Revisiting the Brief History Between Kentucky and Gonzaga

Kentucky has the Greatest Tradition in the History of College Basketball, and that’s not just a tagline. The Wildcats were the sport’s first great powerhouse and that tradition of excellence has continued with five coaches bringing National Championships back to Lexington.

Gonzaga is on the other end of the spectrum. The school in Spokane did not make a trip to the NCAA Tournament until 1995. Dan Monson got the Zags to their first Sweet 16 in 1999, then handed the keys to Mark Few, who has now been to nine straight Sweet 16s.

Those differences, and geography, might explain why Saturday night’s showdown in Seattle is just the fourth meeting between these two programs. Before Mark Pope returns to coach in his home state, KSR looks back at the previous three meetings between Kentucky and Gonzaga.

2002: Kentucky Wins in Maui

Tubby Smith’s 15th-ranked Wildcats fell to Virginia in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, setting up a third-place game against the Zags. A one-point game at the intermission, Mark Few’s zone defense was picked apart by the Kentucky bigs in the second half. Jules Camara, Marquis Estill, and Chuck Hayes excelled in the hi-low, combining to score 23 second-half points to help the Cats pull away with an 80-72 win.

The sophomore Hayes had 11 points and nine boards, while Keith Bogans led the Cats in scoring with 18 points. Blake Stepp hit five threes to lead all scorers with 24 points.

2022: Oscar Tshiebwe and Co. get Smoked

A six-game series between Kentucky and Gonzaga was announced in an unusual way. John Calipari conducted a video call with Mark Few, who appeared to be fishing, during a telethon for Eastern Kentucky flood victims. That first game of the series did not go well for Cal’s Cats.

Billed as a duel between two All-American centers, Oscar Tshiebwe put up impressive numbers, but so did Drew Timme and a bunch of other Zags. Tshiebwe had 20 and 15 in Spokane, while Timme tallied 22 points and seven boards. He wasn’t the only difference-maker. Julian Strawther had 20 and 14, while Rasir Bolton poured in 24 points as the Cats were dominated from start to finish in an 88-72 loss to the second-ranked team in the country.

2023: Kentucky Makes History in Close Loss to Gonzaga

Kentucky made the wrong kind of history the last time they squared off against Gonzaga. For the first time in Rupp Arena history, Kentucky lost three straight home games.

The script played out like most of the games from John Calipari’s last season. The Cats got in an early hole, and despite a valiant comeback effort, couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch to complete a comeback. Kentucky trailed 11-4 but was able to cut the deficit to two with five minutes left in the first half, only for Gonzaga to stretch that out to ten points by intermission.

Reed Sheppard was outstanding. The Kentucky kid had 21 points, including a three-point play that tied the game at the 4-minute mark. After that, it was all Gonzaga. The Bulldogs made winning plays down the stretch while Kentucky seemingly had no answer inside for Graham Ike, who had a game-high 23 points. He’ll certainly play a big role in Saturday night’s game against the Cats.