Gonzaga shows off depth, bench strength and ‘connectivity’ in rout over Seattle U

SEATTLE – In many ways, it looked like a typical Gonzaga box score.

The Zags had sizable edges in points in the paint, off turnovers and from the bench.

In many ways, not so much, with the customary 36 combined points on an average night from Graham Ike and Braden Huff nowhere to be found.

Ike joined Huff on the injury list with a sore right ankle, which he tweaked late in the second half of Thursday’s win over Washington State in Pullman. He sported a walking boot on his right foot and is considered day to day. Huff injured his right knee in practice prior to the WSU game and is sidelined for four to eight weeks.

So the Zags were in adjustment mode from the starting tip. Ismaila Diagne made his first career start and walk-on Noah Haaland, who had played seven minutes since Nov. 25 in blowouts over North Florida and Loyola Marymount, was called on to play four first-half minutes and six total.

“We were missing two of the best bigs in the country,” said point guard Mario Saint-Supery, who connected on four 3-pointers, three that helped Gonzaga extend its second-half lead en route to a 71-50 victory over Seattle U on Saturday. “We had to change the way we’re playing and we did it.”

“Mario was kind of due for that,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “He’s done some nice things for us, but had some tough outings. A great job of hanging with it.”

No. 9 Gonzaga (19-1, 7-0 West Coast Conference) showed off its depth and bench strength and offered a lengthy glimpse at the future with freshmen Saint-Supery and Davis Fogle playing leading roles at Climate Pledge Arena.

“It shows the depth and also the connectivity,” said versatile forward Jalen Warley, who had 14 points, six boards, four assists and four steals. “I feel like a lot of teams could have hung their heads. We continued to push and we have really good chemistry that’s been building since the summer.”

Gonzaga, which moved into first place in the WCC with Saint Mary’s loss to Santa Clara, implemented multiple small-ball alignments without its high-scoring frontcourt tandem. At times, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound Warley or 6-7, 200-pound Steele Venters defended 6-10, 235-pound Houran Dan or 7-footer Austin Maurer. A play or two later, Warley switched on a screen and guarded Seattle U point guard Brayden Maldonado.

“It does a lot of things,” said Few, referring to extended minutes for Emmanuel Innocenti, Tyon Grant-Foster, Fogle and Warley. “When you have Warley out there, Emmanuel, Davis and Ty, that’s a heck of a start to a defense.”

The Zags dominated in the lane (40-24 paint points), on the boards (44-24, against a Redhawks team that outrebounded GU two weeks ago at the Kennel) and registered 14 steals. Seattle’s 18 turnovers were converted by GU into 22 points.

“We’re undersized but that group has some ball-hawkers,” Few said. “They don’t wait around, they just go get it, which is what rebounding is all about.”

Fogle was the third Zag in double digits with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He contributed at both ends of the court, adding six rebounds and three steals.

GU was plus-24 with Fogle on the court, tied with Grant-Foster and only trailing Saint-Supery’s plus-26. Warley was plus-18 in his 32-plus minutes.

“Whenever I go in, I’m going to be aggressive and I’m going to play my game,” Fogle said. “It was just kind of in the heat of the moment, I kept it going and obviously Mario and Jalen had great nights.

“With the two bigs out, we were switching a lot more and I think that might have thrown them off. We were just able to get out and push and think we did a good job of speeding them up.”