Buzzer breakdown: Balanced scoring carries No. 18 Gonzaga to win

Here are three observations from Gonzaga’s 93-80 win over San Diego on Wednesday night at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Balancing act

Graham Ike and Khalif Battle separated themselves in the scoring column early on in Saturday’s road rout of Loyola Marymount.

It took much longer to determine who Gonzaga’s leading scorer would be on Wednesday.

All seven of GU’s main rotation players were on pace to reach double figures by halftime, with at least five points apiece. Battle was the first one to hit double digits, but four teammates followed the guard there.

Ben Gregg led GU with 23 points, finishing one shy of his career high. Battle was next with 20 points, Ike scored 15, and Ryan Nembhard and Braden Huff both added 11.

Ike posts unique line

Ike, Gonzaga’s season scoring leader, entered the contest averaging 6.1 field goals per game and 7.3 in West Coast Conference play.

The senior forward posted one of the more unique stat lines you’ll see against San Diego, nearly reaching his season scoring average (16.4 points per game) without making a shot from the field until the 2-minute, 16-second mark in the second half.

Ike scored his first 13 points from the free-throw line before finally cashing in down low on a pass from Nembhard inside the final 13 minutes.

Ike, who finished 1 of 5 from the field and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line, also grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds.

Under the weather

Gonzaga used some interesting rotations with forwards Michael Ajayi and Jun Seok Yeo unavailable due to illness.

Without Ajayi, who’s made 12 starts for the Zags while averaging 20.1 minutes per game, the Zags were forced to play both bigs – Ike and Huff – during one first-half stretch, in order to give starting forward Gregg a 3-minute break.

Ike’s minutes briefly overlapped with Huff’s again in the second half. Ajayi’s absence led to a season-high 35 minutes played for Gregg.