Analysis: No. 19 Gonzaga overcomes choppy stretches to beat Arizona State 77-65 in first road test
TEMPE, Ariz. – Mark Few expected his 19th-ranked Gonzaga team would have to overcome a new set of hurdles in its first true road game of the season.
Few wasn’t necessarily wrong, but it wasn’t a hostile crowd at Arizona State that had the Zags rattled at various points of a 77-65 win over the Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena.
While both teams spent the night playing through a cacophony of referee whistles, the Zags (4-0) encountered real adversity early in the second half when starting bigs Graham Ike and Braden Huff each picked up a third foul, only a matter of minutes before senior wing Jalen Warley was tagged with his third.
At a key juncture of the game, not long after ASU trimmed a 14-point deficit to five, the foul scales tipped back toward the Sun Devils, who started to unravel when forward Santiago Trouet and coach Bobby Hurley received technical fouls within 45 seconds of each other in the second half.
The Zags got 3-pointers from ASU transfer Adam Miller to add insurance late in the game and didn’t need much more to close out their fourth double-digit win of the year – one that was decidedly more unnerving than the past three.
“I think we just kind of hung in there,” Few said. “I thought we had some really good performances by several of the guys, but it was kind of like in spurts. In one instance, a good first half out of somebody and then not so good the second half. Like I told them afterward, anytime we can win a game like this and maybe not feel like we played perfect … there’s a really, really good chance to learn from it.”
After 40 minutes, ASU was credited with just one more foul than Gonzaga, but both fanbases had their gripes with the officiating throughout Friday’s contest.
ASU coach Bobby Hurley grew irritated with the Sun Devils’ foul count in the second half and approached an official when Trouet was whistled for a technical foul for yelling toward Warley after a defensive stand.
Hurley avoided a technical there, but the ASU coach found himself in trouble a few possessions later. An animated Hurley barked at the officiating crew when Ike wasn’t called for a foul contesting Massamba Diop at the rim and was promptly T’d up when ASU’s Andrija Grbovic picked up a foul guarding Mario Saint-Supery at the other end.
The ASU coach walked to the end of the Sun Devils’ bench and planted himself in a chair while Ike and Saint-Supery made free throws that extended Gonzaga’s lead to 14 points.
“Did you watch what happened? Did you see all the things that was happening?” Hurley responded when asked about the sequence during a postgame press conference. “I just needed a timeout at that time and I was running out of them, because we lost a challenge on a play. I don’t know if you guys watched that play or not. What did you think?”
Ike’s strong start to the season continued in Tempe, where the senior forward scored 20 points, tallied nine rebounds and delivered time and time again at the free throw line. Ike made 12 of his 15 foul shots in a game where the Zags were 25 of 31.
The charity stripe wasn’t as kind to the Sun Devils, who finished just 13 of 23 (56%) and weren’t any better from the field, where Gonzaga limited them to 21 of 58 (36%) and 10 of 30 (33%) from the 3-point line.
Ike’s effort on the defensive end, where he was often matched up against ASU’s Diop, also played a big role in GU’s win. The Sun Devils’ top scorer came in averaging 16 points per game, but was limited to 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting.
Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster made a strong statement in his return to the Phoenix area, scoring 14 points while hauling down 11 rebounds. Grant-Foster also had two blocks off the bench.
Miller’s ASU Homecoming didn’t start the way he would’ve liked, but the former Sun Devil guard finished with 10 points after making his two late 3’s, which came after the guard missed his first three looks from behind the arc.
Starting point guard Braeden Smith delivered nine assists for Gonzaga, but didn’t get on the scoresheet until he made 1 of 2 free throws with 34 seconds remaining in the second half. Huff added 11 points for Gonzaga before fouling out late in the second half.
ASU’s Trouet had a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double while Moe Odum, a former Pacific and Pepperdine point guard, had 12 points and seven assists for the Sun Devils.
The Zags (4-0) face another short turnaround, returning to the McCarthey Athletic Center for Monday’s game against Southern Utah (1-2). The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and air on KHQ/ESPN+.