The UConn men’s basketball team’s gauntlet-like run of nonconference games against some of college basketball’s biggest programs will come to an end on Friday as the Huskies travel to Seattle to face Gonzaga (10 p.m., ESPN).
The two programs will always share a common bond– the 1999 NCAA Tournament that finally cemented UConn as a championship-caliber program, and created Gonzaga as a concept, the Cinderella school with the really cool name that just wouldn’t die, eventually rising up from next to nothing to become a national powerhouse.
These two new-age college hoops powers have met six times, each time at a neutral site. The Huskies and Zags have twice battled with a Final Four berth on the line, they’ve played for Maui Invitational titles, in Boston, the Bahamas and in Seattle. It seems like every time they get together, something is at stake.
Here’s a look back at their matchups throughout history:
March 10, 1999
(1) UConn 67, (10) Gonzaga 62
When these two met for the first time in the West Regional Final in Phoenix in 1999, it would have been impossible to imagine the impact that each would go on to have in college basketball in the years ahead. UConn, which was 31-2 entering the game, had to get past the Cinderella Zags to reach the Final Four for the first time ever, after reaching the Elite Eight three times that decade and twice in the previous four years.
Gonzaga, at 28-6, was a 10-seed after winning the West Coast Conference, a one-bid league back in the day, and was considered a minor threat heading into the NCAAs. No one expected the Bulldogs to rip off three straight wins, knocking out seventh-seeded Minnesota, second-seeded Stanford and sixth-seeded Florida along the way. For years, NCAA Tournament Cinderellas had been pulling upsets in the first and second rounds, but there seemed to be a glass ceiling in the Sweet 16– until the Zags broke through. (Hence Gus Johnson’s call “The Slipper Still Fits!”).
UConn would go on to win the national championship with a stunning upset of its own, over heavily-favored Duke in the title game. But to get there, they had to outlast Gonzaga, which ended up being the Huskies’ toughest opponent on their road to the Final Four. Richard Hamilton led all scorers with 21 points, Kevin Freeman added 13 points and 15 rebounds, and UConn escaped with sweaty palms and a 67-62 win.
“It came down to a matter of heart,” Freeman said after the game. “I think we really underestimated their inside play in the first half. Then it was a matter of winning the game or losing. Jake (Voskhul) and I and Edmund (Saunders) came in and said we were going to rebound. And I think that was the changing point.”
Nov. 24, 2005
No. 3 UConn 65, No. 8 Gonzaga 63
The second-ever meeting between the Huskies and Zags was also a classic, and it came in the final of the 2005 Maui Invitational. Denham Brown’s turnaround jump hook over Adam Morrison with 1.1 seconds to go gave the Huskies the Maui title, despite 18 points from the future Wooden Award winner.
“He shot a right-handed hook over a 6-8 guy. It was a great shot,” Morrison said afterwards. “I didn’t want to foul him so I put my hands up. All tournament it was big plays and he made a big play.”
UConn, led by Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams, would go on to finish 30-4 before losing to George Mason in the Elite Eight (speaking of Cinderellas). Gonzaga finished 29-4 and lost to UCLA in the Sweet 16 in heartbreaking fashion– you may remember Morrison crying at center court after the Zags blew a late lead.
Dec. 1, 2007
No. 19 Gonzaga 85, UConn 82
The Zags earned their first win over the Huskies in The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase at TD Garden in Boston. Jeremy Pargo led Gonzaga with 23 points and 5 assists, and it was enough to outlast A.J. Price (23 points) Jerome Dyson (19 points) and Jeff Adrien (15 points, 9 rebounds), in yet another down-to-the-wire affair.
Price had a shot to tie the game at the buzzer but it clanked off the rim. UConn coach Jim Calhoun wasn’t happy with his squad after.
“We did shoot well in the first half but in the whole second half we made three good plays and a bunch of bad ones,” Calhoun fumed to reporters afterwards. “I can’t say anything (positive) about a single UConn player. In 22 years I can count on one hand opportunities that were presented like that. It’s best that’s all I say. Gonzaga deserved to win because they made the plays when they had to. This game’s going to stick with me for a while. We gave points away. We put ourselves in that position.”
Dec. 20, 2008
No. 2 UConn 88, No. 8 Gonzaga 83
A year after his game-tying shot attempt missed, A.J. Price made up for it in this Battle in Seattle, draining an off-balance three to tie the game at the end of regulation. He finished with 24 points as the Huskies fought back from an 11-point second-half deficit and escaped with a win.
“It had the atmosphere of a March Madness,” Price said after the game. “This game assured me of our toughness. Being able to battle adversity, down 11 in the second half on the road, and come back? We are tough.”
Nov. 27, 2015
No. 10 Gonzaga 73, No. 18 UConn 70
Once again meeting on a neutral court, this time at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas, Gonzaga held off a second-half charge to knock off the Huskies. Kyle Wiltjer led the Zags with 17 points while a sophomore Domantas Sabonis scored 12 off the bench.
Kevin Ollie’s Huskies were outscored 43-27 in the first half but outscored the Zags 43-30 in the second, coming within a missed three by Rodney Purvis of tying the game.
“I was proud of our guys,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said after the game. “On the third day of a tournament like this, I think it’s all about showing what kind of competitor you are. You can pout after the first disappointing loss that you think we should have won, or you can show up and compete. I’m really proud of how we showed up and we competed.”
March 25, 2023
(4) UConn 82, (3) Gonzaga 54
The only game these two have ever played that wasn’t a barnburner was last season’s Elite Eight, when the eventual national champion Huskies steamrolled the 31-5 Zags, leaving plenty of college basketball observers in abject awe. If it hadn’t been already clear with the way UConn demoralized Arkansas in the Sweet 16 (88-65), fans across the country discovered that they were about to watch the Huskies cruise to their fifth national championship.
Jordan Hawkins led all scorers with 20 points, and UConn held Gonzaga star big man Drew Timme to 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting.
“UConn was just terrific tonight and we didn’t have any answers, especially when kind of everything really didn’t bounce our way,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said afterwards. No one else would either as UConn waltzed to another title.
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