Gonzaga Basketball: Down go the Bulldogs!

By Stuart Gill | Feb 26, 2017

Feb 4, 2017; Spokane, WA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few talks with a referee during a game against the Santa Clara Broncos during the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs won 90-55. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1 Gonzaga Basketball suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of the BYU Cougars.

BYU did the impossible: they went into the McCarthey Athletic Center and knocked off the undefeated No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs by a score of 79-71, spoiling senior night and the Zags’ chance at a perfect regular season record.

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With a minute left and the score tied at 71, Eric Mika did what he does best as he got the ball at the top of the key, gave a jab step to the right to keep his defender Przemek Kanowski on his heels, then rose up and drained a jumper to take the lead. Gonzaga was unable to score on their next possession, and then it was Corbin Kaufusi, playing in place of Yoeli Childs (who fouled out with around four minutes to go), who sealed the deal for the Cougars with a putback lay-in to go up by four with under 20 seconds to play. The Zags were forced to foul to stop the clock for the rest of the game, which resulted in the 79-71 victory for BYU.

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Mika was unstoppable in this one, hitting 10 out of 14 shot attempts for 29 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Freshman TJ Haws was also a factor, as he hit five 3-pointers and ended up with 17 points. Elijah Bryant added 14 points and five rebounds.

For the first time all season, people have reason to wonder who might win the WCC Tournament. Gonzaga was terrific — four of their five starting players scored 10 points or more, with Nigel Williams-Goss leading the charge with 19 points. As a team, they shot nearly 46 percent and they were even with BYU in rebounds at 38 apiece. But they never took control of the game the way they have been able to do all year, and BYU proved that they can be beaten.

BYU picked apart the best defense in the country by playing patient, disciplined basketball, and received a healthy dose of sharp shooting from deep. One huge factor in this game was also Kaufusi, who was tasked with maintaining Gonzaga’s dominant center Karnowski.

Kaufusi, who is also a defensive lineman on the Cougars’ football team, is quite possibly the best-suited player in the country for such a job. He managed to hold Karnowski to 10 points and only six shot attempts the entire game and kept him scoreless for a stretch of 30 minutes. Without Kaufusi’s effort, this game would’ve been very different.

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BYU is now 12-6 in WCC play, two games ahead of fourth-place San Francisco. They will open the WCC Tournament on Saturday, March 4th at 1 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas against Loyola Marymount University (15-14 overall, 8-10 WCC). Gonzaga is now 17-1 and will play on March 4th at 7 p.m. against the winner of the matchup between Pepperdine and Pacific, the respective No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the West Coast Conference.