# 2011–12 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs (also informally referred to as the "Zags"), members of the West Coast Conference, were led by head coach Mark Few, in his 13th season at the school. The Zags played most of their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the university campus in Spokane, Washington, but played one home game at Spokane Arena, located in downtown Spokane about 2 miles (3 km) from the Gonzaga campus. The team also played one game at KeyArena in Seattle, a contest billed as the "Battle in Seattle". This season, the Zags also played a game against Hawaiʻi at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. It was something of a homecoming for center Robert Sacre who is from North Vancouver. The Zags had three Canadians on this year's roster, one of whom (Kelly Olynyk) was redshirted and did not play in 2011–12.
They finished the season 26–7, 13–3 in WCC play to finish in second place. They lost in the championship game of the West Coast Basketball tournament to Saint Mary's. They received an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA tournament, their 14th straight tournament bid, where they defeated West Virginia in the second round before falling in the third round to Ohio State.

## Preseason

In 2011–12, the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team were in their 32nd season as a member of the West Coast Conference. Since 2004, the team has played their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center, which has a capacity of 6,000.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Steven Gray | 41 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Senior | Irondale, WA | Graduated |
| Demetri Goodson | 3 | G | 6'0" | 173 | Junior | Spring, TX | Transferred to Baylor (Football) |
| Mangisto Arop | 2 | G | 6'6" | 208 | Sophomore | Edmonton, AB | Transferred to Indiana State |
| Keegan Hyland | 33 | G | 6'4" | 192 | Freshman | Portland, ME | Transferred to Fairfield |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School | Years Remaining | Date Eligible |
| Guy Landry Edi | F | 6'6" | 218 | Junior | Agboville, Côte d'Ivoire | Midland College | 1.5 | Dec. 17, 2011 |

### 2011 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Gary Bell Jr. PG | Kent, WA | Kentridge | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 26, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Kyle Dranginis PG | Nampa, ID | Skyview | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | May 24, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Ryan Spangler PF | Blanchard, OK | Bridge Creek | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 24, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Kevin Pangos PG | Newmarket, ON | Denison Secondary School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 5, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Chris Sarbaugh PG | Spokane, WA | Gonzaga Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR 247Sports: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2011 Gonzaga Rivals Commits". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. "2011 Gonzaga Scout Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. "2011 Gonzaga ESPN Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. "2011 Gonzaga 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 28, 2011* 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 23 | Carroll | W 95–51 | | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| November 5, 2011* | No. 23 | vs. Texas Secret Scrimmage | W – | - | Pepsi Center (-) Denver, CO |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 11, 2011* 8:00 pm, SWX/ROOT | No. 23 | Eastern Washington | W 77–69 | 1–0 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| November 14, 2011* 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 22 | Washington State | W 89–81 | 2–0 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| November 19, 2011* 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 22 | vs. Hawaii BC Basketball Classic | W 73–54 | 3–0 | Rogers Arena (9,687) Vancouver, BC |
| November 26, 2011* 1:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 19 | vs. Western Michigan Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic | W 78–58 | 4–0 | Spokane Arena (9,610) Spokane, WA |
| November 30, 2011* 8:15 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | Notre Dame | W 73–53 | 5–0 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 3, 2011* 12:15 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | at Illinois | L 75–82 | 5–1 | Assembly Hall (15,879) Champaign, IL |
| December 10, 2011* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | Michigan State | L 67–74 | 5–2 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 15, 2011* 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | Oral Roberts | W 67–61 | 6–2 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 17, 2011* 1:00 pm, CBS | | vs. Arizona Battle in Seattle | W 71–60 | 7–2 | KeyArena (15,127) Seattle, WA |
| December 20, 2011* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Butler | W 71–55 | 8–2 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 22, 2011* 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | Air Force | W 70–60 | 9–2 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 28, 2011 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | Portland | W 90–51 | 10–2 (1–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| December 31, 2011* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Xavier | W 72–65 | 11–2 | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 5, 2012 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 25 | Pepperdine | W 73–45 | 12–2 (2–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| January 7, 2012 5:00 pm, KAYU/ROOT | No. 25 | Santa Clara | W 82–60 | 13–2 (3–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| January 12, 2012 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 21 | at Saint Mary's | L 62–83 | 13–3 (3–1) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| January 14, 2012 5:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 21 | at Loyola Marymount | W 62–58 | 14–3 (4–1) | Gersten Pavilion (3,942) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 19, 2012 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | San Francisco | W 74–63 | 15–3 (5–1) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| January 21, 2012 5:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | San Diego | W 77–60 | 16–3 (6–1) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| January 26, 2012 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Portland | W 74–62 | 17–3 (7–1) | Chiles Center (4,852) Portland, OR |
| February 2, 2012 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | at BYU | L 73–83 | 17–4 (7–2) | Marriott Center (19,257) Provo, UT |
| February 4, 2012 7:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 24 | at Pepperdine | W 72–60 | 18–4 (8–2) | Firestone Fieldhouse (2,120) Malibu, CA |
| February 9, 2012 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 16 Saint Mary's | W 73–59 | 19–4 (9–2) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 11, 2012 5:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | Loyola Marymount | W 78–59 | 20–4 (10–2) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 16, 2012 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | at Santa Clara | W 73–62 | 21–4 (11–2) | Leavey Center (4,700) Santa Clara, CA |
| February 18, 2012 5:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | No. 24 | at San Francisco | L 65–66 | 21–5 (11–3) | War Memorial Gymnasium (4,500) San Francisco, CA |
| February 23, 2012 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | BYU | W 74–63 | 22–5 (12–3) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 25, 2012 4:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | at San Diego | W 65–57 | 23–5 (13–3) | Jenny Craig Pavilion (3,962) San Diego, CA |
| February 27, 2012* 6:00 pm, KHQ/ROOT | | Longwood | W 92–60 | 24–5 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 2012 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2012 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. BYU Semifinals | W 77–58 | 25–5 | Orleans Arena (7,828) Paradise, NV |
| March 5, 2012 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 24 | vs. Saint Mary's Championship Game | L 74–78 $^{OT}$ | 25–6 | Orleans Arena (6,826) Paradise, NV |
| 2012 NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 15, 2012* 4:20 pm, TNT | No. (7) | vs. (10) West Virginia Second Round | W 77–54 | 26–6 | Consol Energy Center (19,413) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 17, 2012* 11:45 am, CBS | No. (7) | vs. No. 7 (2) Ohio State Third Round | L 66–73 | 26–7 | Consol Energy Center (18,588) Pittsburgh, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. ||||||