Freshman Davis Fogle paces Gonzaga with 18 points during routine exhibition victory over NAIA Northwest

Sunday’s preseason exhibition against Northwest University illuminated a number of things for Gonzaga. Some positive, some negative.

Above all, the 111-62 exhibition victory showed why the team’s depth at the wing positions could be so critical, especially during the early stages of the season.

The Zags didn’t have their entire roster available Sunday afternoon, missing two key wing players who could factor into the team’s starting lineup and/or rotation in 2025-26.

Junior Emmanuel Innocenti, who’s still considered day-to-day with the with the rib injury he suffered at Kraziness in the Kennel, was unavailable and Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster dressed in street clothes two days after the NCAA denied an appeal pertaining to the forward’s eligibility waiver. Grant-Foster, who’s filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, won’t be able to practice with the team until at least Thursday, when he’s scheduled to appear at a preliminary injunction hearing in Spokane County.

So, there were heavy doses of Steele Venters, Jalen Warley and Davis Fogle throughout Sunday’s exhibition, where the Zags scored 61 points in the second half and piled up massive advantages in rebounding (57-30), free throw attempts (42-14) and fast-break points (31-6).

“It’s been a luxury we’ve had here for a couple weeks, but all of the sudden you walk out there and it’s different than what we’ve been dealing with every day, setting the teams in practice and not having those two,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Fogle, the freshman from Anacortes, led all players in scoring with 18 points off the bench. The former four-star recruit demonstrated his offensive versatility, throwing down three dunks while connecting on multiple mid-range shots from the top of the key. Fogle finished 8 of 12 from the field and 2 of 4 from the 3-point line.

“I would say he’s just a sponge,” Warley said of Fogle. “He’s always in the gym, he’s always not just listening to information but applying it as soon as he hears it. So that’s been really impressive, especially as a young guy just getting to college. I can say he does that every single day.”

Point guard Braeden Smith was assertive during his minutes, totaling 15 points to go with four assists and three steals. Starting forwards Graham Ike and Braden Huff each had 13 points in limited minutes and freshman point guard Mario Saint-Supery finished in double figures, scoring all 12 of his points after halftime. Warley nearly had a double-double, registering nine points to go with 13 rebounds and Venters scored nine points in his first game against another opponent since the Zags played Lewis-Clark State in an exhibition on Nov. 3, 2023.

Gonzaga used more than 10 lineup combinations in the first half alone, and a handful more in the second, opening the game with a group that included Smith, Venters, Huff, Ike and Arizona State transfer Adam Miller. The Zags used other double-big lineups, featuring one of Huff or Ike and backup Ismaila Diagne on the court together, and tried out both point guards – Smith and Saint-Supery – for stretches in both halves.

“First of all, I thought Steele was really, really good for his first time in real action in 2½ years or so,” Few said. “So I thought anytime we had him out there, it was good. I thought Jalen impacted the game like he was impacting practice in a lot of variety of ways. I think once B-Smith settled down a little bit, he was very effective.”

With roughly two weeks before the season opener against Texas Southern, the Zags still aren’t a fully-polished product and will need to clean other areas up as they ramp up for a stretch of key Quad 1 games in early November.

They finished 7 of 21 from the 3-point line and 24 of 42 from the 3-point line. Miller, who’s expected to bring distance shooting to the Zags after making 42.9% of his 3’s last season at Arizona State, missed all five attempts on Sunday. Diagne, meanwhile, went just 2 of 8 at the charity stripe and was one of four GU players to miss multiple free throws.

Guard Nik Ellul led Northwest with 17 points, shooting 7 of 16 from the field.