2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
WCC regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament Runner-up
Conference	West Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#2
AP	#1
2020–21 record	31–1 (15–0 WCC)
Head coach	Mark Few (22nd year)
Assistant coach	Tommy Lloyd (20th year)
Assistant coach	Brian Michaelson (8th year)
Assistant coach	Roger Powell Jr. (2nd year)
Home arena	McCarthey Athletic Center

2020–21 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Gonzaga †	15	–	0		1.000			31	–	1		.969
No. 23 BYU	10	–	3		.769			20	–	7		.741
Loyola Marymount	7	–	5		.583			13	–	9		.591
Pepperdine	7	–	6		.538			15	–	12		.556
Pacific	6	–	7		.462			9	–	9		.500
Santa Clara	4	–	5		.444			12	–	8		.600
Saint Mary's	4	–	6		.400			14	–	10		.583
San Francisco	4	–	9		.308			11	–	14		.440
San Diego	2	–	7		.222			3	–	11		.214
Portland	0	–	11		.000			6	–	15		.286
† 2021 WCC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Mark Few, in his 22nd season as head coach. This was the Bulldogs' 17th season at the on-campus McCarthey Athletic Center and 41st season as a member of the West Coast Conference.

The Bulldogs became the first undefeated team to advance to the national championship game since Indiana State in 1979. Gonzaga lost to fellow 1-seed Baylor in the championship game 86–70, denying the Bulldogs a perfect season.

Previous season

Main article: 2019–20 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

The Bulldogs finished the season 31–2, 15–1 in WCC play to be WCC regular-season champions. They then defeated San Francisco and Saint Mary's to be champions of the WCC tournament. They earned the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, all postseason play, including the NCAA Tournament, was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs finished #2 in the final AP and Coaches poll.

Offseason

Coaching changes

Departures

Name	Position	Year at Gonzaga	Alma Mater (year)	Reason for Departure
Gary Bell Jr.	Graduate Assistant	1st	Gonzaga (2015)	Left team

Additions to staff

Name	Position	Year at Gonzaga	Alma Mater (year)	Previous Job
Evan Manning	Graduate Assistant	1st	Kansas (2016)	Director of Player Development at Wake Forest

Player departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Admon Gilder	1	G	6'4"	200	Senior (Redshirt)	Dallas, TX	Completed college eligibility
Ryan Woolridge	4	G	6'3"	175	Senior (Redshirt)	Mansfield, TX	Completed college eligibility
Killian Tillie	33	F	6'10"	220	Senior	Cagnes-sur-Mer, France	Graduated
Filip Petrušev	3	F	6'11"	235	Sophomore	Belgrade, Serbia	Signed with Mega Soccerbet
Brock Ravet	32	G	6'1"	175	Freshman	Kittitas, WA	Left team

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School	Years Remaining	Date Eligible
Aaron Cook Jr.	4	G	6'1"	180	Senior (Redshirt)	St. Louis, MO	Southern Illinois	2	October 1, 2020
Andrew Nembhard	3	G	6'5"	193	Junior	Aurora, ON	Florida	3	November 24, 2020

2020 recruiting class

Name	Home town	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dominick Harris #10 PG	Murrieta, CA	Rancho Christian	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jan 28, 2018
	Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Julian Strawther #18 SG	Las Vegas, NV	Liberty HS	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Apr 18, 2019
	Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Jalen Suggs #2 CG	West St. Paul, MN	Minnehaha	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jan 3, 2020
	Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Ben Gregg #21 SF	Clackamas, OR	Clackamas	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sep 9, 2020
	Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 88
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 14  ESPN: 7
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:

Roster

2020–21 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year High school/previous college Home town G 4 Aaron Cook Jr. 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Sr Westminster Christian Southern Illinois St. Louis, MO F 24 Corey Kispert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr King's Edmonds, WA G 11 Joël Ayayi 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr INSEP Bordeaux, France G 23 Matthew Lang (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Jesuit Portland, OR G 35 Will Graves (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr South Eugene Lane CC Eugene, OR G 3 Andrew Nembhard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Jr Montverde Academy Florida Aurora, ON F 22 Anton Watson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Gonzaga Prep Spokane, WA G 5 Martynas Arlauskas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So President Valdas Adamkus Gymnasium Kaunas, Lithuania F 2 Drew Timme 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Pearce Richardson, TX F 10 Pavel Zakharov 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Montverde Academy St. Petersburg, Russia C 21 Oumar Ballo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 260 lb (118 kg) RS Fr NBA Academy Latin America Koulikoro, Mali G 55 Dominick Harris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Rancho Christian Murrieta, CA G 0 Julian Strawther 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Liberty HS Las Vegas, NV G 1 Jalen Suggs 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Minnehaha West St. Paul, MN G 32 Evan Inglesby (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Barlow Gresham, OR F 30 Abe Eagle (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Chaminade Prep Los Angeles, CA F 20 Colby Brooks (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Loyola HS Los Angeles, CA F 33 Ben Gregg 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Clackamas Clackamas, OR	Head coach Mark Few (Oregon) Assistant coach(es) Tommy Lloyd (Whitman) Brian Michaelson (Gonzaga) Roger Powell Jr. (Illinois) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 17, 2020

• Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.
• Andrew Nembhard was initially ruled as a redshirt prior to the start of the 2020–21 season. However, on November 24, 2020, the NCAA granted him immediate eligibility. Additionally, the NCAA has granted an additional year of eligibility to all individuals who participate in winter sports during the 2020–21 school year. Nembhard will thus have 3 years of eligibility remaining at the start of the 2020–21 season.
• Ben Gregg joined the team on December 17, 2020, after graduating high school early.

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at Gonzaga	Alma Mater (year)
Mark Few	Head coach	22nd	Oregon (1987)
Tommy Lloyd	Associate Head Coach	20th	Whitman (1998)
Brian Michaelson	Assistant coach	8th	Gonzaga (2005)
Roger Powell Jr.	Assistant coach	2nd	Illinois (2005)
Jorge Sanz	Director of Basketball Operations	3rd	Florida Atlantic (2011)
Evan Manning	Graduate Assistant	1st	Kansas (2016)
Ken Nakagawa	Video Coordinator	5th	Long Beach State (2014)
Josh Therrien	Athletic Trainer	5th	Washington State (2007)
Travis Knight	Strength & Conditioning Coach	15th	Gonzaga (2000)

Schedule and results

Until the championship game, Gonzaga was the only NCAA basketball team, either men's or women's, to remain undefeated in every game (within and outside its conference) during the 2020–21 season. During the championship game, Baylor University became the season champions after defeating Gonzaga 86–70.

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (Attendance) City, State
Non-conference regular season
November 26, 2020* 10:30 am, FOX	#1	vs. #6 Kansas Fort Myers Tip-Off	102–90	1–0	25 – Timme	9 – Ayayi	8 – Suggs	Suncoast Credit Union Arena (175) Fort Myers, FL
November 27, 2020* 8:00 am, FOX	#1	vs. Auburn Fort Myers Tip-Off	90–67	2–0	28 – Timme	10 – Timme	6 – Suggs	Suncoast Credit Union Arena (288) Fort Myers, FL
December 2, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN	#1	vs. #11 West Virginia Jimmy V Classic	87–82	3–0	21 – Ayayi	7 – Ayayi	6 – Nembhard	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
December 5, 2020* 10:00 am, CBS	#1	vs. #2 Baylor			–	–	–	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
December 8, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Tarleton State			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 10, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Southern			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 12, 2020* 7:30 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Northern Arizona			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 14, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Idaho			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 19, 2020* 9:00 am, CBS	#1	vs. #3 Iowa	99–88	4–0	27 – Suggs	18 – Ayayi	6 – Ayayi, Kispert	Sanford Pentagon (243) Sioux Falls, SD
December 21, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Northwestern State	95–57	5–0	27 – Kispert	8 – Timme	7 – Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 22, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Northwestern State	95–78	6–0	25 – Timme	9 – Timme	5 – Ayayi, Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 26, 2020* 1:00 pm, CBS	#1	vs. #16 Virginia	98–75	7–0	32 – Kispert	8 – Timme	8 – Nembhard	Dickies Arena (2,795) Fort Worth, TX
December 28, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Northern Arizona	88–58	8–0	17 – Ayayi	10 – Ayayi	7 – Nembhard	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
December 29, 2020* 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Dixie State	112–67	9–0	25 – Kispert	11 – Ayayi	6 – Ayayi	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
WCC Regular Season
January 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2	#1	San Francisco	85–62	10–0 (1–0)	26 – Kispert	11 – Timme	4 – Nembhard	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
January 7, 2021 7:00 pm	#1	Santa Clara			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
January 7, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN	#1	BYU Rivalry/Moved from February 6	86–69	11–0 (2–0)	23 – Kispert	8 – Watson	6 – Ayayi	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
January 9, 2021 5:00 pm, KAYU/RTNW	#1	at Portland	116–88	12–0 (3–0)	26 – Timme	13 – Ayayi	14 – Ayayi	Chiles Center  Portland, OR
January 14, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN	#1	Pepperdine	95–70	13–0 (4–0)	23 – Kispert	10 – Watson	4 – Nembhard, Timme	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
January 16, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN	#1	at Saint Mary's Rivalry	73–59	14–0 (5–0)	17 – Kispert	8 – Timme	2 – Suggs	University Credit Union Pavilion  Moraga, CA
January 23, 2021 7:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	Pacific	95–49	15–0 (6–0)	22 – Timme	11 – Suggs	8 – Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
January 28, 2021 6:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	at San Diego	90–62	16–0 (7–0)	21 – Timme	8 – Kispert	10 – Nembhard	Jenny Craig Pavilion  San Diego, CA
January 30, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN	#1	at Pepperdine	97–75	17–0 (8–0)	19 – Timme	7 – Ayayi	8 – Nembhard	Firestone Fieldhouse  Malibu, CA
February 4, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN	#1	at Pacific Moved from February 25	76–58	18–0 (9–0)	21 – Timme	9 – Suggs	3 – Nembhard, Suggs	Alex G. Spanos Center  Stockton, CA
February 4, 2021 6:00 pm	#1	Loyola Marymount			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
February 6, 2021 7:00 pm	#1	Santa Clara rescheduled from January 7			–	–	–	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
February 8, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN	#1	at BYU Rivalry/moved from February 27	82–71	19–0 (10–0)	24 – Suggs	13 – Timme	4 – Ayayi	Marriott Center  Provo, UT
February 11, 2021 7:00 pm, KHQ/RTNW	#1	at Santa Clara			–	–	–	Leavey Center  Santa Clara, CA
February 13, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN2	#1	at San Francisco	100–61	20–0 (11–0)	28 – Timme	10 – Timme	5 – Nembhard, Suggs	War Memorial Gymnasium  San Francisco, CA
February 18, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN	#1	Saint Mary's Rivalry	87–65	21–0 (12–0)	20 – Kispert	6 – Ayayi	5 – Nembhard, Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center  Spokane, WA
February 20, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2	#1	San Diego	106–69	22–0 (13–0)	21 – Timme	8 – Kispert, Timme	3 – Kispert	McCarthey Athletic Center (200) Spokane, WA
February 25, 2021 4:00 pm, CBSSN	#1	Santa Clara rescheduled from February 6	89–75	23–0 (14–0)	25 – Kispert	11 – Suggs	8 – Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center (200) Spokane, WA
February 27, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN	#1	Loyola Marymount rescheduled from February 4	86–69	24–0 (15–0)	24 – Kispert	7 – Timme	7 – Suggs	McCarthey Athletic Center (200) Spokane, WA
WCC Tournament
March 8, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1) #1	vs. (4) Saint Mary's Semifinals	78–55	25–0	18 – Timme	8 – Timme	4 – Timme	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
March 9, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1) #1	vs. (2) BYU Championship/Rivalry	88–78	26–0	23 – Suggs	9 – Ayayi	5 – Suggs	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
March 20, 2021* 6:20 pm, TBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (16 W) Norfolk State First Round	98–55	27–0	23 – Kispert	9 – Ayayi	7 – Cook	Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
March 22, 2021* 11:40 am, CBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (8 W) Oklahoma Second Round	87–71	28–0	30 – Timme	13 – Timme	4 – Timme	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
March 28, 2021* 11:10 am, CBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (5 W) #19 Creighton Sweet Sixteen	83–65	29–0	22 – Timme	8 – Ayayi	8 – Nembhard	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
March 30, 2021* 4:15 pm, TBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (6 W) #23 USC Elite Eight	85–66	30–0	23 – Timme	10 – Suggs	8 – Suggs	Lucas Oil Stadium  Indianapolis, IN
April 3, 2021* 5:34 pm, CBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (11 E) UCLA Final Four	93–90 OT	31–0	25 – Timme	6 – Ayayi	8 – Nembhard	Lucas Oil Stadium (8,131) Indianapolis, IN
April 5, 2021* 6:20 pm, CBS	(1 W) #1	vs. (1 S) #3 Baylor National Championship	70–86	31–1	22 – Suggs	5 – Timme	4 – Nembhard	Lucas Oil Stadium  Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

Source

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	1 (28)	1 (57)	1 (54)	1 (54)	1 (61)	1 (62)	1 (63)	1 (63)	1 (62)	1 (62)	1 (61)	1 (55)	1 (59)	1 (60)	1 (59)	1 (61)	1 (60)	Not released
Coaches	2 (10)	2^ (10)	1 (23)	1 (24)	1 (25)	1 (29)	1 (29)	1 (29)	1 (28)	1 (29)	1 (28)	1 (28)	1 (28)	1 (28)	1 (31)	1 (31)	1 (32)	2
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^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.