Gonzaga’s Graham Ike named to late-season Naismith Award team

On the heels of his eighth consecutive 20-point game, Gonzaga’s Graham Ike was one of 30 players named to the Naismith Award Late-Season Team on Thursday morning.

The senior forward scored 22 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots to help the Zags cruise past San Francisco for an 80-59 victory at the Chase Center on Wednesday.

Ike matched Adam Morrison and Derek Raivio for the most consecutive 20-point games by a GU player in the last 20 seasons by hitting that total for the eighth straight game.

The Aurora, Colorado, native is now averaging 19.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists this season. He’s leading the West Coast Conference at 22.8 points in conference games and is tied for first in rebounding at 8.8 boards per game.

Ike also ranks first in the WCC in field goal percentage (.580) and is No. 1 in the league with 13 double-doubles.

The nation’s active leader in career scoring, Ike has earned a league-high five WCC Player of the Week honors. Last week, the senior was also named to the Wooden Award Top 20 watch list.

Others named to the Naismith list were Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Tennessee’s Nate Ament, Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson, Kansas’ Flory Bidunga and Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Arizona’s Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries, UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor, Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall, Florida’s Thomas Haugh, Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg, Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie, Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr., Nebraska’s Pryce Sandifort, Purdue’s Braden Smith, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton, Texas Tech’s JT Toppin, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson.