BYU–Gonzaga men's basketball rivalry

The BYU–Gonzaga men's basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry^[1][2][3] between the Gonzaga Bulldogs team of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington and the BYU Cougars team of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. BYU has played Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament final in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2021 with Gonzaga winning all four of these matchups. Gonzaga leads the overall series 25–7, with the most recent meeting on February 11, 2023. On September 10, 2021, the Big 12 Conference unanimously accepted BYU's application to the conference,^[4] joining for the 2023–24 season and leaving the future of the series in doubt.^[5]

BYU–Gonzaga men's basketball rivalry

BYU Cougars Gonzaga Bulldogs
Sport	Basketball
First meeting	December 16, 1949 Goznaga, 46–41
Latest meeting	February 11, 2023 Gonzaga, 88–81
Statistics
Meetings total	32
All-time series	Gonzaga leads, 25–7
Largest victory	Gonzaga, 102–68 (2019)
Longest win streak	Gonzaga, 7 (2021–present)
Current win streak	Gonzaga, 7 (2021–present)

200km
125miles

BYU

Gonzaga

  

Locations of BYU and Gonzaga

Series overview

First meetings

BYU and Gonzaga first played on December 16, 1949, at a neutral court holiday tournament in California.^[6] The two teams would not meet again until March 19, 2011, in the third round of the NCAA tournament, as a BYU team led by National Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Fredette scored 34 points and the Cougars defeated the Zags 89–67, the largest BYU win in the series to this day.^[7] The following season, BYU left the Mountain West Conference and joined the West Coast Conference for the 2011–2012 season.

Conference foes

Since the Cougars joined the WCC, Gonzaga has compiled a 24–6 record against BYU. However, BYU is one of few teams to win multiple times at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane over the last decade,^[8] with three consecutive wins at the Kennel in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (the first two were later vacated by the NCAA due to a scandal involving BYU guard Nick Emery). BYU was the only team to beat #1 ranked Gonzaga during the 2016-17 regular season in which Gonzaga earned its first trip to the Final Four and National Championship game.^[9] The Cougars triumphed 79–71 over the 29–0 Zags, overcoming an 18–2 deficit in the game's opening minutes and a 12-point second half hole. BYU's Eric Mika led the way with 29 points and 11 rebounds to hand undefeated Gonzaga its lone loss of the regular season on senior night.

In 2020, on Senior Night at the Marriott Center, No. 23 BYU knocked off No. 2 Gonzaga 91–78 in front of a sellout crowd. As the final buzzer sounded, delirious fans rushed the court for a jubilant celebration — just weeks before the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the most recent Cougar win over the Bulldogs.

In the final WCC campaign for BYU, Julian Strawther etched his name into the rivalry's lore when he knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer in the Zags’ 75–74 win in Provo. Gonzaga won the return game 88–81 in Spokane, finishing 9–3 at the Kennel against the Cougars. Those three losses were the most inflicted by a WCC opponent since BYU joined in 2012; fellow WCC powerhouse Saint Mary's is 2–9 and all other conference programs are 1–75 on the road against the Zags during this period.^[10] This is the last scheduled regular season meeting, as BYU prepares to move to the Big 12 Conference next season. Both programs and their respective head coaches have expressed interest in continuing the rivalry in non=conference play; Gonzaga star Drew Timme emphasized the importance of the series: “I think it’s a special rivalry. And one that should continue even past them leaving the conference,” he said. “I think it’s something that we should do home-and-homes forever. … I feel like it’s developed into such a great rivalry.”.^[9]

Rival Accomplishments

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.^[11][12]

Team	BYU Cougars	Gonzaga Bulldogs
NCAA National Titles	0	0
NCAA Final Four Appearances	0	2
NCAA Tournament Appearances	30	24
NCAA Tournament Record	15–33	41–24
Conference Tournament Titles	3	3
Conference Championships	27	27
Consensus First Team All-Americans	3	5
Naismith Players of the Year	1	0
All-time Program Record	1,897–1,129	1,742–1,119
All-time Winning Percentage	.627	.609

Game results

Below is a complete list of series results. Rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.

BYU victories

Gonzaga victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1949 California Gonzaga 46–41 2 2011 Denver #10 BYU 89–67 3 2012 Provo BYU 83–73 4 2012 Spokane Gonzaga 74–63 5 2012 Paradise Gonzaga 77–58 6 2013 Spokane #10 Gonzaga 83–63 7 2013 Provo #2 Gonzaga 70–65 8 2014 Spokane Gonzaga 84–69 9 2014 Provo BYU 73–65 10 2014 Paradise Gonzaga 75–64 11 2014 Provo #8 Gonzaga 87–80 12 2015 Spokane BYU 73–70 13 2015 Paradise #7 Gonzaga 91–75 14 2016 Spokane BYU 69–68 15 2016 Provo Gonzaga 71–68 16 2016 Paradise Gonzaga 88–84 17 2017 Provo #1 Gonzaga 85–75 No. Date Location Winner Score 18 2017 Spokane BYU 79–71 19 2018 Spokane #14 Gonzaga 68–60 20 2018 Provo #6 Gonzaga 79–65 21 2018 Paradise #6 Gonzaga 74–54 22 2019 Provo #4 Gonzaga 93–63 23 2019 Spokane #2 Gonzaga 102–68 24 2020 Spokane #1 Gonzaga 92–69 25 2020 Provo #23 BYU 91–78 26 2021 Spokane #1 Gonzaga 86–69 27 2021 Provo #1 Gonzaga 82–71 28 2021 Paradise #1 Gonzaga 88–78 29 2022 Spokane #2 Gonzaga 110–84 30 2022 Provo #2 Gonzaga 90–57 31 2023 Provo #8 Gonzaga 75–74 32 2023 Spokane #12 Gonzaga 88–81 Series: Gonzaga leads 25–7

References

1. Cole Forsman (February 11, 2023). "Gonzaga, BYU revisit heated WCC rivalry for one final time in Spokane: Preview". Fan Nation. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
2. "BYU's rivalry with Gonzaga has defined the WCC era for the Cougars. This week at the conference tournament could add an important chapter". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
3. "BYU ready for another showdown against #2 Gonzaga". January 13, 2022.
4. "Big 12 Extends Membership Invitations". Big 12 Conference. September 10, 2021. from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
5. Lundquist, Casey (September 10, 2021). "BYU Athletics to Join the Big 12 in 2023". SI.com. from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
6. Harper, Mitch (January 11, 2023). "Will The BYU/Gonzaga Basketball Rivalry Continue?". KSL Sports. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
7. "Gonzaga, BYU revisit heated WCC rivalry for one final time in Spokane: Preview". February 11, 2023.
8. "Gonzaga strives to keep rivalry with BYU respectful | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
9. "How the BYU-Gonzaga basketball rivalry evolved — and what does its future hold?". Deseret News. January 11, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
10. "'Respect and hatred': Gonzaga reminisces about its spirited, colorful rivalry with BYU". Deseret News. February 16, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
11. "2022 23 Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). Gonzaga University Athletics. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
12. "2022-2023 Men's Basketball Almanac | byucougars.com". byucougars.com. Retrieved March 2, 2023.