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Gonzaga Basketball

Buzzer breakdown: No. 3 Gonzaga leads wire-to-wire in third straight game during win over Long Beach State

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) taps the ball away from Long Beach State guard TJ Wainwright (10) during the first half of a NCAA college basketball game, Wed., Nov. 20, 2024, at the McCarthey Athletic Center. (COLIN MULVANY)
By Theo Lawson The Spokesman-Review

Here are three observations from No. 3 Gonzaga’s 84-41 win over Long Beach State Wednesday night at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Long Beach lockdown

Stingy defense helped Gonzaga prevail in its first victory of the week and played a big role in the second.

After Austin Johnson hit a jumper on Long Beach State’s first possession, the visitors didn’t score for another 4 minutes, 56 seconds, and didn’t connect from the field for nearly 10 minutes, making their next shot at the 9:22 mark.

LBSU, which struggled to create open looks at the basket, missed nine consecutive shots during that stretch and didn’t hit double figures until the 6:49 mark of the first half, finishing with nine made field goals on just three assists.

The Beach finished with a season-low 41 points, making 17 of 54 from the field and 2 of 20 from the 3-point line.

Wire-to-wire-to-wire

For the third straight game, Gonzaga grabbed the lead right out of the gates and never gave it up, taking a 3-0 advantage on Nolan Hickman’s opening-possession 3-pointer and building the lead to 24 points midway through the first half.

The Bulldogs trailed for just 53 seconds in the season opener against Baylor, trailed for 12 minutes against Arizona State and didn’t trail at all against UMass Lowell, San Diego State and Long Beach State.

Gonzaga’s stretch without trailing reached 127 minutes by the end of Wednesday’s game – the Bulldogs’ last deficit coming with 7:21 remaining against ASU.

Balancing the scales

Roster balance was a major talking point for Gonzaga entering the season and another example of it played out against Long Beach State.

Graham Ike and Khalif Battle tied for the scoring lead with 15 points apiece, but three others finished in double figures.

Braden Huff chipped in 12 points, and Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman totaled 10 apiece.

All five of those players are also averaging double digits for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have had four leading scorers through the first five games of the season.