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BYU stuns No. 1 Gonzaga, hands Zags first loss of the season

By Sarabeth Pollock

Feb 25, 2017; Spokane, WA, USA; The Brigham Young Cougars bench celebrates a basket against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. The Cougars beat the Bulldogs 79-71. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2017; Spokane, WA, USA; The Brigham Young Cougars bench celebrates a basket against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half at McCarthey Athletic Center. The Cougars beat the Bulldogs 79-71. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /
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The BYU Cougars came back from a 16-point deficit to stun the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs, ending their perfect season in a stunning 79-71 loss.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs were looking to finish their season at home on Senior Night with a win to cap off their perfect season and take the title from the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers as the last team to finish the season undefeated. The Zags came into Saturday night’s game following a resounding 96-38 victory over the University of San Diego Toreros.

Everything was lined up perfectly for the Zags — until the BYU Cougars came to town.

Gonzaga entered Saturday’s game with a 29-0 record, looking to close out the season with a perfect record before advancing to the West Coast Conference Tournament next week. The Cougars came into the night with a 20-10 record overall and an 11-6 in WCC play. They were looking for a Santa Clara loss tonight to ensure a No. 3 spot at the WCC tournament, but they came away with a huge win over the No. 1 team in the nation instead.

At one point early in the game, the Zags had a 16-point lead over the Cougars with an 18-2 run in the first few minutes of the game. That’s when BYU’s sophomore big man Eric Mika caught fire. Mika’s shot with a minute left in the game put the Cougars up 73-71 and  BYU never looked back. By the end of the night Mika scored 29 points with 11 rebounds, helping the Cougars rally against the Zags and secure the win.

The Zags were sluggish tonight, shooting an abysmal 19 percent from behind the arc, which is their worst performance since 2015. Nigel Williams-Goss scored 19 points, but too many missed opportunities took a toll on the team. The Zags lost the lead twice before BYU finally ran away with the game.

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With the loss, Gonzaga falls to 29-1 on the season (17-1 in WCC). They’ll likely still land a top-four spot at the Big Dance even with the loss.