This Pacific Northwest matchup inside the McCarthey Athletic Center got out of hand quickly, thanks to the round-the-clock defensive pressure put on by the No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs (24-2, 12-1 WCC). Coach Mark Few’s group held the Washington State Cougars (11-16, 6-8 WCC) to a season-low in points while scoring 31 points off 21 forced turnovers, which included 13 steals and five blocks. They sacrificed sweat and their entire bodies on that end of the floor throughout.
With the great Roxy Bernstein on the ESPN2 broadcast call for quite possibly the final time in the Kennel, Graduate forward Graham Ike had his sixth straight game of at least 20 points, doing so in just 23 minutes and on a near-perfect 8-for-10 shooting. That’s the fewest amount of minutes he’s played since Dec. 30.
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Ike dominated in the paint with his soft hands and skilled footwork on a late Tuesday night in Spokane, Washington. As a whole, the Zags outscored the Cougars 50-22 inside the paint and shot 31-of-49 (63.3 percent) on looks inside the three-point arc.
If Ike needs a job outside of basketball, acting can be in his future. He was recently featured in a Coeur D’Alene Resort and Casino commercial alongside redshirt junior forward Braden Huff, and it needs more attention. The pair were seen playing golf and getting massages during the television spot.
As for Ike’s frontcourt partner’s health, Huff (still on crutches) was back with the team since the first matchup with Washington State in Pullman, Washington, on Jan. 15. Huff was back home to Chicago, Illinois, for his physical therapy over the last few weeks. There’s no word whether or not a surgery surrounding his left knee has happened. Any sort of knee rehab can be an extremely slow process.
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Continuing on the topic of injuries, freshman lead guard Mario Saint-Supery (11 points on a perfect 5-for-5, two steals) also got hit hard under the belt during the first half. He went to the locker room, but would later return thanks to the help of Assistant Athletic Director of Health and Performance Josh Therrien. Saint-Supery hit a mid-range buzzer beater to give the Zags a 27-point lead heading into halftime.
When Saint-Supery was off the floor, senior wing Jalen Warley was put at the point guard spot. Warley suffered an injury of his own in Gonzaga’s upsetting loss at the Portland Pilots last Wednesday. A severe thigh bruise, to be exact. This setback limited his mobility in the days that followed, including during the 81-61 victory at the Oregon State Beavers this past Saturday, but Warley now looks back to his normal self.
Graduate guard Adam Miller added 11 points and two steals in one of his more solid outings as of late for the Zags. He’s the x-factor going forward and needs to step up if they are going to make any sort of run come March.
Gonzaga crushed Washington State in all aspects of this game, especially with the difference in efficiency of the shots being taken between the two schools. Coach David Riley should be highly embarrassed by the lack of effort he witnessed.
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One has to think about whether Riley will still be leading the program at the start of the revamped Pac-12 Conference era next season. His tenure during the West Coast Conference era has been nothing short of a disappointment.
Washington State was without senior forward Emmanuel Ugbo for the fourth straight game, who remains suspended for undisclosed reasons. Junior forward Rihards Vavers, with his father in the crowd after travelling from Latvia over a month ago, has been shooting the ball extremely well as of late. He wasn’t available in the first matchup against Gonzaga and finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 field goals/2-for-6 from beyond the arc to go along with six rebounds.
The leading scorer for the Cougars was junior guard Jerone Morton with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, four assists/one turnover, and three steals. True freshman standout guard Ace Glass chipped in 12 points, but went 0-for-5 on three-pointers and turned it over four times.
Gonzaga’s second unit stepped up once again, behind freshman wing Davis Fogle’s activity with 17 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting from the field. He constantly turned defense into offense with his three steals and three blocks, played quickly in transition, and took contact at the rim. The future of the program is shining so bright with Fogle in attack mode and showing off his offensive versatility.
The Santa Clara Broncos (21-5, 12-1 WCC) and Gonzaga Bulldogs are now in a tie for first place in the West Coast Conference standings. The two NCAA Tournament hopefuls will have their vitally important rematch this Saturday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. This will be a Quad 1 road opportunity for the Zags inside the Leavey Center with the Broncos ranked No. 41 in the NET.
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Gonzaga needs to lean on their defense once again in this specific matchup, with Santa Clara ranked No. 4 in all of college basketball in conference scoring with 88.1 points per game.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
