Three takeaways: Gonzaga leans on bigs, bench and boards to take down ASU
TEMPE, Ariz. – Three takeaways from Gonzaga’s 77-65 win Friday over Arizona State mirrored three takeaways from the Zags’ first four games this season.
The bigs, the boards and the bench have been constants for the 19th-ranked Zags.
Rollercoaster night for Ike, Huff
Gonzaga has grown accustomed to the 1-2 scoring punch provided by Graham Ike and Braden Huff.
It took some time for that to come to fruition against ASU, but when it did, the Zags took control over the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Ike and Huff were scoreless and shotless at the first media timeout, but Huff nailed a 3-pointer – his first of the season after five misses – and followed with another field goal. Ike’s first bucket came with 9:25 left and he added seven points in the final 2:09 as Gonzaga took a 45-32 halftime lead.
Both GU bigs picked up their third fouls in the first five minutes of the second half, but Ike continued to contribute. The 6-foot-9 senior finished with 20 points and Huff, who fouled out with 5:07 remaining, added 11 points. The two came into the game averaging a combined 31 points and hit that mark again vs. the Sun Devils.
The bench
Gonzaga got the better of ASU in bench points, 28-15.
GU’s Tyon Grant-Foster played two seasons at Grand Canyon, about 17 miles from ASU’s campus. He put up big numbers at GCU, especially during the 2023-24 season when he was named Western Athletic Conference player of the year. He looked right at home at ASU’s Desert Financial Arena.
The 6-foot-7 forward came off the bench to post a double-double after his first 14 minutes of court time, roughly five minutes into the second half.
His first half numbers – eight points, eight rebounds and two assists – helped Gonzaga erase an early deficit and built a 13-point halftime advantage. He finished with 14 points.
Steele Venters added two 3-pointers, Mario Saint-Supery chipped in four points and Jalen Warley added four points.
ASU came into the game plus 38 in bench points in wins over Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
The boards
Gonzaga roughed up ASU on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 45-31. That’s four straight games GU has had the upper hand on the boards (29 vs. Texas Southern, seven vs. Oklahoma, eight vs. Creighton).
Grant-Foster led the way with 12 rebounds, followed by Ike’s nine. Ike came up one rebound short of his fourth consecutive double-double, something that hasn’t happened in the first four games of a season in the Mark Few coaching era.
Saint-Supery added five rebounds.