Gonzaga rewind: Braden Huff, Davis Fogle put up points in a hurry during 122-50 win over Southern Utah

Gonzaga’s 72-point win over Southern Utah did more than give Mark Few’s team a shot of confidence entering a tough stretch of games next week at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

Within minutes of the final buzzer at McCarthey Athletic Center, the Zags had moved up to No. 1 in the country at KenPom.com, boasting the nation’s third-best defensive efficiency and 10th-best offensive efficiency. GU had been No. 3 at KenPom days earlier, but the Zags jumped Houston after the Cougars narrowly beat No. 30 Auburn and surpassed Duke on Monday with the largest win in program history over another Division I school.

Gonzaga was firing on all cylinders as it quickly mounted a double-digit lead and continued to separate from Southern Utah, improving to 5-0 on the season with a 122-50 victory.

In our day-after rewind, we highlight performances from two of Gonzaga’s top performers on Monday and pass along comments from Mark Few about the coach’s late mother Barbara, who died at the age of 92 on Friday.

B-Huff being B-Huff

These days, Braden Huff is basically reaching double digits in the scoring column without failure, but the junior forward turned a corner Monday after a few outings that probably wouldn’t rank among the best of his career.

Huff was the game’s top scorer, tallying a season-high 22 points in 22 minutes while adding six rebounds. It came on the heels of an 11-point game against Arizona State where Huff wasn’t necessarily inefficient, going 4 of 5 from the field, but struggled to stay on the court and fouled out after 20 minutes.

“I thought it should give him some good confidence and that’s what we need from him, we need him confident and really just being B-Huff,” Few said. “He can score on anybody and I think he had a couple games where he got rattled a little bit. So it’s good to have him kind of back seeing a big rim.”

He did it in vintage Huff fashion, with an array of push shots, layups and putbacks. In other ways, Monday was an outlier for the Illinois native. Huff has scored at least 20 points five other times in his career, but never without attempting at least one 3-pointer or free throw.

Against Southern Utah, Huff didn’t get to the free -throw line once or attempt a 3-pointer, scoring all 22 of his points on 2-point shots. He was 11 of 13 on the night, finishing just one field goal short of his career high.

“It feels good, been going away from some of these games and missing some shots that I tend to make,” Huff said. “But just staying confident and it says so much about this group – I feel like I haven’t been playing my best and we’ve been taking care of business. So it’s a fun squad to play with and I’m just glad I got back on track last night.”

More Fogle flashes

The Zags didn’t give up any ground – and actually gained some – when the starters were permanently replaced by subs midway through the second half.

Much of that was due to the impact of freshman wing Davis Fogle, who needed just nine minutes to put up 12 points and outscore every Southern Utah player. Fogle eventually became Gonzaga’s second-leading scorer with 19 points on 7 of 10 from the field, 1 of 1 from the 3-point line and 4 of 4 from the free -throw line.

“Just taking advantage of every opportunity and then just learning,” Fogle said. “We’ve got a lot of older guys who’ve been in a lot of different situations, other schools. But just learning from them every day and then the staff. Then, the most important thing is staying confident. I know how much work I put in so once I get in there, making the most of it.”

Minutes have been scarce for Fogle, who joined a Gonzaga team with one of the country’s deepest perimeters, featuring seniors Adam Miller, Tyon Grant-Foster, Jalen Warley and Steele Venters, along with junior Emmanuel Innocenti.

Fogle’s generally capitalized on the opportunities he’s had, scoring 11 points on 5 of 8 shooting in the season opener against Texas Southern. The four-star recruit missed all three shots he took against Creighton, a game where he played only seven minutes, but gave the Zags instant offense on Monday, scoring just 32 seconds after checking in late in the first half.

A native of Anacortes, Fogle’s scoring at nearly point-per-minute pace, with 30 points in 32 minutes played. He’s made 12 of 21 (60%) from the field, connected on both of his 3-point attempts and missed just once from the free throw line (4 of 5).

A heavy heart

Few received personal news Friday while the Zags were in Tempe preparing to play Arizona State. He was carrying a heavy heart when GU returned home to play Southern Utah.

Roughly six hours before tipoff on Monday, the school announced via social media platforms Few’s mother, Barbara, had died three days earlier. The 27th-year GU coach was asked about the emotional toll of Friday’s news and discussed his mother’s legacy, along with the fervent passion she had for Zag basketball.

“She’s unbelievable,” Few said. “She was the biggest Zag fan out there, a pregame call and a postgame call. She was just an incredible experience. Her self -worth was based on serving others and just kind of being kind. What a great example to not just worry about yourself and always try to help people and serve others.”

Barbara Few regularly traveled from the family’s hometown of Creswell, Oregon – not far from Eugene – for home and road games, usually accompanied by Few’s father, Norman. Barbara and Norman Few met in Creswell when Few’s father moved from Minnesota to become the pastor of a Presbyterian church in the small central Oregon town.

“She left a great legacy; she had 92 years,” Few said. “It was a wonderful, wonderful run. I mean, married for 67 years to my dad. So what a life.”