Tournament Teams 2005 - NCAA Second Round In a year many thought Gonzaga would struggle, Mark Few showed the nation why his program is indeed among the nation’s elite as the Bulldogs marched into their seventh straight NCAA Tournament with only one senior starter on the roster. Along the way Gonzaga knocked off several of the top teams in the country as they finished the season with a No. 10 ranking in the Associated Press poll, the third time in the last four years they have cracked the Top 10. Gonzaga opened its new McCarthey Athletic Center in style as the Bulldogs posted a 13-0 home mark to end the season with the nation’s longest home court winning streak. Included in that 13 wins was the Bulldogs seventh straight win over the University of Washington as the 14th-ranked Huskies were handed their first loss of the 2005 season by Gonzaga. Washington was not the only ranked team to fall victim to the Bulldogs bite as Gonzaga also conquered a pair of No. 3 teams in the span of 10 days. GU opened the run with a win over Georgia Tech at the Las Vegas Showdown and ended it with a win over Oklahoma State University at the Touchstone Energy All-College Classic. That tough non-conference slate combined with the No. 7 RPI of the West Coast Conference landed the Bulldogs a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the second straight year GU had landed a top-level seed. Gonzaga’s youthful run finally came to an end during the second round of the NCAA Tournament when they fell 71-69 to No. 24 Texas Tech University led by hall of fame coach Bob Knight. Despite the loss sophomore Adam Morrison burst on the scene as the next great Bulldog
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player with 25 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. In addition to team success Gonzaga also had numerous individual honors with Ronny Turiaf becoming the fifth straight GU player to win the WCC Player of the Year award. Turiaf also joined Morrison in earning honorable mention Associated Press honors marking the second straight year two players earned AllAmerica recognition. Mark Few was named the WCC Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. Gonzaga rounded out the clean sweep of the WCC awards with J.P. Batista earning Newcomer of the Year honors while Erroll Knight was named the Defender of the Year.
Final 2005 Associated Press Poll Team 1. Illinois (72) 2. North Carolina 3. Duke 4. Louisville 5. Wake Forest 6. Oklahoma State 7. Kentucky 8. Washington 9. Arizona 10. GONZAGA 11. Syracuse 12. Kansas 13. Connecticut 14. Boston College 15. Michigan State 16. Florida 17. Oklahoma 18. Utah 19. Villanova 20. Wisconsin 21. Alabama 22. Pacific 23. Cincinnati 24. Texas Tech 25. Georgia Tech
‘05 Record 37-2 33-4 27-6 33-5 27-6 26-7 28-6 29-6 30-7 26-5 27-7 23-7 23-8 25-5 26-7 24-8 25-8 29-6 24-8 25-9 24-8 27-4 25-8 22-11 20-12
* The final 2005 rankings with Gonzaga opponents in italics. * Gonzaga was ranked No. 18 in the final ESPN/USA Today poll.
GONZAGA A AM MEN’S ’ BASKETBALL A A 2009-10