1977–78 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

1977–78 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
1977–78 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	14–15 (7–7 Big Sky)
Head coach	Adrian Buoncristiani (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Stew Morrill; Irv Leifer;
Home arena	Kennedy Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 Big Sky men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Montana	12	–	2	.857	20	–	8	.714
Idaho State	11	–	3	.786	16	–	10	.615
Weber State †	9	–	5	.643	19	–	10	.655
Boise State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	14	.481
Gonzaga	7	–	7	.500	14	–	15	.483
Northern Arizona	5	–	9	.357	11	–	14	.440
Montana State	3	–	11	.214	9	–	17	.346
Idaho	1	–	13	.071	4	–	22	.154

† Conference tournament winner

The 1977–78 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Bulldogs were led by sixth-year head coach Adrian Buoncristiani and played their home games on campus at Kennedy Pavilion in Spokane, Washington. They were 14–15 in the regular season and 7–7 in conference play.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Gonzaga was fifth in the regular season standings and did not qualify for the four-team conference tournament.^[1]^[2]

No Bulldogs were named to the all-conference team; senior guard Jim DeWeese was on the second team, while junior center Paul Cathey and junior guard Scott Finnie were honorable mention.^[5]^[6]

Weeks after the conclusion of the season, Buoncristiani was encouraged to resign in April, days before letter of intent signing day.^[7]^[8]^[9] He was succeeded by Dan Fitzgerald, an assistant at Santa Clara; he was an assistant during ABC's first two years with the Bulldogs and also a teammate from high school (St. Ignatius) in San Francisco.^[10]^[11]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "Season over for Gonzaga". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). February 27, 1978. p. 15.
^ ^a ^b "Zags receive help; fail to claim win". February 27, 1978. p. 20.
^ "College basketball standings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). February 27, 1978. p. 4B.
^ "College cage standings". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). March 7, 1978. p. 17.
^ "Montana's Richardson all-conference for third year". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1978. p. 1B.
^ "Grizzlies' 'M.R.R.' 3-timer". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 8, 1978. p. 17.
^ Van Sickel, Charlie (April 7, 1978). "Gonzaga fires cage coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 29.
^ Missildine, Harry (April 8, 1978). "The word is 'outrageous'". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
^ Van Sickel, Charlie (April 8, 1978). "Win battle, lose war". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 12.
^ "Gonzaga picks Dan Fitzgerald". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 17, 1978. p. 17.
^ "Gonzaga hires cage coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. April 17, 1978. p. 2B.

External links[edit]

Sports Reference – Gonzaga Bulldogs: 1977–78 basketball season

[sofgnz-1] "Season over for Gonzaga". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). February 27, 1978. p. 15.

[ftclmwn-2] "Zags receive help; fail to claim win". February 27, 1978. p. 20.

[ergfmcbst-3] "College basketball standings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). February 27, 1978. p. 4B.

[cbbssrv-4] "College cage standings". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). March 7, 1978. p. 17.

[nosnt-5] "Montana's Richardson all-conference for third year". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 7, 1978. p. 1B.

[mrr3t-6] "Grizzlies' 'M.R.R.' 3-timer". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 8, 1978. p. 17.

[gfccvs-7] Van Sickel, Charlie (April 7, 1978). "Gonzaga fires cage coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 29.

[twiout-8] Missildine, Harry (April 8, 1978). "The word is 'outrageous'". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.

[wblw-9] Van Sickel, Charlie (April 8, 1978). "Win battle, lose war". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 12.

[gpdfg-10] "Gonzaga picks Dan Fitzgerald". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 17, 1978. p. 17.

[ghcc-11] "Gonzaga hires cage coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. April 17, 1978. p. 2B.

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v t e Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
Venues	Russell Gymnasium (1907–1958) Spokane Coliseum (1958–1965, 1979–1980) Charlotte Y. Martin Centre (1965–2004) McCarthey Athletic Center (2004–present) Spokane Arena (alternate, 1995–present)
Rivalries	BYU Idaho (dormant) Saint Mary's Washington
Culture & lore	Spike the Bulldog "Go, Gonzaga!"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics