1978–79 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

1978–79 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	16–10 (7–7 Big Sky)
Head coach	Dan Fitzgerald (1st season)
Home arena	Kennedy Pavilion

1978–79 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Weber State †	10	–	4		.714			25	–	9		.735
Northern Arizona	8	–	6		.571			14	–	14		.500
Idaho State	8	–	6		.571			14	–	13		.519
Montana	7	–	7		.500			14	–	13		.519
Gonzaga	7	–	7		.500			16	–	10		.615
Montana State	6	–	8		.429			15	–	11		.577
Boise State	6	–	8		.429			11	–	15		.423
Idaho	4	–	10		.286			11	–	15		.423
† Big Sky Conference tournament winner

The 1978–79 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Bulldogs were led by first-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald and played their home games on campus at Kennedy Pavilion in Spokane, Washington. They were 16–10 overall and 7–7 in conference play.^[1][2][3]

Gonzaga tied for fourth in the regular season standings but did not qualify for the four-team conference tournament. They lost their final game to Boise State in overtime and were on the short end of the tiebreaker with Montana for the fourth seed.^[4][5][6]

Senior center Paul Cathey was named to the all-conference team and four Bulldogs were honorable mention: guard Don Baldwin, guard Eddie White, forward Carl Pierce, and forward James Sheppard.^[7][8][9]

Hired in April 1978, Fitzgerald was previously an assistant at Santa Clara; he was also an assistant at Gonzaga during Adrian Buoncristiani's first two years (1972–74) and a teammate from high school (St. Ignatius) in San Francisco.^[10][11]

This was the sixteenth and final year in the Big Sky Conference for charter member Gonzaga; in the summer they moved to the West Coast Athletic Conference (WCAC), trading places with Nevada.

References

1. "Final college basketball standings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 5, 1979. p. 3B.
2. "College basketball standings". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). February 27, 1979. p. 21.
3. "College basketball standings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). February 26, 1979. p. 4B.
4. "Overtime! Bad news for WSU, Gonzaga..." Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). February 26, 1979. p. 23.
5. Brown, Butch (February 26, 1979). "Big Sky playoffs next; Zags out". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 24.
6. "Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. February 25, 1979. p. 4B.
7. "All league: Newman on Big Sky second unit". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). March 7, 1979. p. 3B.
8. "Cathey named All-Big Sky". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 7, 1979. p. C1.
9. "3 Wildcats on all-Big Sky team". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. March 7, 1979. p. E4.
10. "Gonzaga picks Dan Fitzgerald". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 17, 1978. p. 17.
11. "Gonzaga hires cage coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. April 17, 1978. p. 2B.

External links

• Sports Reference – Gonzaga Bulldogs: 1978–79 basketball season