning the No. 1 seed in the WCC tournament in San Diego. Mixed in the middle of the WCC schedule was the Bulldogs home appearance against Tulsa in the inaugural ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday. The win helped the Bulldogs secure a fifth straight NCAA tournament spot after falling in the WCC Tournament Championship. The at-large selection was the first for Gonzaga and made the Bulldogs the first WCC team to make five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The year's most memorable game was the epic NCAA tournament second-round double-overtime game between Arizona and Gonzaga. The game provided heart-stopping moments for fans of both teams. Gonzaga needed a rebound basket by Tony Skinner to tie the game in regulation and Luke Walton's runner in the lane evened the scored with 4.1 seconds left in the first overtime. Only a miss by Blake Stepp at the buzzer of the second overtime allowed the Wildcats to escape. After the game, Arizona's All-American point guard Jason Gardner observed, "that was definitely an ESPN Classic." A sentiment held by Bulldogs fans everywhere as Gonzaga capped a season of firsts in grand fashion. Blake Stepp Photo by Allen Hubbard

4 GONZAGA BASKETBALL NCAA West Regional Proving themselves to the nation as a program that has arrived on the national scene seemed to be the rallying point for the Bulldogs as Gonzaga University completed its most successful regular-season in school history, breaking several team and NCAA records along the way. The Bulldogs opened the season as a team in transition with the departure of All-American Casey Calvary and a nagging injury that hampered the early season progress of returning WCC Freshman of the Year Blake Stepp. The one constant the Bulldogs did have was in the return of do-everything point guard Dan Dickau. Photo by Ankur Dholakia Ronny Turiaf Final Associated Press Poll Team 02 Record 1. Duke (58) Kansas (10) Oklahoma (2) Maryland (1) Cincinnati GONZAGA Arizona Alabama Pittsburgh Connecticut Oregon Marquette Illinois Ohio State Florida Kentucky Mississippi State Southern California Western Kentucky Oklahoma State Miami (FL) Xavier Georgia Stanford Hawai i 27-6 * The final 2002 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics. * Gonzaga was ranked No. 16 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll. Dickau established himself as the best collegiate player in the history of the Bulldogs, earning first-team All-America honors and becoming a finalist for the John R. Wooden and James Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Dickau helped guide Gonzaga to a school record 29 wins and a No. 6 national ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls. The climb to the elite of the national rankings did not come without some bumps in the road including a season-opening loss at No. 2 Illinois and a Great Alaska Shootout championship loss to Marquette. Following a 3-2 start, Gonzaga won 26 of its next 27 games with exciting wins over No. 16 Fresno State at the Loud Records Fab Four Classic, a Dickau buzzer beater at Saint Joseph s and an overtime win at New Mexico on ESPN s Big Monday at The Pit. Gonzaga entered the rankings prior to a December meeting with Washington and remained in the rankings for the next 13 weeks. The Bulldogs cracked the Top 10 in February and remained there for the remainder of the regular-season, including winning the Bulldogs run to a fourth straight West Coast Conference Tournament Championship. For his individual efforts Dickau was named the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Tournament MVP. Head coach Mark Few was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. Few also etched his name in the NCAA record book as he became the career leader in coaching wins to start a career with 81 wins in his first three seasons. Cory Violette Photo by Allen Hubbard 21

5 NCAA Sweet 16 Gonzaga University continued to put its stamp on the college basketball world as the Zags advanced to their third consecutive Sweet 16. Only 2000 national champion Michigan State and 2001 national champion Duke have also put together three current consecutive runs into the second weekend of NCAA Tournament action. After losing five seniors to graduation, Gonzaga did not seem to miss a beat as the Zags ran off three straight season-opening victories and took No. 5 University of Arizona down to the wire at McKale Center. The Zags trailed the Wildcats by three points with a minute left in regulation before All-American Casey Calvary fouled out. Gonzaga not only lost the game but also lost the services of point guard Dan Dickau to a broken finger. The Zags struggled with Dickau sidelined, going 5-4 without their floor leader in the line up. One of the loses was a re-match of the 1999 Sweet Sixteen game between Gonzaga and Florida. Florida, ranked 8th in the nation, got the upper hand in the game as the Gators defeated Gonzaga in the Orange Bowl Classic. As the conference season rolled around so did the Zags offense as a healthy Dickau helped pace Gonzaga to its best West Coast Conference record in school history. Gonzaga raced to a 12-0 WCC mark, winning the conference crown against Pepperdine in The Kennel. Only Santa Clara was able to knock GU from the ranks of the conference unbeaten, the Broncos winning despite a school-record nine 3-pointers by Dickau. Casey Calvary Final ESPN/USA TODAY Poll Photo by Steven Watts Gonzaga breezed through the opening two rounds of the WCC Tournament before knocking off Santa Clara for the Zags third straight WCC Tournament Championship. A No. 12 seed awaited the Zags, and Calvary again etched his name in Gonzaga history as his put-back basket knocked off Virginia. The Zags easily downed Indiana State before falling to No. 1 seed Michigan State in the round of 16. Gonzaga reached the 25-win plateau for the third consecutive year, finishing 26-7 and a No. 20 final ranking. Along the way Gonzaga became the first school to sweep the WCC post-season awards as Calvary was named the WCC Player of the Year, Mark Spink the Defensive Player of the Year, Blake Stepp the Freshman of the Year and Mark Few the Coach of the Year. Dickau won WCC Tournament MVP honors and Calvary was named to both the AP and John R. Wooden All-America teams. Team 01 Record 1. Duke Arizona Michigan State Maryland Stanford Illinois Kansas Kentucky Mississippi North Carolina Boston College UCLA Florida USC Iowa State Temple Georgetown Syracuse Oklahoma GONZAGA Virginia Cincinnati Notre Dame St. Joseph s Penn State Photo by Dale Goodwin Blake Stepp * The final 2001 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics.

6 Photo by Susan Hamilton GONZAGA BASKETBALL NCAA Sweet 16 For the second straight season - and as if to erase all doubt of 1999 being a fluke - Gonzaga University once again made another run at March Madness in The Bulldogs played one of the toughest schedules in the country. In one 10-day stretch in December all the Bulldogs did was Take on top-ranked Cincinnati and Player of the Year Kenyon Martin at the Rock 'n Roll Shootout in Cleveland Meet 8th-ranked Temple University at the Great 8 Classic in the United Center in Chicago Face UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, holding the Bruins to 43 points in a victory, the fewest points ever scored by the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion history Battle cross-state rival Washington in the Key Arena in Seattle, topping the Huskies for their second straight victory over the Huskies. Axel Dench Final ESPN/USA TODAY Poll Team 00 Record 1. Michigan State Florida Iowa State Duke Stanford Oklahoma State Cincinnati Arizona Tulsa Temple North Carolina Syracuse LSU Tennessee Purdue Wisconsin Ohio State St. John s Oklahoma Miami (Fla.) Texas Kentucky UCLA GONZAGA Maryland * The final 2000 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics. Injuries and illness - something the Bulldogs had avoided in their miracle run of hampered the Bulldogs during the regular season. But the Bulldogs got healthy in time to win the West Coast Conference Tournament, despite losing WCC Defender of the Year Mike Nilson to an achilles injury in the first round. The Bulldogs rode the emotions of losing Nilson to the WCC Tournament title and a return trip to the Big Dance. As they had the previous season, Gonzaga played giant killer in the early rounds. First it was Louisville and legendary coach Denny Crum who fell in the desert of Tucson, Ariz. Two days later it was St. John's being bitten by the Bulldogs, and the Zags had another date in the Sweet 16. It was off to The Pit at New Mexico to face Purdue, a team the Bulldogs had played the previous season in the pre-season NIT. As was the case then, the Boilermakers prevailed again as the curtain fell on the Bulldogs and March Madness. But with a 26-9 record and No. 24 final ranking, Gonzaga had again validated itself among basketball's elite. Mark Spink Photo by Greg Frostad 23

7 Photo by Garth Patil NCAA Elite Eight Richie Frahm Nobody knows the definition of March Madness any better than Gonzaga University. For two weeks in March 1999, the Bulldogs became the darlings of a nation. They captured the hearts and applause of almost every "free agent" fan whose team had not entered the original field of 64 or who had seen their team eliminated along the way to the Elite Eight. But while the clock struck midnight in a setback to eventual NCAA champion University of Connecticut in the West Regional Finals in Phoenix, Ariz., the Bulldogs had nonetheless established themselves as one of the elite programs in the country. The wild ride began when the Bulldogs marched through the West Coast Conference regular season with a 12-2 mark, then raced through the WCC Tournament that included a win over host Santa Clara University in the championship game for the trip to the NCAA Tournament. But the Bulldogs weren't done. They stopped the University of Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle, then posted one of the biggest early-round upsets in the tournament with a win over Stanford University in the second round. The Cardinal had been a 1998 Final Four participant. With the nation now sitting up and taking notice of the Bulldogs, Casey Calvary tipped in the winning basket in the waning seconds for a Sweet Sixteen victory over the University of Florida in the NCAA West Regional in Phoenix. That put the Bulldogs one win away from the Final Four. With a Final Four berth on the line in a battle of Bulldogs, it was the East Coast version that came out on top as UConn prevailed despite a gritty performance by the Bulldogs of Gonzaga who had become a household favorite from coast to coast Final ESPN/USA TODAY Poll Team 99 Record 1. Connecticut Duke Michigan State Ohio State Kentucky 28-9 St. John s Auburn Maryland Stanford Utah Cincinnati GONZAGA 28-7 Miami (Fla.) Temple Iowa Arizona Florida North Carolina Oklahoma Miami (Ohio) UCLA Purdue Kansas SW Missouri State Arkansas * The final 1999 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics. The Bulldogs finished with a school-record 28-7 record and a No. 12 final ranking, but more importantly earned the national respect of being among basketball's elite. Photo by Garth Patil Jeremy Eaton 24

8 Photo by Gonzaga Public Relations Photo by Gonzaga Public Relations GONZAGA BASKETBALL NCAA West Regional A rags-to-riches season landed Gonzaga University its first West Coast Conference Tournament title and the Bulldogs inaugural berth in the NCAA Tournament after 37 years of NCAA Division I membership. The Bulldogs took a rocky road to the Big Dance. After an 11-1 pre-season record, many observers were second-guessing the so-called experts which picked the defending regular-season WCC champions no higher than sixth in any pre-season poll. But an 0-6 start in WCC play had the Bulldogs in the WCC doghouse. The turnaround was quick, and Gonzaga Kyle Dixon went on a run which saw it win 7-of-8 games in the stretch run of the WCC regular season, enough to give the Bulldogs a 7-7 record and fourth seed in the WCC Tournament at Santa Clara University. The Bulldogs used dramatic, staging comebacks in all three WCC Tournament games. And sharpshooting John Rillie documented his own highlight film with one of the best 3-game performances in the history of the WCC Tournament. Rillie went from the field for 64.3%, from 3-point range (71.4%) and from the free throw line (91.7%) in earning MVP honors. In the NCAA First Round in Salt Lake City, UT, Gonzaga drew the University of Maryland, ranked 10th in the country. In spite of Jason Rubright holding Player of the Year Joe Smith to 9 points for his second-lowest total of the season and a season-low 4 rebounds, the rest of the Maryland arsenal proved too much in an victory, ending a 21-9 Bulldog season. NCAA First Appearances Since 1995 Team Year Gonzaga 1995 Colgate 1995 Florida International 1995 Mount Saint Mary s 1995 Monmouth 1996 UNC Greensboro 1996 Valparaiso 1996 Western Carolina 1996 Charleston Southern 1997 Jackson State 1997 Illinois-Chicago 1998 Northern Arizona 1998 Prairie View A&M 1998 Radford 1998 Arkansas State 1999 Florida A&M 1999 Kent State 1999 Samford 1999 Winthrop 1999 Central Conneticut State 2000 UNC Wilmington 2000 Southeast Missouri State 2000 Alabama State 2001 Cal State Northridge 2001 Hampton 2001 Northwestern State 2001 Southern Utah 2001 Florida Atlantic 2002 IUPUI 2003 North Carolina-Asheville 2003 Sam Houston State 2003 Troy State 2003 Vermont 2003 Wagner 2003 Eastern Washington 2004 * Since Gonzaga made its first NCAA appearance in 1995, 34 other schools have since made their inaugural run into March Madness. Scott Morgan In addition to the first NCAA appearance in school history, Gonzaga also hit a milestone that season as they reached the 1,000 win plateau when Gonzaga defeated Maine in the finals of the Shootout Spokane tournament. Jon Kinloch Photo by Gonzaga Public Relations 25

9 THE KENNEL - GONZAGA S HOME COURT ADVAN- TAGE W e L e t t h e D o g s O u t... I n T h e K e n n e l Over the past 13 years the Bulldogs have an amazing record in THE KENNEL (Martin Centre) for a.937 winning percentage. This year the Bulldogs will open a NEW KENNEL (McCarthey Athletic Center) and look to maintain that level of dominance that Gonzaga has created at home. Gonzaga's fans - led in part by The Kennel Club and a vocal throng of students - were a part of the Bulldogs' dominance of opposing teams in THE KENNEL. Tickets to Bulldog games in THE KENNEL were a rare commodity with six straight sellouts to close down the building. The NEW KENNEL will continue to have the same atmosphere as before with students sitting courtside and cheering on the Zags. Tickets for the McCarthey Athletic Center have sold out and GU will play in front of over 6,000 fans for every home game. Six times over the last 13 years the Bulldogs posted undefeated home campaigns in 2004, 13-0 in 02, 12-0 in 01, 10-0 in 99, 14-0 in '94 and 13-0 in '93. Gonzaga will open the NEW KEN- NEL against Portland State University on Nov. 19, THE STREAK For 34 games and the better part of three seasons, The Kennel was invincible for Gonzaga. During that stretch the Bulldogs never lost. That streak was the second-longest active home court winning streak in the country, second behind only Indiana. The following is the list of opponents who fell in The Kennel for 34 straight games. Date Opponent Score 12/1/92 Whitman /19/92 Carroll /23/92 Eastern Washington /28/92 Sam Houston St /29/92 Drexel /6/93 Idaho State /21/93 Santa Clara (OT) /23/93 San Diego /27/93 Portland /11/93 San Francisco /13/93 Saint Mary's /25/93 Loyola Marymount /27/93 Pepperdine /7/93 Whitman /11/93 Eastern Washington /18/93 Western Montana /21/93 Idaho /27/93 New Hampshire /28/93 Samford /6/94 Weber State /13/94 San Diego /15/94 San Francisco /27/94 Saint Mary's /29/94 Santa Clara /10/94 Pepperdine /12/94 Loyola Marymount /16/94 Portland /25/94 Georgia State /26/94 Maine /1/94 Nevada /3/94 Whitman /10/94 Central Washington /19/94 Canisus /3/95 Idaho According to Sports Illustrated, one of the toughest basketball arenas in the country for opposing teams to play is THE KENNEL, ranking the Bulldogs' home court fourth in a recent survey of opposing-team nightmares. 26 Photos by Gonzaga Public Relations

10 GONZAGA BASKETBALL Gonzaga s McCarthey Athletic Center Built at a cost of $25 million dollars Gonzaga University will start the next chapter of Bulldogs basketball in the state-of-theare McCarthey Athletic Center for the season. The new arena features a seating capacity of 6,000 for basketball with all seats a theater-style chair back seat. In addition to watching action on the floor Bulldogs fans will have the opportunity to watch game action on two 16 x 9 video walls and keep track of statistics on the 100 ribbon boards running on each side. The arena includes new concessions stands with 40 points of sale for concessions and 12 large bathrooms five each for men and women and two family restrooms. The arena also includes six luxury suites, a new club room, new locker rooms for Gonzaga basketball and visiting teams, new office space for men s and women s basketball staffs and office space for Gonzaga athletic administration staff. In addition to basketball events the McCarthey Athletic Center will also have the ability host non-athletic events such as concerts and other sports events. McCarthey Athletic Center Quick Facts First Game Nov. 5, 2004 Gonzaga vs. Emporia State University (ex). Seating Capacity ,000 Locker Rooms Concession Stands points of sale Restrooms Video Walls (End Zones) x 9 Ribbon Boards (Sides) Luxury Suites Cost $25 million Additional Facts Construction Company Garco Design Team ALSC Architechs McCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER 1,225 tons of structural steel and roof joints used for roof and concourse 4,000 cubic yards of concrete for footings, slabs and walls 158 pieces of precast for the seat risers, which represent 24,570 square feet 6 main roof trusses create 200-foot clear span over the arena bowl Gonzaga President Fr. Robert Spitzer is joined by the McCarthey Family following the final game in The Kennel at Martin Centre. The McCarthey family provided the lead gift towards completion of the new McCarthey Athletic Center ensuring Gonzaga a state-of-the-art facility for its men s and women s basketball programs. 27

11 BATTLE IN SEATTLE Battle In Seattle Playing games with national exposure is nothing new for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, so when the opportunity to play a feature game in their back yard presented itself, Gonzaga jumped at the chance. Photos by Allen Hubbard Ronny Turiaf The first Battle in Seattle set the tone for a great in-season event as Gonzaga hosted the University of Missouri with Washington native Quin Synder at the helm. The Bulldogs entered the game at No. 17 in the national polls while Missouri was ranked third. In front of a KeyArena crowd of 12,831 and a national CBS television audience, Gonzaga knocked off the Tigers in overtime Ronny Turiaf scored 23 points to lead Gonzaga while Cory Violette pulled down 12 rebounds and Blake Stepp dished out 10 assists. Missouri was just as impressive on its end with Rickey Paulding pouring in 23 points to go with five assists. Linas Kleiza grabbed 13 rebounds to lead all players. This year the event again returns to KeyArena on Dec. 4 as Gonzaga hosts the University of Massachusetts, a preseason favorite in the Atlantic-10 East Division. The Bulldogs are in the second year of a 4- year agreement to play the event sponsored by Northwest Sports & Entertainment. Gonzaga will continue to bring feature name opponents to the Northwest in 2005 when the Bulldogs host 2004 NCAA Final Four participant Oklahoma State University team in Seattle after win Battle In Seattle Quick Facts First Points Scored Travon Bryant (Missouri) Jumper (2) First Gonzaga Points Scored Kyle Bankhead Free Throw Most Points Scored Individual (23) Gonzaga Ronny Turiaf (23) Opponent.... Rickey Paulding - Missouri (23) Most Rebounds (15) Gonzaga Cory Violette (12) Opponent Linas Kleiza - Missouri (15) Most 3-Pointers Made (5) Gonzaga..... Blake Stepp, Kyle Bankhead (1) Opponent..... Rickey Paulding - Missouri (5) Most Free Throws Made (8) Gonzaga Kyle Bankhead (8) Opponent.... Jimmy McKinney - Missouri (6) Most Assists (10) Gonzaga Blake Stepp (10) Opponent.... Jimmy McKinney - Missouri (5) Most Turnovers (4) Gonzaga Blake Stepp (4) Opponent..... Rickey Paulding - Missouri (4) Most Blocks (2) Gonzaga Ronny Turiaf, Cory Violette (2) Opponent Travon Bryant - Missouri (2) Most Steals (4) Gonzaga Kyle Bankhead (3) Opponent..... Rickey Paulding - Missouri (4) Team Field Goal Percentage Half Gonzaga (14-28) 1st half Opponent (Missouri) (11-31) 2nd half Team 3-Point Percentage Half Gonzaga (2-6) 1st half Opponent (Missouri) (4-10) 1st half Free Throw Percentage Half Gonzaga (10-10) overtime Opponent (Missouri) (6-8) 1st half Attendance 12,831 - Dec. 13, 2003 vs. Missouri 28 Battle In Seattle Scores No. 17 Gonzaga 87, No. 3 Missouri 80 (ot) Dec. 4, Gonzaga vs. Massachusetts December Gonzaga vs. Oklahoma State December Opponent TBA

12 GONZAGA BASKETBALL BULLDOGS ON THE RADIO No stranger to the Spokane sports scene, Tom Hudson enters his third season as the Voice of the Bulldogs on AM 1510 KGA for all Gonzaga men s basketball games. Hudson is a sports director and weekday sports anchor for Spokane's KREM-TV. Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth, former Citadel Communications vice president and general manager Jim Richmond and Brett Sports & Entertainment vice president Dave Pier brought Hudson into the Bulldog basketball broadcast family. The trio is in the third season of a 5-year contract to broadcast Bulldog basketball on 1510 KGA. Tom Hudson Hudson joined KREM-TV in Born in Fullerton, Calif., Hudson's family moved to The Woodlands, Texas, north of Houston, at a young age and he remained there throughout high school. He attended Denver University where he received his degree in broadcasting in 1991 and took his first job at KJCT-TV in Grand Junction, Colo. He also did high school football and basketball play-by-play for KEXO radio in Grand Junction, as well as broadcasting work for the Junior College Baseball World Series. He's excited about the new challenge. "This is the chance every sports broadcaster dreams of," Hudson said. "To get a chance to be directly involved with a Top 25 basketball program at a highly-respected institution of higher education is the best of both worlds. I'm extremely thankful to Mike Roth, Jim Richmond and Dave Pier for putting their trust in me, and to everyone at KREM-TV for allowing me to accept this challenge." Hudson also has some personal ties to Gonzaga. His wife, the former Kate Derning, is a 1997 GU graduate. BULLDOGS ON TELEVISION Greg Heister returns for his fourth season behind the microphone calling Gonzaga University men's basketball action on Spokane's KHQ-TV. Also returning to the broadcast team is former WCC Player of the Year Jeff Brown. Brown enters his second season as the color commentator for Bulldogs television broadcasts Gonzaga University, KHQ-TV and FOX Sports Net are in the first year of a 4- year agreement that will broadcast every Bulldogs game in the Spokane and Seattle markets. As part of the agreement KHQ and FSN Northwest will join forces to air every game not broadcast by another television network. The deal allows for 100 percent of Bulldogs game to be shown in Spokane and Seattle, giving Gonzaga one of the nation s premier television packages. Heister is no stranger to the Spokane sports scene. From he was the sports director at KHQ-TV, reporting, producing and anchoring sportscasts for the top-rated 5, 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts. He recently served as a co-anchor on the 4:30 p.m. newscast at KHQ. Heister also produced "The Sporting Life" adventure series, which allowed him to hunt, fish and adventure the Pacific Northwest and bring those stories back to the KHQ-TV newscast viewer. Prior to his arrival in Spokane he was the sports director at KIMO-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. He produced, reported and anchored the 6 and 10 o'clock sportscasts. Upon his arrival in Anchorage in 1989 he Greg Heister worked for ESPN for two years on the show "Alaska Wide World of Sports." Among his duties was producing and writing an hour-long show on Alaska sports twice a year. The 1989 graduate of Ashland College in Ohio got his start in the profession as a sports producer for WJW in Cleveland, assisting in the organizing and development of the 6 and 11 o'clock sportscasts. He has won three Emmy Awards, twice for producing, writing and narrating Iditarod documentaries and the other for a fly-fishing series. He has been nominated for eight Emmy Awards. Heister is married to Laura Papetti. No stranger to Spokane or basketball, Brown and his wife Loriann re-located to Spokane in 2002 after spending the past four years in southern California in the private business sector. He led the WCC in scoring at 21 ppg and helped the 1994 Bulldogs to a 22-8 record, their inaugural WCC regular-season championship and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament. The Bulldogs won their first-round NIT game at Stanford and lost in the second round at Kansas State University in the school's first post-season basketball appearance. Brown was also an outstanding student, earning GTE/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America first-team honors as a junior and Jeff Brown senior, and being named the Men's Basketball Academic All-American of the Year as a senior. He was also named one of the Top 50 student-athletes in the history of the WCC last season in honor of the 50th anniversary of the conference. The couple welcomed son Jack to their family on July 19, GONZAGA RADIO AND TELEVISION TALENT Bulldog Basketball Broadcasts are brought to you by: 29

13 THE GONZAGA EXPERIENCE GONZAGA CAMPUS LIFE Campus life is alive and well on the 94-acre Spokane campus. Whether students are walking along the Centennial Trail, attending classes, supporting Gonzaga athletic teams or working in the performing arts - Gonzaga offers something for everyone to enjoy. 30