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Gonzaga announces matchup vs. Oregon in Northwest Elite Showdown

Gonzaga and Oregon will square off for just the third time since 1984
Andy Patton|
Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few.
Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

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A highly anticipated matchup between west coast powerhouse programs has been confirmed.

Gonzaga announced Tuesday that the Bulldogs will take on the Oregon Ducks at the Moda Center in Portland on Dec. 21 in the Northwest Elite Showdown. Tickets will go on sale Sep. 11, and tipoff time and broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

The matchup, which was first reported by Jon Rothstein in mid-August, is the first standalone game between these two programs since 1984. The two teams have met twice since Mark Few took over as Gonzaga's head coach, although both were part of multi-team events.

The first matchup came in Mark Few's 12th career game as a head coach back in 1999 as part of the Maui Invitational — a game the Zags lost 70-64. The two teams met again 20 years later in 2019 in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. No. 8 Gonzaga defeated the No. 11-ranked Ducks in overtime, 73-72, behind Filip Petrusev's 22 points.

All told, the programs have played 27 times, with Oregon winning 22 of the matchups, including the first-ever meeting way back in 1912, which had a final score of 29-22.

Coach Few is a graduate of the University of Oregon, which many believe is the reason these two teams have not scheduled a home-and-home series against each other in the past 25 years.

Oregon is coming off an outstanding 2024-25 campaign under Dana Altman. The Ducks went 25-10 last year and earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After a blowout win over No. 12 Liberty, Oregon fell to No. 4 seed Arizona in the second round in Seattle in an epic 87-83 showdown.

The Ducks return a pair of All-Big Ten third team selections in Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle, as well as former five-star recruit KJ Evans and a trio of well-regarded transfers in Sean Stewart (Ohio State), Devon Pryor (Texas), and TK Simpkins (Elon).

Oregon Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad.
Feb 19, 2025; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Jackson Shelstad. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Bittle was a target of Gonzaga's on the recruiting trail before the team landed fellow Oregon native Ben Gregg, and he'll present a matchup issue for the Zags due to his size (7'0), rim protection (2.1 blocks per game last year) and outside shooting (33.6% on over three attempts per game).

Gonzaga returns to the Moda Center for the first time since 2022, when they lost to Purdue in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament. The Zags are 5-2 all-time at the Moda Center — formerly known as the Rose Garden — including a pair of wins in the 2022 NCAA Tournament over No. 16 seed Georgia State and No. 8 seed Memphis, as well as an overtime win over Texas and double-overtime loss to Florida as part of the PK80 in 2017.

Oregon is one of many high-profile matchups Gonzaga will have in the nonconference, including Oklahoma, Creighton, Arizona State, Alabama, Maryland, Kentucky, and UCLA.

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Andy Patton
ANDY PATTON

Andy Patton is a diehard Gonzaga fan and alumnus who has covered the Bulldogs extensively since 2021. He hosts the Locked On Zags podcast and co-hosts the Locked On College Basketball podcast, bringing years of experience covering Gonzaga, the West Coast and college basketball nationally. Andy also covers the Arizona Wildcats for Arizona Wildcats On SI, where his longtime familiarity with former Gonzaga assistant and current Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd provides a natural connection between two of college basketball’s premier programs. Andy has worked in sports media since 2017, with experience covering nearly every major sport. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for USA TODAY from 2017–21, where he also spent time covering the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, and previously served as lead writer for College Sports Wire. He has also covered the NBA, NHL and MLB for various TEGNA outlets, including KREM in Spokane, 12News in Phoenix and KING 5 in Seattle. A 2013 Gonzaga graduate, Andy now lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife, daughter and dog.

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