Three takeaways: Michigan dominates from the start, Graham Ike struggles in rout of Gonzaga

LAS VEGAS – Three observations at the buzzer from Gonzaga’s 101-61 blowout loss to Michigan on Wednesday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Nightmare start

Gonzaga has had a few so-so starts this season, but nothing remotely close to the first 7 minutes and change against the Wolverines, who took full advantage to open up a 27-10 lead.

The Wolverines hit their first four shots. A few minutes later, they strung together five straight field goals. Michigan made 11 of its first 14 from the field, getting great looks on 3-pointers, with dribble penetration around Zag defenders and power moves inside.

Gonzaga closed within 13 twice but Michigan answered with 3s, first by guard Trey McKenney and later by forward Will Tschetter.

The Wolverines scored the last nine points to build a 53-29 halftime lead. Gonzaga’s largest deficit prior to Wednesday was six points against Arizona State and Alabama in the opening game of the Players Era Festival.

Another rough start for Ike

Graham Ike had sluggish starts, at times, last season and it’s resurfaced several times this season. Ike missed all eight of his shots, three from behind the 3-point arc, in the first half.

Ike struggled to finish inside against Morez Johnson Jr. and Michigan’s sizable frontcourt and had no luck on mid-range or 3-point attempts.

The Zags as a team had mixed success in the lane. Braden Huff was GU’s most reliable scorer and led the team with 13 first-half points after connecting on numerous soft-touch shots in the lane, but the 67.5% shooter was 6 of 13 from the field in the first 20 minutes. He finished 7 of 17.

Ike opened the Alabama game by misfiring on his first six shots before rallying to finish with 10 first-half points. He ended with 21 points and 11 boards. The senior forward went scoreless in the first 10-plus minutes versus Arizona State but quickly found his stride and finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Ike never got untracked against the Wolverines. He missed all nine shots and had one point and no rebounds in 17 minutes.

Johnson, Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara blocked three more in the first 50 seconds of the second half. The Wolverines finished with eight blocked shots.

3-ball goes cold

Gonzaga had one of its finest 3-point performances by hitting 14 of 33 against Maryland on Tuesday. In the Zags’ third game in three days, they were off target against Michigan.

Adam Miller put GU on the scoreboard with a 3 with 18:45 left in the first half and Tyon Grant-Foster added another near the 13-minute mark. The Zags trailed by 45 with 6-plus minutes remaining before Mario Saint-Supery connected on their next 3-pointer.

Gonzaga finished just 3 of 22. Michigan was dialed in from the start and made 13 of 27 overall.