Analysis: Graham Ike turns in ‘phenomenal’ performance, scored 34 points to lift No. 8 Gonzaga over Santa Clara
Opponents have a hard enough time dealing with Graham Ike when the Gonzaga forward is only converting a high percentage of his shots around the basket.
There’s a lot more in Ike’s offensive bag, even if the All-American candidate doesn’t choose to bring it out every night.
That certainly wasn’t news to Santa Clara heading into Thursday’s clash of West Coast Conference unbeatens. Ike was averaging 23.6 points in his last three games against the Broncos and followed with one of his best outings – not only against Santa Clara but of the forward’s six-year college basketball odyssey, split between Gonzaga and Wyoming.
Ike has never scored more in a Gonzaga uniform than he did Thursday and the forward finished one point short of a career high, totaling 34 in an 89-77 victory for the eighth-ranked Zags at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Santa Clara probably expected it would have to deal with Ike’s low-post scoring, but the Broncos also struggled to contain him in the mid-range and gave up a key 3-pointer to the veteran forward in the second half as the Zags were starting to break away.
“That’s a huge night, so hopefully we can quit feeling out early in these games and just go ahead and play full throttle,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “He was on and again, that’s not an easy crew to go against. They’ve got some nice, athletic shot-blockers. They’re long in there and (Allen) Graves is a good-looking, physical specimen also.”
Ike, who had a career-high 35 points against Denver during his sophomore year at Wyoming, made 13 of 17 shots from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. In the process, Ike also secured his 10th double-double of the season, adding a game-high 11 rebounds for Gonzaga.
Thursday was all about the shot-making, though.
“We work out together, I know he’s capable of knocking down those shots,” said frontcourt mate Braden Huff, who had a career-high 37 points for Gonzaga two weeks ago against Campbell. “He had it going from the jump and he didn’t let up at all tonight. He could be a 20-plus point per game scorer, but he sacrifices a lot to win for the team, so tonight I think you saw how dominant he is.
“Definitely in my eyes the best big in the country.”
Huff scored four points in the first half but became the second Zag to reach double digits and scored 12 on 6 of 9 shooting with six rebounds.
Emmanuel Innocenti finished in double figures for the second time all season and first time since a Nov. 25 game against Maryland at the Players Era Festival, scoring 13 points on perfect shooting (4 of 4).
The decisive run for Gonzaga came roughly five minutes into the second half and was spurred by Ike. Santa Clara’s Elijah Mahi connected on a jumper to close the deficit to one point with 15 minutes, 14 seconds remaining, but Ike knocked down a pull-up, stepback 3-pointer on the next possession to push GU’s lead back out to four.
Allen Graves cut it back to two points, but Ike completed a three-point play on the ensuing GU possession and Innocenti splashed an uncontested corner 3-pointer to give the Zags a six-point advantage.
“You know, I thought Ike was phenomenal tonight, 13 for 17 from the field,” Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said. “He made a number of tough shots.”
The Zags continued to roll, extending the lead to eight a few possessions when Mario Saint-Supery picked the ball away from Graves and pushed ahead to Jalen Warley, who flushed a one-handed dunk in transition.
Gonzaga flirted with danger in the first half, committing 10 turnovers in the opening frame and giving up nine offensive rebounds. Three Zag players had two fouls by halftime and Gonzaga had 11 as a team. Not far behind, Santa Clara had 10 team fouls in the first half, with starters Jake Ensminger and Elijah Mahi benched for long stretches due to foul trouble.
Both teams led by as many eight points in the first half, but Gonzaga needed a late 8-0 run to tie the game 37-37 at the halftime break. Ike converted most of his looks near the basket, knocked down multiple contested mid-range shots and also buried his only 3-pointer, scoring 13 points inside the first eight minutes and 16 by halftime.
A Santa Clara team that ranks near the top of the country in 3-point attempts put up 26 shots against Gonzaga, but only made seven. Graves paced the Broncos 18 points while guard Christian Hammond added 14.
The Zags (17-1, 5-0) face a weeklong layoff before returning to the court next week for their only road games in the month of January. Gonzaga opens the week Thursday (7 p.m., CBSSN) at Washington State (8-9, 3-1) before playing Seattle U (12-6, 1-4) at Climate Pledge on Saturday (KHQ/ESPN+).