Scoring help arrives for Graham Ike in 94-86 win over Santa Clara | 3 takeaways

Three takeaways at the buzzer from Gonzaga’s 94-86 road win over Santa Clara on Saturday.

Big man big again

It took Graham Ike six minutes to score his first points. Once he found the range, the flood gates opened for the rest of the half.

Ike took over, pouring in 17 points, pulling down nine rebounds and handing out two assists – it would have been more if the Zags had connected on open 3-point looks on Ike kick-out passes – as Gonzaga rallied from an eight-point deficit to lead 44-39 at half.

Ike cracked the 20-point plateau with a layup with 11:35 left, but soon ran into foul trouble, going to the bench for the first time with four fouls with 6:23 remaining.

Ike’s points slowed in the second half, but he still contributed four points, six rebounds and two assists in the closing half. He finished with 21 points, 15 boards and four assists.

The 6-foot-9 senior scored at least 20 points for the seventh consecutive game, matching his seven-game streak in 2024. In the last 20 seasons, only Derek Raivio, with eight, has had a longer run of 20-plus point efforts.

Ike has averaged 26.7 points over the last seven games, elevating his scoring average from 16.3 to 19.8.

Balanced scoring attack returns

As good as Ike was in the first half, the Zags needed production elsewhere and they got it from Tyon Grant-Foster, Emmanuel Innocenti, Adam Miller and Mario Saint-Supery with a little Davis Fogle sprinkled in.

Grant-Foster repeatedly drove to the rim to score or draw fouls. He scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half. It marked just his second 20-point game of the season. He had 21 against Alabama in a November win in Las Vegas.

Innocenti was consistent throughout, racking up 16 points, his career high in two seasons as a Zag, and six rebounds. He had a 19-point game during his freshman season at Tarleton.

Miller made two of GU’s three 3-pointers and scored 21 points – his season high by eight points. Saint-Supery added eight points, four rebounds and five assists. Fogle chipped in six second-half points and one assist in a 3-minute, 4-second span.

Free throws nearly costly

The Zags ran hot and cold at the foul line, but they finally heated up down the stretch to help put away a big road win over the Broncos.

Ike, a 78.7% free-throw shooter, missed all three of his attempts, including the front end of a one-and-one. Grant-Foster made 6 of 11. Miller nailed 7 of 8 while Innocenti hit 4 of 5. Mario Saint-Supery went 2 of 2 with 1:08 left to bump Gonzaga’s lead to 85-77.

Gonzaga was below 50% deep into the second half before finishing 19 of 29 (65.5%).