# 2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs are members of the West Coast Conference, were led by head coach Mark Few, and played their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga campus in Spokane, Washington. The Zags finished the season 28–6, 14–0 in WCC play to claim the regular-season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the 2009 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament where they won the championship game against Saint Mary's. They received an invitation to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning 4 seed in the South Region. They defeated 13 seed Akron and 12 seed Western Kentucky before losing to the 1 seed and eventual champions North Carolina in the sweet sixteen.

## Preseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Abdullahi Kuso | 31 | F | 6'9" | 241 | Senior (Redshirt) | Kaduna, Nigeria | Graduated |
| David Pendergraft | 25 | G | 6'6" | 223 | Senior | Brewster, WA | Graduated |
| Larry Gurganious | 20 | F | 6'5" | 199 | Sophomore (Redshirt) | Berkeley, CA | Transferred to UC Riverside |
| Theo Davis | 34 | F | 6'9" | 198 | Freshman (Redshirt) | Brampton, ON | Transferred to Binghamton |

### 2008 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Andy Poling PF | Portland, OR | Westview | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 232 lb (105 kg) | Aug 2, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Grant Gibbs PG | Marion, IA | Linn-Mar | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 204 lb (93 kg) | Jul 17, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Demetri Goodson PG | McKinney, TX | Klein Collins | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 164 lb (74 kg) | Oct 2, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Michael Hart SG | Portland, OR | Jesuit | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 201 lb (91 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: 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: "2008 Gonzaga Rivals Commits". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Gonzaga Scout Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Gonzaga ESPN Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/15/2008* 4:00 pm, KHQ | No. 10 | Montana State Billings | W 83–52 | 1–0 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 11/18/2008* 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 9 | Idaho | W 80–46 | 2–0 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 11/27/2008* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | vs. Oklahoma State Old Spice Classic | W 83–71 | 3–0 | Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (4,644) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| 11/28/2008* 2:30 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | vs. Maryland Old Spice Classic | W 81–59 | 4–0 | Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| 11/30/2008* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | vs. No. 12 Tennessee Old Spice Classic | W 73–64 | 5–0 | Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (3,914) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| 12/06/2008* 10:30 am, Big Ten Network | No. 5 | at Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge | W 70–54 | 6–0 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| 12/10/2008* 7:00 pm, KHQ | No. 4 | at Washington State | W 74–52 | 7–0 | Beasley Coliseum (10,984) Pullman, WA |
| 12/14/2008* 3:00 pm, FSN | No. 4 | vs. Arizona Duel in the Desert | L 64–69 | 7–1 | US Airways Center (6,207) Phoenix, AZ |
| 12/18/2008* 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 8 | Texas Southern | W 84–42 | 8–1 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 12/20/2008* 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 8 | vs. No. 2 Connecticut Battle in Seattle | L 83–88 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 | KeyArena (16,763) Seattle, WA |
| 12/23/2008* 5:00 pm, KHQ | No. 7 | Portland State | L 70–77 | 8–3 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 12/31/2008* 5:00 pm, CBS College Sports | No. 16 | at Utah | L 65–66 | 8–4 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,571) Salt Lake City, UT |
| 1/7/2009* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 15 Tennessee | W 89–79 $^{OT}$ | 9–4 | Thompson-Boling Arena (22,326) Knoxville, TN |
| 1/10/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ | | Portland | W 67–50 | 10–4 (1–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 1/15/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ | | Santa Clara | W 95–53 | 11–4 (2–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 1/17/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ | | San Francisco | W 85–51 | 12–4 (3–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 1/22/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 23 | at Pepperdine | W 83–69 | 13–4 (4–0) | Firestone Fieldhouse (2,342) Malibu, CA |
| 1/24/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ | No. 23 | at Loyola Marymount | W 93–60 | 14–4 (5–0) | Gersten Pavilion (3,796) Los Angeles, CA |
| 1/29/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 20 | No. 22 Saint Mary's | W 69–62 | 15–4 (6–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 1/31/2009 3:00 pm, ESPN | No. 20 | San Diego | W 64–47 | 16–4 (7–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 2/5/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | at Portland | W 93–78 | 17–4 (8–0) | Chiles Center (4,987) Portland, OR |
| 2/7/2009* 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 18 | vs. No. 14 Memphis ESPN College GameDay & Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic | L 50–68 | 17–5 | Spokane Arena (11,339) Spokane, WA |
| 2/12/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | at Saint Mary's | W 72–70 | 18–5 (9–0) | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| 2/14/2009 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 19 | at San Francisco | W 78–73 | 19–5 (10–0) | War Memorial Gymnasium (3,367) San Francisco, CA |
| 2/19/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 17 | Loyola Marymount | W 91–54 | 20–5 (11–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 2/21/2009 8:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | Pepperdine | W 92–58 | 21–5 (12–0) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| 2/26/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | at Santa Clara | W 81–73 | 22–5 (13–0) | Leavey Center (4,700) Santa Clara, CA |
| 2/28/2009 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | at San Diego | W 58–47 | 23–5 (14–0) | Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) San Diego, CA |
| 3/3/2009* 6:00 pm, KHQ | No. 14 | USC Upstate | W 90–40 | 24–5 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| WCC Tournament ||||||
| 03/8/2009 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 14 | vs. Santa Clara | W 94–59 | 25–5 | Orleans Arena (7,845) Las Vegas, NV |
| 03/9/2009 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | vs. Saint Mary's | W 83–58 | 26–5 | Orleans Arena (7,845) Las Vegas, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/19/09* 4:25 pm, CBS | No. 10 (4) | vs. (13) Akron First Round | W 77–64 | 27–5 | Rose Garden Portland, Oregon |
| 3/21/09* 5:30 pm, CBS | No. 10 (4) | vs. (12) Western Kentucky Second Round | W 83–81 | 28–5 | Rose Garden (18,794) Portland, Oregon |
| 3/27/09* 6:57 pm, CBS | No. 10 (4) | vs. No. 2 (1) North Carolina Sweet Sixteen | L 77–98 | 28–6 | FedExForum (17,103) Memphis, Tennessee |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||