Gonzaga to host Chicago State for regular season finale
The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ 14th nonconference game will be on March 1 at home against Chicago State, according to a report from the Bracketeer’s Rocco Miller.
The Zags have hosted nonconference opponents for “senior night” before, but not since 2012 when Longwood came to town. Prior to that, Cal State Bakersfield made the trip to Spokane in 2010 and 2011, and before that, Gonzaga hosted Northern Colorado in the regular season finale in 2009.
Since then, the Zags have gone 7-3 on “senior night” against West Coast Conference opponents, with their last loss coming in 2017 when BYU played spoiler to a perfect regular season. The loss marked the last time Gonzaga dropped a home game to a WCC foe.
Gonzaga defeated Santa Clara on “senior night” last season 81-69, behind Drew Timme’s 23 points and nine rebounds.
The first round of the WCC tournament is slated to begin on March 2, but should the Zags earn a bye like they’ve done routinely under Mark Few, they’ll have a spot in the semifinal game secured for March 6. That leaves a gap in between their WCC regular season finale against Saint Mary’s on Feb. 25 and the conference tournament.
And if no other games are added to the schedule, the Zags will have a large window in between their Dec. 20 home game against Montana and the WCC opener against Pepperdine on Dec. 31. Gonzaga had a similar break last season after an away game against LMU was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
After finishing second to last place in the Western Athletic Conference, Chicago State will be an independent school for the 2022-23 season under second-year head coach Gerad Gillion. The Cougars went 7-25 in his first year at the helm, which was the most wins in a single season for the program since the 2014-15 campaign.
