Gonzaga turns to fastbreak, dribble drives to create points without starting bigs

Gonzaga’s first two baskets came from Adam Miller in the middle of the lane off of dribble penetration and a fastbreak layup after Pepperdine’s first field goal.

It was a sign of things to come Wednesday as the eighth-ranked Zags lean on new scoring avenues and scoring options without bigs Graham Ike and Braden Huff.

Gonzaga took every opportunity to get out in transition – after Pepperdine makes, misses and turnovers – and turned to dribble penetration from several players in an 84-60 rout over the Waves, just two points below their scoring average in conference games.

Ike missed his second straight game with a right ankle injury suffered late in the victory over Washington State last week. He watched from the sidelines while wearing a walking boot on his right foot. His status remains day to day. Huff didn’t attend Wednesday’s game and he’s expected to miss 4-8 weeks with a knee injury.

The frontcourt duo averaged 38 points per game, the bulk coming in the paint. Gonzaga is still scoring a bunch of paint points – 48 against Pepperdine, 40 versus Seattle U and 52 against Washington State – the latter with Ike and without Huff. It’s just happening in different ways instead of post passes to the pair of All-American candidates.

“They’re preaching a lot of paint touches, try to get as many cuts as you can and just find open 3s,” said freshman guard Davis Fogle, who led the Zags with 17 points after scoring 13 against the Redhawks on Saturday in Seattle. “We can all put it on the floor, we can all get downhill.

“We’re all trying to be more confident in ourselves. Obviously it’s terrible to see those guys go down but we’re going to adjust to it and figure it out.”

Fogle, Miller, Tyon Grant-Foster, Mario Saint-Supery, Emmanuel Innocenti, Braeden Smith and Jalen Warley all made plays via one-on-one drives, whether finishing at the rim or dishing to teammates.

Fogle punctuated a baseline drive with a dunk and found his way to the line for 10 free throws, making eight, on repeated forays inside. Grant-Foster drew four fouls and cashed in by going 4 of 4 at the free-throw line.

“Without those guys (Ike and Huff) in the game sometimes the floor opens up a little bit, we get to a couple more ball screens, you can finish a couple more cuts,” said Miller, who added 11 points. “Guards getting out running, not just run all the way out in the lane, but also get to the rim now.

“It’s just a different-look Gonzaga and we’re making due with what we’ve got. Can’t wait until whenever those guys are ready and just holding it down for them. Just doing what we do. We’re still going to play Gonzaga basketball.”

One of the staples of GU basketball for decades has been running the floor. The Zags were effective in transition with 18 points and another 19 points generated off Pepperdine turnovers.

The Zags at times had five players on the court with the 6-foot-7 Fogle, Warley, Grant-Foster and Steele Venters and 6-3 point guard Saint-Supery.

“I’ve been emphasizing (the fastbreak) since August of 2000,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, referring to his first season at the helm of the program. “That’s what we do. That’s how we play. We should be even better at it with, technically, a smaller lineup. Those guys should be able to fly down the floor.”

As for dribble penetration, Few said, “Obviously we’re looking a little bit more to spread the floor and dribble, especially when we don’t really have a big out there, so that’s what we have to do. That’s a totally different change from what we’re allowed to do when we have Graham or B-Huff out there.”