Analysis: No. 21 Gonzaga outclasses Oklahoma 83-68 to extend impressive streak at Arena

After making short work of Kentucky in 2022, steamrolling Baylor last season and outclassing Oklahoma on Saturday, Gonzaga may have to wait awhile before another SEC or Big 12 opponent agrees to make the cross-country trek for a nonconference game at the Arena.

Derrion Reid’s 3-pointer on the opening possession was a cloudy memory by the time Tyon Grant-Foster soared into the air to catch Mario Saint-Supery’s alley-oop lob late in the first half, extending Gonzaga’s lead to 15 points in a game that didn’t get significantly more competitive in the final frame.

The Zags will try to spend the next eight weeks collecting marquee wins over high-major opponents, but they’re already off to a solid 1-0 start in that department courtesy of Saturday’s result. Gonzaga built a substantial lead in the first half and didn’t fade too much in the second, running away from Oklahoma for an 83-68 victory in downtown Spokane.

“When I got here last year, just watching the atmosphere (at the Arena) was one of the coolest things to see,” said Gonzaga wing Jalen Warley, one of four double-digit scorers and one of four to register at least seven rebounds. “It was my first time playing in the Arena, but some of the older, veteran guys told me how special it is and how the Spokane community, more people get to come to the games. I just wanted to play my heart out tonight.”

Time will tell if power-conference opponents are still up for making the trip.

The players, storylines and point margins have been different in each of Gonzaga’s resounding victories at the Arena, but the sentiment after the final buzzer and feeling about GU’s long-term potential have been relatively similar.

On Nov. 20, 2022, the second-ranked Zags never trailed and led by as many as 19 points in an 88-72 victory over John Calipari and fourth-ranked Kentucky. In another top-10 matchup at the Arena, sixth-ranked Gonzaga overwhelmed eighth-ranked Baylor from the opening tip, winning the 2024-25 season opener 101-63.

That’s not to mention two recent West Coast Conference games that were non-competitive from the jump: an 81-50 romp of Portland last season and 86-60 blowout of Pepperdine in 2023-24.

The combined margin of victory in those five games? Try 126 points.

Saturday’s script wasn’t identical to any of those, but featured many of the same trends.

In a game where Mark Few’s team led by as many as 24 points, Gonzaga’s defense smothered Oklahoma’s offense, holding the Sooners to 23 of 58 from the field and 6 of 26 from the 3-point line. The Zags finished with a hefty offensive rebounding margin (18-8) and seemed content playing through Graham Ike and Braden Huff until the Sooners could demonstrate they had a solution for Few’s veteran frontcourt stars. 

Without the proper game plan and personnel, Oklahoma came up short on that front. Well short, actually.

Ike dominated with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Huff finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Zags led by 17 points when Ike fouled out with 2 minutes, 52 seconds to play.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Gonzaga had an overwhelming advantage edge in paint points (58-20), and controlled other columns including bench points (38-8) and assists (20-5).

Reid’s 3-pointer opened the scoring and the Sooners established a 7-3 lead early on, not dissimilar from the way the opening minutes played out against Texas Southern Monday at McCarthey Athletic Center.

That wasn’t the only parallel between the games.

Gonzaga’s defense was able to suffocate its opponent after an iffy opening stretch, forcing 10 Oklahoma turnovers before halftime and 16 in the game. 

A key development occurred at the 16-minute, 45-second mark, when Sooners big man Mohamed Wague picked up consecutive fouls on the same possession while guarding Ike. Wague went to the bench for roughly eight minutes and the Zags were leading by eight points by the time he returned.

“They’re both so good at ducking in,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said of Ike and Huff. “They’re so well-drilled and coached on rolling, reverse pivoting. They put a huge challenge on it. We said it internally with our coaching staff, we just can’t have Mo get in foul trouble and it’s probably the worst scenario with him getting two before the first timeout.”

In Grant-Foster’s second game since receiving an injunction that cleared him to play for the Zags, the Grand Canyon transfer provided a few of the game’s top highlights, punching in the aforementioned alley-oop dunk in the first half before finishing a putback dunk on Huff’s missed 3-pointer in the second half.

After scoring 15 points in the opener, Grant-Foster scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting and had seven rebounds. Jalen Warley was another impact player off GU’s bench, scoring 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting while pulling down eight rebounds. Saint-Supery registered eight points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals in 27 minutes off the bench.

Senior guard Nijel Pack scored 20 points for the Sooners and backcourt mate Xzayvier Brown added 19.

Gonzaga’s rigorous nonconference schedule resumes on Tuesday with a visit from No. 23 Creighton (1-0). Tipoff at McCarthey Athletic Center is 7 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN’s main channel.