Date for Gonzaga-UCLA game has been announced
The Bulldogs and Bruins will rekindle their West Coast rivalry at the newly built Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on December 28. Gonzaga’s nonconference game against UCLA is set for this date, as confirmed by the school in a news release Thursday. The two West Coast schools agreed on a two-year series, with the game moving to Climate Pledge Arena the following season on December 13, 2025.
This marks the fifth meeting between the Bulldogs and Bruins in as many seasons, following Jon Rothstein’s report in May about the finalization of the two-year series. Gonzaga has won the previous four encounters, the most recent being a 69-65 victory at the 2023 Maui Invitational in November, where Anton Watson scored a career-high 32 points, shooting 14-of-15 from the field at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two of the previous four wins were dramatic: Jalen Suggs’ deep three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime during the 2021 Final Four and Julian Strawther’s go-ahead triple in the Sweet 16 round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, which secured a 79-76 win for Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs also secured a 20-point win over the Bruins in Las Vegas during the 2021-22 season.
The upcoming matchup between coaches Mark Few and Mick Cronin has an intriguing subplot—Dominick Harris, a former five-star recruit at Gonzaga who transferred to Loyola Marymount before last season, committed to UCLA as a grad transfer in April. The 6-foot-3 guard led the West Coast Conference in three-point percentage (44.8%) and was the Lions’ top scorer at 14.3 points per game.
Additionally, four-star recruit Trent Perry committed to UCLA after initially decommitting from USC. The No. 27 ranked player in the 2024 class had Gonzaga in his final list of schools before initially choosing the Trojans in October.
Cronin also brought in two-time Pac-12 All-Defense selection Kobe Johnson (USC), former four-star recruit Eric Daily Jr. (Oklahoma State), former Kentucky commit Skye Clark (Louisville), and 6-foot-9 forward Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State) from the transfer portal. The Bruins’ incoming class is ranked No. 20 in the country according to EvanMiya.com.
Despite the new additions, UCLA returns four of its five starters from that Maui Invitational game.
Gonzaga will be without their leading scorer from the November 22 game in Hawaii, but Mark Few returns seven of his top eight scorers from the 2023-24 campaign. The Bulldogs have also added All-WCC wing Michael Ajayi (Pepperdine), grad transfer Khalif Battle (Arkansas), defensive specialist Emmanuel Innocenti (Tarleton State), and reigning Patriot League Player of the Year Braeden Smith (Colgate), who will redshirt next season.
With the roster set, Gonzaga’s 2024-25 nonconference schedule is shaping up as the summer progresses. Last week, a game against Washington scheduled to take place in Spokane was called off. Earlier on Monday, a nonconference game against Kentucky was confirmed for December 7 at Climate Pledge Arena in the 2024 Battle of Seattle event.
Additionally, the Bulldogs will participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas from November 27-29, facing an eight-team field that includes Arizona, Indiana, and Providence. A week after Kentucky, they will travel to Madison Square Garden to face back-to-back champion UConn on December 14. The only true road game in the nonconference portion of the season, against San Diego State at Viejas Arena, has yet to be determined.
The Bulldogs’ only nonconference home game so far is against Nicholls State from the Southland Conference on December 18.
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