‘Ready to hoop.’ Gonzaga freshmen deliver big in high-pressure moments at NCAA Tournament

SALT LAKE CITY – Braden Huff had to sit and think about it.

Resting against a locker at the Delta Center on Friday, between NCAA Tournament games against McNeese State and Kansas, Huff racked his brain trying to recall if Gonzaga had used its three freshmen in the same unit at any point this season.

“Not that I can think of in a close game,” Huff said.

The genesis of the question? A stretch during Gonzaga’s opening-round game against McNeese State where Huff played alongside Dusty Stromer and Luka Krajnovic, along with upperclassmen Anton Watson and Ryan Nembhard, giving the Bulldogs a unique, youthful look for about two minutes during the early stages of their 86-65 victory in Salt Lake City.

At a point in the season when rotations normally shrink before they expand, a point when coaches prioritize experience over youth and lean on starters over subs, Mark Few and his staff relied on all three freshmen – Huff, Stromer and to a lesser extent, Krajnovic – to play key minutes in high-pressure moments last week at the NCAA Tournament.

“I think, ideally, I probably wish we could have gotten to that more this year,” Few said the day after the McNeese State win. “We’ve been in a lot of tight games, a lot of tough games. Just trust those two starting guards is mostly the issue. But Luka came in, gave us some nice minutes. We were able to rest some guys.

“I thought Dusty was great yesterday, kind of back how he was a little bit earlier in the season and was aggressive and making plays and just was terrific.”

In total, Stromer, Huff and Krajnovic – the three freshmen who’ve seen time in GU’s rotation this season – logged 90 total minutes over the two games. Stromer was responsible for half of those, giving the Zags 30 minutes against McNeese State and 15 against the Jayhawks, while Huff added 33 and Krajnovic logged 12 more.

“They’re just growing up,” Nembhard said. “It’s a long year and they’ve grown up a lot this year. I think coach just has a lot of trust in those guys and they’re just playing good basketball right now. They’re coming in confident, ready to hoop and that’s all you can ask for.”

Entering the NCAA Tournament, there was growing confidence that Gonzaga’s starters could keep the Bulldogs afloat, but simultaneously a fair amount of skepticism whether Few’s team would be able to sustain the same level of play if it ever had to lean on the bench in a meaningful capacity.

Those concerns were put to rest early in the McNeese State game and again two days later against Kansas.

Stromer, a member of Gonzaga’s starting lineup the first 15 games of the season, was the team’s leading scorer through most of the first half on Thursday after replacing Ben Gregg when the junior picked up his second foul. Stromer was the first Zag to reach double figures and the only one until Graham Ike matched his 10 points with less than a minute remaining in the half.

“It’s huge, man. It’s very impactful,” starting guard Nolan Hickman said of Stromer’s minutes. “Seeing him getting there, it’s dope too. He was starting and his minutes got subtracted, but it’s always good seeing him if there and gives us a little level of clicking for sure when he’s going.”

Two days later, when box scores were handed out at halftime of Gonzaga’s Round of 32 matchup with Kansas, Huff was the team’s scoring leader with 11 points in 14 minutes after spelling Ike when the junior forward got into foul trouble.

“I think it shows he trusts us and for us to get those minutes and that experience was great,” Huff said. “Like I said, to just be out there compared to last year when I wasn’t playing, it’s great. I’m super grateful for the opportunity.”

Huff was 7 of 13 from the field with 18 points in his first two NCAA Tournament games while Stromer finished 4 of 7 with 13 total points and had a highlight block off the glass in the first half against Kansas. Krajnovic scored seven points against McNeese State, but only logged one minute two days later against Kansas.

“It’s like a dream come true to come out and play with these guys and trying to do my best to help the team,” Krajnovic said.

As for whether GU’s freshman trio had played together in the first half of a close game before sharing the floor Thursday on college basketball’s biggest stage? It happened just one other time in a single-digit game. Huff, Stromer and Krajnovic played together for a shade under two minutes in the first of GU’s regular-season wins against San Francisco at the Chase Center.

“I love playing with these guys,” Stromer said. “Luka, easy to play with, he sees the floor so well. B-Huff, we know B-Huff just scores the ball with ease. So it’s easy to play with these two.”