One, if not the biggest upset in this 2025-26 college basketball season, occurred at the Chiles Center on Feb. 4, 2026.
On the first leg of the road trip through the state of Oregon, the hangover for the No. 6 Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-2, 10-1 WCC) from the rivalry victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels the previous Saturday night in Spokane, Washington, was clearly evident.
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After shutting down West Coast Conference Player of the Year frontrunner, Lithuanian Gaels junior forward Paulius Murauskas, in the second half over the weekend, no answer could be found in slowing down West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year frontrunner, Australian Portland Pilots guard Joel Foxwell, throughout the entire game on Wednesday night.
Even rocking the stunning royal blue throwbacks, the Zags came out lacking energy from the tip and gave up a 15-5 deficit to the Pilots before the first television timeout. The defensive attention to detail, especially when continuously going under the screen, was lacking at the start. Miscue after miscue, it seemed, from a team that came in having won 15 in a row.
Give credit where credit is due, as Portland was getting quality offensive looks throughout, especially from Foxwell. He left it all out on the floor, even when dealing with cramping towards the late part of the second half, tying his career-high for the third time with 27 points on 11-for-18 field goals/3-of-8 three-pointers and a game-high eight assists for the Pilots in 39 minutes played.
Containing the young lead guard was the game plan coming into this specific conference matchup for coach Mark Few. Foxwell, the West Coast Conference assists leader at 6.8 per game in just his first NCAA campaign, is leaned on heavily by the injured coach Shantay Legans, who actually tore his Achilles practicing on the scout team earlier in the week. Goes to show how depleted even his roster was, subbing in graduate assistant Sam Noland at one point when Foxwell had to go to the sideline.
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When coming off the ball screen, Foxwell looked like one of the best passers in the country as just a 20-year-old freshman. As a shooter, Foxwell showed off his quick trigger and could hit from anywhere on the court during this out-of-body experience against Gonzaga in front of the home Portland crowd.
The pace of play and ability to outrebound the Zags were also major factors for Legan’s unit in completing this historic win for the university. The Bulldogs’ first rebound in this game didn’t occur until the 12:41 mark. The Pilots won the rebounding battle, 32-27, behind 7-1 senior center Jermaine Ballisager-Webb’s nine boards.
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The lack of effort and determination on the glass from Gonzaga could be seen immediately from the get-go. Just disappointing to witness a group that has excelled in that facet of the game, averaging the seventh-highest amount in the sport at 42.5 per game.
The Zags are also one of the best at scoring inside the paint, but many wouldn’t have known that after tonight. In fact, Gonzaga led the nation in points in the paint at 47.1 per game heading into the battle, but was outscored 40-26 in that area in the Rose City.
The return of redshirt junior forward Braden Huff (left knee) couldn’t come fast enough at this point. Graduate forward Graham Ike (12th double-double of the season with 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds) has truly turned into a three-level scoring threat during his time in the Pacific Northwest, but there’s only so much he can do out there without any other offensive support at the rim.
The Zags’ second unit simply outplayed their starters, with much more hostility and ‘pep in their step.’ That begs the questions surrounding Few’s starting lineup and rotation going forward, especially at the lead guard spot.
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Redshirt junior Braeden Smith (nine points, one assist/one turnover, three steals in 19 minutes) has struggled as of late, to say the least. His impact has been minimal when out on the floor. In the entire sport, he has the eleventh-highest assist/turnover ratio among players averaging at least 5.0 assists per 40 minutes played at 3.19. Freshman Mario Saint Supery (12 points on 4-for-8 three-pointers, two assists/zero turnovers) looked more confident offensively and was able to step out on the perimeterwith his stroke, but was still a liability on the defensive side of the ball at times.
This was actually one of Gonzaga’s better outside shooting performances in quite a while, going 10-for-30 on three-pointers. That would be the first time they have hit 10 looks from beyond the arc since the conference opener at the Pepperdine Waves in Malibu, California, on Dec. 28.
Graduate wing Steele Venters, against his former Eastern Washington Eagles coach in Legans, looked like he was going to turn a page after hitting his first two in the first half. Venters then faded into the background in the second half, going 2-for-7 from deep for six points in 22 minutes off the bench.
It was a valiant effort to try to cut the lead down to five through their full-court press and traps near the corner, but much too late. Portland, now with an 11-14 overall record, came in ranked No. 213 in KenPom and No. 230 in the NET. They were an unbelievable 22.5-point underdogs at home against the Zags (per FanDuel Sportsbook) and still stunned the universe.
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This is one of the worst losses in the Few era. More than the Loyola Marymount Lions’ loss in the McCarthey Athletic Center back in 2023, possibly even more than the 40-point disaster to the Michigan Wolverines in the Players Era Festival title game in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier in the non-conference this season.
The Pilots get their first-ever win vs. a Top 10 opponent and break their 20-game skid against Gonzaga, now with a 3-47 overall record since 2000. That was also Portland’s first triumph vs. a ranked opponent since 2014 (the previous one was against the No. 20 Zags on Jan. 9).
This is the kind of uninspiring outing that will cost this team multiple seed lines for the NCAA Tournament, eliminating any chance they previously had of getting a No. 1 seed. Are they down to a No. 4 now, possibly a No. 5, and risking their chance of playing in the Portland region for the first weekend of March Madness?
In other news, the Santa Clara Broncos beat the Pacific Tigers on the road at the Spanos Center and currently stand 11-1 in conference play, 20-5 overall. Gonzaga will visit coach Herb Sendek’s Broncos at the Leavey Center this upcoming Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14, with potential control of first place in the West Coast Conference standings on the line. Santa Clara is currently riding a seven-game winning streak.
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Before that, the second and final leg of this Oregon road trip for the Zags will take place in Corvallis against the Oregon State Beavers (13-12, 6-6 WCC) on Saturday, Feb. 7. The scheduled start time is an early one at 3 p.m. PT at the Gill Coliseum on ESPN+/KHQ.
KenPom/NET Update
Gonzaga falls to No. 14 in KenPom with the now 29th-ranked adjusted offensive efficiency and 13th-ranked defensive efficiency. This loss at the Pilots will be a Quad 3 defeat for the Zags.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
