Dec. 3—In 27 seasons, Mark Few's teams at Gonzaga have been on the losing end of 153 games — an average of just 5.6 losses per season. The Zags have made it through 13 seasons with five losses or fewer while maintaining an overall winning percentage of .830.
To the surprise of no one, double-digit losses haven't come along very often for Few's teams, either. Prior to last Wednesday, you could count on two hands the amount of times Gonzaga's lost by at least 20 points during the coach's tenure.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA 101-61 loss to now third-ranked Michigan in the championship game at the Players Era Festival signified the widest margin defeat of the Few era but also marked just the 11th time the Zags have lost by at least 20 points in his 902 games. Only six of those 11 losses came during the regular season, with five others occurring in the NCAA Tournament.
How past Gonzaga teams bounced back from losses of that nature may not necessarily inform how the 2025-26 team will respond when it takes the floor Friday in another high-profile nonconference matchup against No. 18 Kentucky at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena (4 p.m. PT, ESPN2).
Still, we figured it could be worthwhile to revisit the five other instances where Gonzaga lost by 20 points or more in the regular-season, if only to see what happened in the games and months that followed.
Dec. 29, 2000
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBoise State 94, Gonzaga 69
In Few's second season, the Zags lost an early game at Arizona, 101-87, before returning home to beat Washington. Then they set off on an extended road trip that spanned four states and three time zones. The Zags struggled in a 77-69 win at Montana before traveling to Boise State three days later.
After going into halftime with a 44-33 deficit, Gonzaga couldn't make up the ground in the second half and eventually lost by 25 points — at the time, the school's largest loss since 1991.
The Zags had to take a few more steps back before moving forward. Gonzaga lost its next game against Florida, 85-71, in a rematch of the iconic 1999 Sweet 16 game and dropped two of three games after that. The Zags eventually got back on track, winning 20 of their next 21 games before losing to Michigan State in the Sweet 16.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJan. 3, 2007
Virginia 108, Gonzaga 87
A four-game skid during the 2006-07 season culminated with a 21-point loss to Virginia in Gonzaga's nonconference finale. After 20 minutes, the Zags trailed 60-26 and managed to straighten things out in the second half, outscoring the Cavaliers 61-48 to soften the blow of the 21-point loss. Derek Raivio had 26 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the 3-point line for GU, but the Zags couldn't contain Virginia 3-point sniper Sean Singletary, who scored 37 points on 7 of 12 from behind the arc.
Gonzaga opened WCC play a few days later and won its first three conference games, but the Zags lost four more times before the postseason and dropped their NCAA Tournament opener to Indiana, losing 70-57.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDec. 19, 2009
Duke 76, Gonzaga 41
Nowadays, it's common for Gonzaga to have anywhere from four to six double-digit scorers in a given game. Rarely have the Zags made it through a game without a single player in double figures, though. That happened in 2009 at Madison Square Garden, where a Duke team featuring Kyle Singler, Miles Plumlee and current Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer limited the Zags to 15 of 54 from the field and 1 of 10 from the 3-point line while forcing 18 turnovers. Robert Sacre was the high scorer for GU, totaling nine points on 2 of 11 shooting.
Gonzaga took the lesson and thumped Eastern Washington by 42 points in its next game, finishing the season with a 27-7 mark and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where it would lose to another ACC power led by a Hall of Fame coach — Syracuse and Jim Boeheim.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDec. 8, 2010
Washington State 81, Gonzaga 59
Before rattling off seven consecutive wins against Washington State — a streak that spills into this year's series between the Inland Northwest rivals — the Zags were humbled by Klay Thompson's Cougars in 2010, losing by 22 points in a game that was relatively close at the halftime break.
WSU led 30-24 after the first half of play, but the turnover-prone Zags coughed the ball up 25 times and couldn't slow Thompson, the future Golden State Warriors star who scored 24 points and drained four 3-pointers.
That signified Gonzaga's fourth loss and the fifth would come just a handful of days later at Notre Dame. Aside from one stretch of WCC play where the Zags dropped four of six games, Few's team didn't waver the rest of the season, capturing the conference tournament title before losing to Jimmer Fredette-led BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJan. 1, 2012
Saint Mary's 83, Gonzaga 62
A common theme of Gonzaga's biggest losses? The Zags running into a lethal 3-point shooter on the wrong night. In a road WCC opener during the 2011-12 season, it was Saint Mary's and Matthew Dellavedova. The Australian point guard got loose for 26 points, making 10 of 16 shots from the field and 5 of 10 from the 3-point line, to go along with six assists, in a 21-point victory.
The Zags won their next four games and avenged the Saint Mary's loss with a 14-point win against the Gaels when the teams played in Spokane, setting up a rubber match in the WCC Tournament. Willed by Dellavedova's 22 points, Saint Mary's emerged with a 78-74 victory in overtime.
Gonzaga still found its way into the NCAA field through an at-large bid, beating West Virginia in the opening round before losing to Ohio State.
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