Gonzaga’s 2026-27 non-conference slate is already taking shape, and the latest addition comes from an unlikely corner of the Northwest.
Eastern Oregon University has posted its schedule, and it includes a trip to Spokane on Wednesday, Dec. 2 to face Mark Few’s team. The game is expected to be played at the McCarthey Athletic Center, though a tip-off time has not been announced. EOU lists the matchup as an exhibition, but it’s still not clear whether Gonzaga will count it as an exhibition or as a regular non-conference game.
The Mountaineers, who compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference at the NAIA level, have met Gonzaga twice in the last five years. Both games were in Spokane.
Both were lopsided. And both were the kind of results that usually make for a comfortable tuneup rather than a headline date.
The most recent meeting came on Nov. 14, 2023, when Gonzaga rolled 123-57 behind 25 points from Graham Ike on 9-10 shooting, 23 points from Braden Huff in just 14 minutes on 10-12 shooting, and 20 points from Anton Watson on 8-10 shooting. That game also produced the lone blocked shot of Joe Few’s college career, with the walk-on adding career highs in minutes (14), points (3) and steals (3).
Even that 66-point spread was the smaller of the two blowouts. The previous matchup, on Dec. 28, 2022, ended 120-42 in favor of the Zags, a 78-point margin.
Seven Gonzaga players reached double figures that night, led by Drew Timme’s 18 points on 8-10 shooting. Efton Reid added 16, Rasir Bolton scored 14, and Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman finished with 13 apiece.
This version of Eastern Oregon should bring more than just a familiar scoreline, though. The Mountaineers went 22-9 overall last season and 16-4 in CCC play before falling in the NAIA tournament second round to No. 9-ranked Langston.
For Gonzaga, the game would fit neatly between the Player’s Era Festival in Las Vegas from Nov. 24-27 and a Dec. 5 trip to Anaheim to face UCLA. It also comes during a non-conference schedule that is loaded with heavy hitters, including Purdue on Nov. 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, LSU on Nov. 14 at the Spokane Arena, Creighton on the road on Dec.
12, Michigan State at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, CA on Dec. 19, and Duke at Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, MI on Feb. 20.
The only other confirmed game for Gonzaga at this point is Nov. 7 against New Mexico State, which is expected to serve as the team’s home opener.
If the Eastern Oregon game is counted as one of Gonzaga’s 16 allowed non-conference games, the Zags would still have five spots left to fill. If it becomes an exhibition, it would be the second one on the schedule, joining the reported trip to Arkansas to face John Calipari and the Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena.
In Other News...
Gonzagas New International Freshman Faces A Tough Path To Minutes
Gonzagas international recruiting pipeline has already taken some hits for the 2026 season, with the program losing Mario Saint-Supery and still sorting through eligibility questions around other players. Into that backdrop steps Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa, the 18-year-old wing from France who committed in June and is now on campus for preseason workouts, giving the Bulldogs another long-term piece to evaluate as they prepare for another demanding year.
Ekanga-Ehawa brings the kind of raw athleticism and upside that usually gets attention in Spokane, but the early path to steady minutes looks crowded. Gonzaga has depth on the wing, which means the freshman may spend much of the season learning the system, adapting to the speed of the college game and waiting for an opening rather than being asked to carry a major load right away. [Read more 🡒]