SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga's dominant season ended early in a heartbreaking 75-69 loss to Texas Tech in the Elite Eight.
While many thought this year provided the Bulldogs best opportunity for a national title, the odds were just not in Gonzaga's favor. But that doesn't mean the Zags didn't have many impressive showings this year.
Let's take a look at some of the best highlights from Gonzaga's season.
Perkins breaks Gonzaga's all-time assists record
Gonzaga's senior guard Josh Perkins broke the school's record for all-time assists in a Feb. 21 win over conference foes Pepperdine.
Perkins passed former record-holder Matt Santangelo in the win, ending the game with 670 assists.
Gonzaga cleans house at WCC annual awards
The Bulldogs made a strong showing off-the-court as well, as they won a slew of the West Coast Conference's annual awards.
Mark Few won his 13th WCC Coach of the Year Award, while women's Coach Lisa Fortier won her fourth WCC Coach of the Year Award in five seasons.
As for the players, Gonzaga had four starters on the All-WCC First Team, marking just the third time a school has had four players on the First Team. Those players were Perkins, Rui Hachimura, Zach Norvell Jr. and Brandon Clarke.
Filip Pretrusev also made the WCC All-Freshman team.
As for national awards, Perkins was named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the year award, which will be given out on April 12. He would be the first Zag to win the award.
Hachimura and Clarke were also named to the 15-man shortlist for the John R. Wooden Award, given to the most outstanding college basketball player. That award will be announced April 3.
Bulldogs knock-off top-ranked Duke, win Maui Invitational
The Zags made history on Nov. 21 when they beat the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the final of the Maui Invitational.
The 89-87 win marked the first time Gonzaga beat a No. 1 ranked team and gave the Bulldogs their second Maui Invitational title. The tournament field is made up of elite NCAA teams.
Rui Hachimura led the Bulldogs with 20 points and the Zags blocked four shots in the final 46 seconds of the game. Clarke blocked Duke guard R.J. Barrett's shot on the final play of the game to seal the deal.
Norvell Jr. scored 18, while Duke's Zion Williamson scored 22.
Many former Bulldogs congratulated the team on Twitter following the win.
Kyle Wiltjer
Przemek Karnowski
Kelly Olynyk
Bulldogs go through conference schedule unscathed
Gonzaga has long been a fixture atop the WCC standings, but this year, they made an impressive showing, completing the regular season without dropping a single game in conference play.
This was the first time since the 2012-2013 season that the Bulldogs accomplished the feat.
According to KREM Sports Director Brenna Greene, the Bulldogs won their conference games by an average margin of 27 points. They also never won by less than double digits, with their smallest margin of victory being 12 points. The largest margin was a whopping 59 point win over Santa Clara.
The Zags finished their perfect conference campaign with a 69-55 win over rival Saint Mary's. The victory marked their 20th straight win, and Gonzaga finished the regular season with a 29-2 record before picking up their 30th win against Pepperdine in the WCC Tournament.
No. 1 seed in West Region, Clarke's career night
Gonzaga's regular season triumphs were rewarded on Selection Sunday, as the committee gave them the top-seed in the West Region for the NCAA Tournament.
They would have to wait a couple more days to learn who they would be playing, as No. 16 seeds Fairleigh Dickinson and Prairie View A&M had to battle it out in a First Four game to decide who would have the lofty task of taking on the Bulldogs.
Eventually, it was Fairleigh Dickinson who penciled in their name to face Gonzaga, but they didn't cause too much trouble for the Zags, who thrashed the private university from New Jersey 87-49 in the opening round.
This wouldn't be the only impressive performance from the Bulldogs, as Clarke would have one of the most dominant showings in NCAA Tournament history.
In their second-round game against No. 9 Baylor (and former Bulldog player and current Baylor assistant Rem Bakamus), Clarke put up an impressive stat line, including 36 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals.
He became the third player in NCAA Tournament history to record at least 35 points and five blocks in the same game, joining the ranks of now-NBA legends Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson.
Viral feud with Jimmy Kimmel
Editor's note: Some may find the content of Kimmel's monologues offensive.
While the first opponents the Bulldogs faced in the NCAA Tournament may not have troubled the Bulldog faithful, a source away from the hardwood sent the fan base into a frenzy.
Jimmy Kimmel, who hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!, took a few playful jabs in his opening monologue on March 18.
"I have a theory, and I know this might be controversial, but here it is: I don't believe Gonzaga exists," Kimmel joked.
He also said he had searched the university on YouTube and only found basketball highlights and that he didn't know anyone who went to Gonzaga or "anyone who knows anyone who went there."
"Gonzaga is the 'I have a girlfriend in Canada' of colleges," he quipped.
The initial monologue drew a quick and wide response from those in the Gonzaga community, and led to the creation of the hashtag "#GonzagaExists."
The City of Spokane's official Twitter account replied with different pieces of evidence showing why the comedian should know about the school and about Spokane, and even former Bulldog Johnathan Williams tweeted a suggestion that Kimmel come to the Lilac City to "introduce the world to Gonzaga."
The fun didn't stop there though, as Kimmel kept bringing up his suspicion surrounding the existence of the school. Another hashtag, "#Conzaga," appeared on Twitter after Kimmel had it printed on a shirt.
This eventually led to a back-and-forth with a Spokane Valley company selling shirts with #GonzagaExists printed on the front.
The late night host interviewed a fake Gonzaga chancellor in the show named "Gonzo Aga," played by Fred Willard.
Even a local viral star got involved, as the owner of the famous "Keyboard Cat," who resides in Spokane, made a video showing the famous feline supporting the Zags. He also pointed out that Kimmel had used videos of the cat on his shows multiple times in the past, and that he should know Spokane is real because he wrote checks to the cat for using the videos.
Politicians got involved, with Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filming a video during a speech to Gonzaga Law students, showing the AG leading the students to promise the school was real under oath.
Kimmel kept the less-than-serious feud going by having his beloved sidekick Guillermo, acting in character as "Cherlock Hombre," do an investigation into the school at a media day before the Sweet Sixteen.
Guillermo interviewed players and staff for his piece called "Gone Zaga: The School That Wasn't There."
That may have backfired against the late night host, however, as Guillermo ended up rooting for the Bulldogs.
Some GU staff even attended one of Kimmel's shows, telling the host that they were from Spokane and they actually thought Kimmel was the fake one.
The feud ended on a friendly note, however, as Kimmel tweeted out a nice message of congratulations to the Bulldogs following their loss in the Elite Eight to Texas Tech.
"I have grown very fond of you," the message started.