The Gonzaga Bulldogs play home basketball games at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, on the university campus.

[a] They have been to every NCAA tournament held since 1999, a year in which they made a Cinderella run to the Elite Eight, and have appeared in every final AP poll since the 2008–09 season.

This culminated in 2016–17, when the Bulldogs went to their first Final Four in school history, advancing to the national championship game, where they lost to North Carolina.

[6] From 1944 to 1994, the Bulldogs compiled a record of 628–531 (.542), earning regular season titles in 1965–66 and 1966–67 (Big Sky) under Hank Anderson,[7][8] and in 1993–94 (WCC) under Dan Fitzgerald.

[26] Gonzaga beat Florida 73–72 to advance to the regional finals after Casey Calvary tipped in the winning basket with four seconds remaining.

[20] They trailed eventual national champion UConn by one point with a minute remaining before losing 67–62 in the regional finals.

[36] In the first round in Memphis against fifth-seeded Virginia, Casey Calvary put back a blocked shot with nine seconds left to give the Zags an 86–85 victory.

[41] The Bulldogs would avenge their only conference loss of the season by defeating Pepperdine 96–90 for their fourth straight WCC tournament title.

[52] Gonzaga faced third-ranked Missouri, who was the highest-ranked regular season opponent that the Zags had played against up to that point; they would go on to win the game in an 87–80 overtime victory.

[57] Gonzaga opened up the 2004–05 season with a home game against Portland State in the new 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center on November 19, 2004.

[58] Despite losing five seniors, including second-round NBA draft pick Blake Stepp,[59] Few was still able to lead the Zags to their ninth regular season title since 1994 with a 12–2 conference record.

Near the end of that season, Gonzaga considered a potential move to the Mountain West Conference (MW) after nearly 40 years as a WCC member.

[78] The vote ultimately never took place, as Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth notified both conferences during the Final Four that the school would remain in the WCC for the immediate future.

They would earn the #1 overall seed in the tournament and cruise to the national championship game over Norfolk State, Oklahoma, Creighton, USC, and UCLA.

Basketball started at Gonzaga in February 1905 after a gymnasium was put in as an addition to the east end of the new college building that was being built.

[81] In 1955, the basketball team moved from the gymnasium, nicknamed "the cave",[82] and began to play at the newly constructed Spokane Coliseum.

[84][85] In 1986, the facility was renamed the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre after an eponymous donor donated $4.5 million to finance a remodel of the arena that could hold up to 4,000 people.

[86][87] After competing for over 39 years in the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre,[88] Gonzaga trustees approved construction for a new 6,000-seat arena on April 11, 2003.

[90] The first official game took place on November 19, 2004, against Portland State, whom the Zags would beat 98–80 in front of a sold-out crowd.

[94][95] On December 13, 2003, Gonzaga participated in a neutral court game at KeyArena that would later become an annual event known as the Battle in Seattle.

[52] The event marked the first time that a regular season Gonzaga basketball game was broadcast nationally on CBS Sports, as Craig Bolerjack called the action while Clark Kellogg provided commentary.

[53] The 2005 Battle in Seattle is remembered for Adam Morrison's game-winning shot against Oklahoma State that sealed a 64–62 victory for the Bulldogs.

[100] In the 2016–17 season, Gonzaga failed to schedule the Battle in Seattle, ending an annual tradition of participating in the event every December for 13 consecutive years.

Representatives from the Zags cited an inability to find a quality opponent to schedule and wanting to maintain strong résumé.

Following the collapse of the Pac-12 and Wazzu's temporary move to the West Coast Conference for some sports including basketball, the rivalry became renewed in the 2024–25 season.

BYU departed the WCC for the Big 12 Conference, starting with the 2023–2024 season, and since then, no matchups have been confirmed for the future between the Cougars and Zags.

[105] This trend continued after Gonzaga won five games in the 1999 and 2000 NCAA tournaments, as freshman enrollment increased to 796 in 2000 and to a then-record 979 in 2001.

Teams in bold represent games Gonzaga played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Of these, five have started their college basketball careers with the Bulldogs—Zach Collins,[277] Jalen Suggs, Hunter Sallis, Chet Holmgren, and Nolan Hickman.

Among these players, eight began their college careers with the Bulldogs: Austin Daye, Domantas Sabonis, Zach Collins, Oumar Ballo, Jalen Suggs, Nolan Hickman, Chet Holmgren, and Hunter Sallis.