I rarely punish teams on winning streaks. That's the long and short of it. So even when Gonzaga had close calls this month against sub-80 NET teams like San Francisco, Santa Clara and BYU, I kept Mark Few's program in the top five of the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 because the Zags were still winning and, again, I rarely punish teams on winning streaks.
But the winning streak is now over.
Gonzaga lost 68-67 to Loyola Marymount late Thursday inside The Kennel despite closing as a 16.5-point favorite. So the Zags' 11-game winning streak — featuring a victory over Alabama — is done. Gonzaga's 75-game winning streak inside the McCarthey Athletic Center is also done, as is Gonzaga's streak of 93 straight victories against unranked opponents.
"It was going to end sometime, and it ended in a tough, hard-fought battle," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. "Our guys battled back [from nine points down] and had a shot to keep it going. … I don't think anybody is going to touch that [75-game winning streak at The Kennel] for quite some time."
All of the streaks that ended Thursday are amazing.
Ninety-three straight wins against unranked opponents. Seventy-five straight wins inside The Kennel (part of 76 total "home" games). Thirty-six straight wins in the month of January. It's honestly not as crazy that the Zags finally lost a game like this as it is that the Zags had not lost a game like this in what felt like a billion years.
That's important to remember.
Still, it is a rare — in fact, it's the first ever — Quadrant 3 loss for the Zags, whose resume is suddenly dinged-up. They're now 3-3 in Quadrant 1 and 5-0 in Quadrant 2 — or 8-3 in the first two quadrants with one additional loss falling in Q3. That's not bad but also not quite top-10 good. Consequently, Gonzaga is down to No. 14 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Zags' next chance to add a Q1 win to help offset this Q3 loss will come two weeks from Saturday when they play at Saint Mary's.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 23 points and four assists in Tuesday's 80-60 win at Tulane. The Cougars' next game is Sunday against Temple. | -- | 33-3 |
| 2 |  | Braden Smith finished with 19 points and seven assists in Thursday's 61-39 win at Minnesota. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Maryland. | -- | 29-6 |
| 3 |  | Brandon Miller finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 78-66 win at Vanderbilt. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday at Missouri. | -- | 31-5 |
| 4 |  | Tyger Campbell finished with 22 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 74-62 win at Arizona State. The Bruins' next game is Saturday at Arizona. | 1 | 31-5 |
| 5 |  | Keyontae Johnson finished with 24 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 83-82 win over Kansas. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | 1 | 25-9 |
| 6 |  | Kansas missed 23 of the 26 3-pointers it attempted in Tuesday's 83-82 loss at Kansas State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against TCU. | 1 | 28-8 |
| 7 |  | Jaren Holmes finished with 21 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 78-67 win over Texas. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma State. | 1 | 19-14 |
| 8 |  | Texas finished with more turnovers (13) than assists (11) in Tuesday's 78-67 loss at Iowa State. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday at West Virginia. | 1 | 28-8 |
| 9 |  | Zakai Zeigler finished with 24 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 70-59 win at Mississippi State. The Vols next game is Saturday at LSU. | 1 | 25-10 |
| 10 |  | Kihei Clark finished with 20 points and five assists in Wednesday's 78-68 win over Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday at Wake Forest. | 1 | 25-8 |
| 11 |  | Courtney Ramey finished with 16 points and two steals in Thursday's 81-66 win over USC. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | 1 | 28-7 |
| 12 |  | Xavier missed 16 of the 20 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 73-72 loss at DePaul. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday against Georgetown. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 13 |  | Kam Jones finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 83-75 win over Providence. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Seton Hall. | 1 | 29-7 |
| 14 |  | Gonzaga's 75-game winning streak at home was snapped Thursday in a 68-67 loss to Loyola Marymount. The Zags' next game is Saturday at Pacific. | 10 | 30-5 |
| 15 |  | TCU finished with more turnovers (19) than assists (8) in Wednesday's 74-65 loss at West Virginia. The Horned Frogs' next game is Saturday at Kansas. | -- | 22-13 |
| 16 |  | Keyonte George finished with 27 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 81-74 win at Texas Tech. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 23-11 |
| 17 |  | Terquavion Smith finished with 25 points and five assists in Tuesday's 78-66 win at Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack's next game is Saturday at North Carolina. | -- | 23-11 |
| 18 |  | Norchad Omier finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds in Monday's 82-78 win over Syracuse. The Hurricanes' next game is Saturday at Duke. | -- | 27-7 |
| 19 |  | Jaylin Williams finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 67-49 win at LSU. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at South Carolina. | -- | 21-13 |
| 20 |  | Providence missed 14 of the 18 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 83-75 loss at Marquette. The Friars' next game is Saturday against DePaul. | -- | 21-12 |
| 21 |  | Brandon Weatherspoon finished with 12 points and four rebounds in Thursday's 79-57 win at UTSA. The Owls' next game is Saturday at UTEP. | -- | 33-3 |
| 22 |  | UConn finished with more turnovers (18) than assists (16) in Wednesday's 67-66 loss at Seton Hall. The Huskies' next game is Sunday against Butler. | -- | 27-8 |
| 23 |  | Logan Johnson finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 73-44 win at Pepperdine. The Gaels' next game is Saturday against Santa Clara. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 24 |  | Duke missed 17 of the 20 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 72-64 loss at Clemson. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Miami. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 25 |  | Max Rice finished with 29 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 77-62 win over Nevada. The Broncos' next game is Friday at New Mexico. | NR | 24-10 |
| 26 |  | A.J. Hoggard finished with 16 points and seven assists in Thursday's 70-57 win over Rutgers. The Spartans' next game is Sunday at Indiana. | NR | 21-12 |
