Three takeaways: Gonzaga’s big three spark rally in overtime win against Seattle U

Three takeaways at the buzzer of Gonzaga’s 80-72 overtime win over Seattle U on Friday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Big three come up big

Braden Huff, Graham Ike and Tyon Grant-Foster were pretty much Gonzaga’s only reliable point producers, particularly as the Zags made a furious rally from 13 points down with 13:30 left.

Huff, who surpassed 1,000 career points, led the way with 28 points. Ike scored 24 points and hit four key free throws in the final 34 seconds. He added a team-high 10 rebounds.

Grant-Foster had three buckets in the extra session and tallied 19 points. He swatted five shots.

Only two other Zags scored. Braeden Smith had seven points and six assists and Adam Miller had two points.

GU offense slowly heats up

Prior to Friday, Gonzaga’s only game scoring in the 60s was a 101-61 loss to Michigan in Las Vegas. The Zags’ only game in the 70s was a 77-65 road win over Arizona State and only twice were they in the 80s (UCLA and Oklahoma).

The rest: 90 points and above.

The Zags’ offense was out of sorts most of the night against Seattle U, which entered ranked No. 30 in scoring defense at 65.8 points per game. Huff scored the game’s first seven points, but GU slumbered to just 29 first-half points, matching its lowest half of the season (29 vs. Michigan).

Gonzaga staged a big second-half rally to tie the score at 65 and force overtime.

It wasn’t that Gonzaga shot that poorly from the floor. Certainly the Zags weren’t up to their season average of 52.5% from the field, but they were in the mid to high 40s most of the game and finished at 49.2%.

The Zags were slowed by eight first-half turnovers and a shortage of scoring options. Only three Zags cracked the scoring column in the first half: Huff with 13, Ike with nine and Grant-Foster with seven.

Those three were 11 of 16 from the field while the rest of the Zags were 0 of 9. Smith’s 3-pointer with 16:11 remaining was the first bucket by someone other than Huff, Ike and Grant-Foster.

Yeo contributes in return to Kennel

Junseok Yeo didn’t get on the court much in two seasons as a Zag. He logged 230 minutes, mostly in blowouts, in 39 appearances.

The 6-foot-8 South Korean has flourished after transferring to Seattle University for his senior season. Yeo got into early foul trouble but still managed to contribute to the Redhawks’ upset.

Yeo hit three 3-pointers, including one from about 30 feet on a broken play. GU had just trimmed Seattle’s lead to seven when Yeo had the ball poked away by Graham Ike and seconds running out on the shot clock. Yeo calmly scooped the ball up and buried a big 3-pointer to push the Redhawks’ lead to 10. John Christofilis followed with another 3 to give the visitors their biggest lead (13) of the game.

Yeo grabbed an offensive rebound in the final minute after Gonzaga closed within 64-63. He was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 33.3 seconds left.

The Redhawks forward also made a great save under Seattle’s basket in overtime to teammate Brayden Maldonado, who converted with a three-point play for a 68-66 lead.

Yeo finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.