McCarthey Athletic Center (MAC) is a 6,000-seat indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

on the campus of

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Opened in November 2004, it is home to the university's

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

programs, members of the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

(WCC) in Division I of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. The MAC is nicknamed "The New Kennel" in reference to the school's former basketball arena,

Charlotte Y. Martin Centre Charlotte Y. Martin Centre is an athletics center in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States, on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Its multi-purpose arena has a seating capacity of 4,000. Ground was broken ...

, popularly known as "The Kennel," which had been home to the Bulldogs for 39 years. As the MAC has become the established basketball arena on campus, more fans have begun calling it simply "The Kennel," referring to its predecessor as the "Martin Centre." The court is situated approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

History

Ground was broken in April 2003 on the site of the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

venue, Pecarovich Field. The arena's naming rights went to the McCarthey brothers of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, as a result of major gifts by Gonzaga trustee Philip McCarthey and regent Thomas McCarthey; both are GU alumni and former owners of ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

''. The new baseball stadium was later built to the south and opened in 2007; in the interim, the Bulldogs played at

Avista Stadium Avista Stadium is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Spokane Valley, Washington. It is the home ballpark of the Spokane Indians, a minor league baseball team in the High-A Northwest League.

, home of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

of the

short-season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

. McCarthey Athletic Center opened on November 19, 2004, a 98–80 non-conference win over

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

. In its second season, it hosted the WCC post-season tournament in March 2006; it was the event's first time in Spokane, as the original "Kennel" was considered too small and the larger

Spokane Arena Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena (Spokane Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in the northwestern United States, located in Spokane, Washington. Opened in 1995, it is home to the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. Facility Construction Wi ...

was unavailable due to annual scheduling conflicts. Gonzaga narrowly won its two games: the semifinal with

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

went to overtime, and the final over

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

was won by a single point. By February 2007, Gonzaga had 38 consecutive wins in the arena and a 50-game winning streak at home dating back to the Martin Centre. The

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the NC ...

ended what was, at the time, the longest home win streak in the

. In February 2015,

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

snapped Gonzaga's 41-game home winning streak in the McCarthey Athletic Center, which was also the longest active home winning streak in the NCAA at the time. Through February 6, 2020, the Zags are in the McCarthey Athletic Center, which includes a record in non-conference games, a record in conference games, and a record in the WCC Tournament. Gonzaga McCarthy Athletic Center

Concert venue

The arena has also served as a venue for concerts by

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, back ...

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997 and was based in Los Angeles beginning in 2000. The band is recognized for having a distinct sound in their genre, primarily due to the prominent use o ...

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

, and Comedians such as

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

Jeff Foxworthy Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, author, comedian, producer and writer. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and Ron White. Known for his "You might be a ...

, and

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning se ...

have also performed at the arena.

Records

* On January 16, 2010, Heather Bowman broke the WCC women's basketball all-time points record. * On March 21, 2011,

Courtney Vandersloot Courtney Vandersloot (born February 8, 1989) is an American and Hungarian basketball point guard for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Sopron Basket in the Hungarian National Championship. The third s ...

became the first basketball player (men's or women's) to score 2,000 points and tally 1,000 assists in their career.

NCAA Women's tournament

The McCarthey Athletic Center hosted games of the first and second rounds of the Division I women's basketball tournament in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links