[7] Before the 2012–13 season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team lost two seniors from the previous year to graduation: starter Robert Sacre and transfer Marquise Carter.

Sarbaugh redshirted in 2011–12 after coming out of high school from Gonzaga Prep, and transferred to North Idaho College.

Sophomore guards Gary Bell Jr. and Kevin Pangos were selected for the All-Conference Team, as well as junior center Sam Dower and senior forward Elias Harris.

[18][19] Sources: Roster The Gonzaga Bulldogs started their season with a 103–65 home win against Southern Utah on November 9.

[25] Three days later, Gonzaga played West Virginia as a part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, where they would go on to rout the Mountaineers 84–50.

[27] During Thanksgiving weekend, the Bulldogs travelled to Lake Buena Vista, Florida to participate in the 2012 Old Spice Classic.

[29] In the Old Spice Classic championship game two days later, the Zags would hold on beat Davidson 81–67 to capture its second tournament title and remain undefeated on the season at 6–0.

With the game tied at 69, Pangos drove up the court to make a layup with two seconds left to secure the 71–69 victory.

Olynyk made 10 of 14 shots and grabbed seven rebounds to keep Gonzaga in the game in the second half, while Harris led the team with 23 points.

With 35.7 seconds left in the game, Mike Hart set a screen for Bell, who made a three-pointer to give the Zags the 67–65 lead.

[38] To begin the conference season, the Bulldogs travelled to Firestone Fieldhouse on January 3 to play Pepperdine, where they would beat the Waves 78–62.

David Stockton came off the bench and keyed the Zags with four steals to hold off a Pepperdine team that was down two with 12 minutes left.

The team managed to withstand a Santa Clara rally late when Olynyk made a key putback with 1:55 remaining.

Saint Mary's would have one field goal in the final minutes of the first half to help the Bulldogs to a 46–28 halftime advantage.

Olynyk would come back with a strong second half to finish with 21 points, eight rebounds, one steal, and two blocks.

[49] Gonzaga's next battle would take them down to Moraga, California, where they would play the second conference game against rival Saint Mary's.

However, Gary Bell, Jr. would go on to score 20 points and fuel a 7–0 run for the opening 1:06 of the second half to take the lead for good.

[50] The Zags then travelled to play San Francisco at War Memorial Gymnasium, which is a place where they had not won for three consecutive years.

Gonzaga's defense forced San Francisco to stay on the perimeter for a majority of their shots, as the Bulldogs limited the Dons to 36.8% from the field.

[51] A rebounding advantage of 45–22 and defensive field goal percentage of 30.2% helped Gonzaga rout Santa Clara 85–42 on February 20.

After San Diego scored, transfer Drew Barham's three-pointer started a 13–0 Zags run that pushed the lead to 67–32.

Three three-pointers by Brock Zylstra and Craig Cusick, as well as two free throws by Brandon Davies tied the game at 60 with 4:18 remaining.

However, Gonzaga fouled Cusick on a three-point attempt, causing him to make three free throws to give BYU one final chance with 6.6 seconds remaining.

The Zags fouled BYU before Cusick could attempt a three, and Harris' free throws at the other end sealed Gonzaga's 70–65 victory.

The team would go on to win the game 66–48, as they were led by Elias Harris, who had 21 points, eight rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks.

[58] On Selection Sunday, Gonzaga received a one seed in the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the first time in school history and was set to play Southern on March 21 at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On the ensuing possession, Southern guard Derick Beltran hit two free throws to cut the deficit to one.

Pangos finished with 16 points and hit two free throws with 14.3 seconds left to seal the victory for Gonzaga.

Nevertheless, Wichita State started a string of five straight three-pointers when Tekele Cotton hit one with 6:05 remaining, cutting the deficit to four.

The rest of the game was a free throw shooting contest, as Wichita State shot 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, converting on 14 of 28 attempts from long range.