Michael Ajayi’s all-around effort helps Gonzaga hold off Arizona State: ‘He just plays with great energy’

Michael Ajayi is just two games into his senior season at Gonzaga, but it’s clear he’s going to make a serious run at becoming the team’s rebounding and floor-burn leader.

Ajayi’s shot wasn’t falling Sunday as often as it usually does, but he connected on a key first-half 3-pointer and a layup that bumped GU’s lead to 75-71 with 3 minutes, 42 seconds remaining. It’s the other stat categories where Ajayi made his presence felt in the Zags’ 88-80 victory over Arizona State.

Ajayi collected 12 rebounds, helping initiate GU’s running game, and four offensive boards that created second-chance opportunities.

The Pepperdine transfer added three steals in a 6½-minute stretch in the second half, two assists and one block.

Ajayi was one of the few Zags that had some luck defensively against forward Basheer Jihad, who led the Sun Devils with 22 points after scoring just five combined in ASU’s first two games.

“Think about that run in the first half,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We were kind of in a little lull and he got in there and he just did what Mike does. He just plays with great energy. He just assumes every ball is his once it hits the rim and he goes flying in there. That’s another quality we haven’t had on our last couple teams. We needed everyone (of Ajayi’s 12 rebounds). They were really isolating No. 8 (Jihad) and a lot of the guys didn’t have an answer. He made a big stop there.”

Gonzaga witnessed Ajayi’s versatile skill set from the opposing bench as the 6-foot-7 forward averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 in his junior year at Pepperdine.

“Coming into the Spokane Arena (for the GU-Pepperdine game) last year, he flew in for that first rebound and it was like, ‘Oh no,’ ” Zags assistant coach Brian Michaelson said. “We were pretty certain we were getting a high -energy guy, a guy that brings it every day. The nice thing about Mike is he’ll be like that in the middle of the week.”

Michaelson said Ajayi’s best quality goes beyond the numbers.

“Just his desire to learn is really cool,” Michaelson said. “He played awesome, he changed the game. He had the deflection in the zone, the rebounds, the huge 3 and right away he was like, ‘We’ve got a lot more we have to work on, a lot more to do.’ “

Battle has a team-leading 20 rebounds in 51-plus minutes.

“I don’t think the opposition knows how athletic he is because he kind of goes in there with no conscience, like he jumps over people to get the basketball,” GU guard Khalif Battle said. “I love it because it gives us momentum and extra possessions. Him and Ben (Gregg) go at it in practice and they’re both so talented at rebounding and doing other things.”

Gonzaga outrebounded Baylor and Arizona State by 23.

“It’s huge, allows us to start our break and obviously we like to play fast,” point guard Ryan Nembhard said. “We have a lot of talented guys that can shoot and score the ball. When we get second-chance opportunities, that’s always a good recipe for success.”

Ajayi didn’t enjoy much team success a year ago during the Waves’ 13-20 season, but he still earned first-team All-West Coast Conference honors.

“Obviously Domas (Sabonis) was as good of a rebounder as we’ve ever had, but he was pretty interior,” Michaelson said. “Mike’s a force running in there that you feel. and our guys know how much we need that. These guards have rebounded better this week, that has been a weakness for us, so hopefully we can get a little bit of Mike rubbing off on them.”