Gonzaga rewind: Young trio takes the lead for undermanned Zags in latest WCC victory over Seattle U

SEATTLE – Much has been made about the collective age and experience on Gonzaga’s roster this season.

Understandably so. It isn’t every day you see a college basketball team with eight players between the ages of 21 and 25.

Not as rare, but still unique: three 19-year-olds leading an undermanned Gonzaga team to a 21-point road win against a quality conference opponent that took Mark Few’s squad to overtime just two weeks earlier.

That’s the short summary of what transpired Saturday night between Gonzaga and Seattle U at Climate Pledge Arena, where freshmen Mario Saint-Supery and Davis Fogle, along with sophomore Ismaila Diagne, rose to the occasion to help lift the ninth-ranked Zags over the Redhawks, 71-50.

“Credit to all of them,” senior teammate Jalen Warley said. “I haven’t been around a lot of young guys that have had the mindset they do, the maturity and understanding the game and understanding kind of (to) always be ready. Lot of credit to their work but also the mindset they have.”

Saint-Supery, who’d averaged 5.4 points over the team’s last nine games, responded with a season-high 20 points, scoring on pull-up mid-range shots, driving layups and 3-pointers. The Malaga, Spain, native finished 7 of 10 from the field, 4 of 6 from the 3-point line and 2 of 2 from the free throw line while delivering a team-high four assists and adding two steals.

“That illness he had before Oregon was real. He probably shouldn’t have played in that game,” assistant Brian Michaelson said. “He’s such a competitor, he saved us by playing in it. But it knocked it out. Some people talk about hitting the freshman wall. Well, he hit that flu. He was really sick and it obviously kind of slowed him down. But he’s got such a positive spirit and you’ve seen it coming back. That response tonight was huge.

“Our defense had been good all night, but we weren’t scoring at all. He blew that thing open and he’s got such a swagger, he wanted the ball.”

The absence of Graham Ike (right ankle soreness, day to day) and Braden Huff (left knee injury, 4-8 weeks) forced Gonzaga to deploy its 11th different lineup of the season. The Zags plugged Diagne in at center, giving the Senegal native his first career start against a Seattle U frontcourt that’s bigger and deeper than most GU will encounter in the WCC.

Diagne held up in the first half, giving the Zags solid rim protection without committing a foul through nearly 25 minutes. The sophomore came up with a pair of defensive stops on 7-foot center Austin Maurer out of the gates and tallied seven first-half rebounds, helping GU easily win a category Seattle U controlled in the first meeting between the teams.

“This is what you’ve been waiting for, it’s tough, it’s hard, it’s scary,” Few said of his message to Diagne before the game. “These guys have been working hard in practice and they’ve been longing to get an opportunity like this, so it’s exciting for them and I was excited to see what these guys could do with some extended play.”

That also included Fogle, who moved up a spot or two in Gonzaga’s rotation with multiple starters sidelined. Fogle, who’d developed a knack for quick scoring flurries in garbage time, supplied instant offense after subbing in at the first media timeout.

In what may be the closest thing he’ll get to a “home game,” the Anacortes product scored 13 points off the bench on 6 of 9 shooting while adding six rebounds and three steals.

It wasn’t anything Fogle’s older teammates hadn’t already seen on numerous occasions during practices and intrasquad scrimmages back home in Spokane. The freshman routinely challenges and often wins individual battles against Gonzaga’s top perimeter defenders – a few of whom will be in the mix for all-defense honors in the WCC.

“We’ve been pushing Davis in practice too,” Warley said, “so he knows whenever he gets out there, I think we have one of the best defenses in the country, so if you can score on us in practice, most likely you can score in the game.”

Fogle gives the Zags an offensive punch with his length and scoring ability at all three levels. Depending on when Ike and/or Huff return, Gonzaga may need more of it from the freshman wing in the coming days and weeks.

“I think he’s a bucket,” Saint-Supery said of Fogle.

“Another dog,” Diagne added.

“A dog for sure,” Warley chimed in.

“Every Zag is going to have their day,” Saint-Supery said, “and today was one of his days.”