Braden Huff’s 25 points help Gonzaga roll past Nicholls State 102-72

Gonzaga fans who watched Wednesday’s game against Nicholls State from the opening tipoff probably grew frustrated watching the Bulldogs struggle with many of the same issues that surfaced in recent losses to Kentucky and Connecticut.

Another slow-starting Gonzaga team trailed for 11 minutes, 25 seconds during the first half, but the 13th-ranked Bulldogs made the necessary tweaks and the product on the floor improved with approximately six minutes to play in the opening frame.

Those who turned on Wednesday’s broadcast at that juncture saw the Zags score 20 of the final 24 points in the first half, take a 14-point lead into the halftime break and eventually reach the century mark for the third time this season in a 102-72 win over Nicholls State at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Scoring production came from a variety of sources, but Gonzaga’s low-post tandem of Graham Ike and Braden Huff carried the Bulldogs much of the evening. Huff came one point shy of a career-high, scoring 25 points on 11 of 12 from the field, while Ike responded from a three-point outing against UConn by scoring 20 points on 6 of 9 from the field and 7 of 7 from the free throw line.

Ryan Nembhard was Gonzaga’s third-leading scorer with 18 points and added 10 assists for his fifth double-double this season. Nembhard also matched his season-high with five turnovers. Nolan Hickman also finished in double figures for GU with 11 points, as did Dusty Stromer and Ben Gregg, who had 10 apiece.

Gonzaga (8-3) will host Bucknell (4-7) on Saturday in its final home nonconference game before traveling to Los Angeles for a Dec. 28 game against No. 18 UCLA at the Intuit Dome.

This story will be updated.