CHET COMMITS
It was just two weeks after Gonzaga's brutal defeat in the National Championship, and many around Zag Nation were still reeling, when a 7-foot savior came to raise Spokane's collective spirit. On April 19, 2021, live on SportsCenter, Chet Holmgren announced where he'd be playing college basketball.
Like Jalen Suggs had done the year before — the two had been high school teammates at Minneapolis' Minnehaha Academy — Holmgren announced his commitment to Gonzaga. Not only was he the highest-rated recruit in Gonzaga program history, he was the top overall recruit in the country.
SPIRITUAL SEASON OPENER
Technically it was the second game of the Zags' season, but the season really got going when the No. 5-ranked Texas Longhorns came to The Kennel to take on the No. 1-ranked Zags. It was the highest profile contest in Spokane — the Longhorns were the highest ranked team ever to visit McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Kennel was overflowing with NBA scouts and national media, and the postgame press conference had to be held in a larger room than usual to accommodate the crowd.
Gonzaga won, and did so convincingly from tip to horn, earning an 86-74 victory behind 37 points from Drew Timme.
THANKSGIVING HANGOVER
Gonzaga got another shot at a No. 5-ranked team the day after Thanksgiving when the Zags faced off against the Duke Blue Devils in front of 20,389 fans in Las Vegas. It was the largest crowd to attend a basketball game in Nevada history, and the 2.8 million viewers made it the most-watched college basketball game on any network since 2019, according to ESPN. Unfortunately, the Zags fell short, 84-81.
Eight days later the Zags faced off against Alabama in Seattle and lost again, 92-81. Gonzaga and its fans had grown accustomed to winning, but two losses in barely more than a week served as a harsh reminder that winning isn't guaranteed.
TRIPLE DIGIT TRIO
The Zags opened West Coast Conference play on Jan. 8 at home against Pepperdine and put up an impressive 117 points in the win. They followed that up in the next game, this time against a much better opponent in BYU, by dropping 110 points. Two days later, on the road against Santa Clara, the Zags scored 115 points.
These were some of the highest scoring outputs in Gonzaga history, coming in back-to-back-to-back performances. Gonzaga's relentless speed was on display as well, as the Pepperdine and Santa Clara games saw the Zags play 90 possessions, a record high for the Mark Few era.
DEEP BALL DELUGE
Over the first two months of the season, just about the only thing you could find to nitpick about Gonzaga's offense was the three-point shooting. It wasn't bad, just pedestrian relative to the rest of the country. Then Portland visited Spokane on Jan. 29, and the Zags put any concerns about their three-point prowess to bed. The Zags took 41 threes in that game, and made a McCarthy Athletic Center record 18 of them. From that game on, the Zags have been making 39 percent of their three-pointers. In only six seasons during the Mark Few era have the Zags shot 39 percent or above from three.
RIVALRY AND REVENGE
In the regular season finale, the Zags traveled to Moraga, California, to take on their archrivals, the Saint Mary's Gaels. Saint Mary's made a statement, holding the Zags to just 57 points in the loss. It was the Zags lowest point total since the 2019 season when those same Gaels held the Zags to just 47 points.
Ten days later, in the WCC Tournament title game, the Zags got their shot at revenge, and they took it well. Gonzaga beat Saint Mary's 82-69 in the rubber match of the season series. In doing so, the Zags claimed not only bragging rights, but locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. ♦
