David Fuchs’ defense, rebounding critical to USF in matchup with Gonzaga, Graham Ike | Key matchup

SAN FRANCISCO – David Fuchs might be the only person affiliated with San Francisco’s basketball program relieved to see Graham Ike back on the floor for Wednesday’s matchup with Gonzaga at the Chase Center (8 p.m., ESPN2).

Ike was sidelined with a right ankle sprain when the Zags and Dons met last month at the Kennel – the third and final game he’d miss before returning to the court against Saint Mary’s.

Gonzaga started 7-footer Ismaila Diagne and USF countered with the 6-foot-9 Fuchs, one of three Dons averaging double figures at 11.8 points per game and the team’s leading rebounder at 7.4 boards per game.

The Zags eventually took Diagne off the floor in favor of a small-ball lineup and USF adjusted accordingly, subbing out Fuchs before the fist half ended. Neither player re-entered in the second and Fuchs finished with a season-low six minutes.

USF’s junior big man can expect to play a much bigger role in the second meeting, if for no other reason than because he’ll be the Dons’ best option to slow Ike, who’s averaging 19.8 ppg and 8.7 rpg for Mark Few and the Zags.

“Ike is performing at an All-American level. The run he’s been on has been pretty cool just to follow from a fan perspective,” USF coach Chris Gerlufsen said. “He’s been killing it and being efficient. He presents problems all over the floor. The first time around it was differing styles probably with Gonzaga going more small ball and switching a lot of everything. It’ll be a little different in terms of how we game plan the second time around.

“David will be a big part of that. He’s a physical guy, he’s a guy I think just from a toughness and physicality standpoint, nobody can stop Graham, but I do think Dav does a good job of using his physicality and he’s going to need help from some of our other guys as well.”

Fuchs has averaged 33 minutes in USF’s last two games and he’s totaled 34 rebounds in the last three contests. The Vienna, Austria, native has seven double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the WCC behind Ike (13) and Pacific’s Elias Ralph (8) in that category.

Any defensive resistance Fuchs can provide on Wednesday should be big, but the Dons are also hoping he can help them control the glass. Ike has been the second-best rebounder in the WCC this season, but the Zags also have multiple wings like Tyon Grant-Foster and Jalen Warley capable of flying in for offensive and defensive boards.

“(Fuchs) has done a pretty good job all year of being close to a double-double type guy for us and we’re going to certainly need all of that on Wednesday, but some of it too is going to be keeping Graham off the glass and we’re going to need the other four guys on the floor and scrape some of those rebounds out,” Gerlufsen said. “Tyon’s not an inside guy, but he puts a lot of pressure on you from a rebounding standpoint flying in from the wings. Warley does a little bit of that too. So yeah it’s going to be a collective effort.”

Fuchs is nowhere near Ike from a production standpoint, but it doesn’t take much to identify similarities in their games. Both play below the rim, demonstrate solid touch around the basket and have the ability to act as offensive hubs for their respective teams. Ike’s taken a few more 3-pointers this season, but Fuchs will pull from deep if given the opportunity and has made 7 of 23 (30.4%) from behind the arc.