‘A huge safety blanket.’ Khalif Battle assertive from the outset, clutch down the stretch in Gonzaga’s WCC opener
MALIBU, Calif. – Gonzaga’s offense sputtered both before and after Khalif Battle’s flagrant 2 foul led to an ejection late in the first half of Saturday’s 65-62 loss to UCLA.
Against a physical, defensive-minded Bruins team, it’s hard to say for certain Battle would’ve been able to cook up one of his signature scoring flurries at the Intuit Dome, but Mark Few believes the guard – known for his ability to create instant offense, often when all other options are plugged up – may have given the Zags just enough in a game where one more basket could’ve been the difference for GU.
Battle turned in one of his finest performances of the season two days later against Pepperdine, scoring a team-high 21 points while delivering four clutch free throws down the stretch to rescue Gonzaga after the Waves erased nearly all of a 20-point second-half deficit.
“I think he was on his way to that Saturday,” Few said after Gonzaga’s 89-82 win over Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference opener at Firestone Fieldhouse. “He was in a pretty good space on Saturday at the start of the game when he hit that one jumper and he was kind of attacking good. Yeah, he was great. He was really good on offense.”
Battle set the record straight on the first-half flagrant 2 that forced him to miss the final 24 minutes of Saturday’s loss to UCLA. Eric Dailey Jr. successfully used a pump-fake to get Battle off the ground, but as the Gonzaga guard was coming back down, he landed on top of the UCLA player and grabbed hold of the Dailey Jr’s neck, likely as a way to brace the fall and create a softer landing.
Many viewing the FOX television broadcast opined that Battle’s foul wasn’t intended to be malicious, and the sixth-year guard confirmed as much while meeting with reporters Monday night in Malibu.
“Yeah, that was unintentional,” Battle said. “I never play basketball to hurt anybody. I’m just out there trying to play basketball and compete at a high level. Nothing malicious. Kudos to UCLA for pulling the win out, but we’re on to winning this league now.”
Battle, whose winding college basketball journey has endured its shares of highs and lows at four different schools, looked unbothered and hardly missed a step upon returning to the court 48 hours later.
The Arkansas transfer was assertive from the outset, taking his defender off the dribble and finishing at the rim on Gonzaga’s first possession. Battle continued to have success getting downhill, earning free -throw trips on many of the layup attempts that didn’t fall through the net. Near the end of the first half, the guard caught a long pass in transition from Nolan Hickman before punching in a one-handed dunk that extended the lead to 12 points.
“I felt good,” Battle said. “Coach gave me the confidence, told me he was going to rock with me. I was aggressive early, I felt really comfortable.”
Gonzaga’s backcourt struggled to contain Pepperdine guards Jaxon Olvera and Moe Odum, who scored 35 of their 51 total points in the second half, but as the Waves continued to cut into the deficit late in the game, the Bulldogs received another timely lift from Battle.
After Olvera’s layup made it a two-possession game at 82-78 with 2 minutes, 12 seconds remaining, Battle got to the rim one more time to re-extend the lead to six points. The transfer who’s made 91% of his free throws this season delivered four straight makes from the charity stripe, giving him 6 points inside the final minute to help Gonzaga close out Pepperdine and salvage a 1-1 record on the team’s Southern California road trip.
Battle finished 7 of 11 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line with three rebounds and three assists.
“I think it definitely hurt him that he wasn’t able to finish out that (UCLA) game for us, so just to have him on the court for the full 40 minutes is a huge safety blanket,” forward Braden Huff said. “Whenever we need a big basket, he’s going to deliver. So it was great to have him out there.”