‘Just kind of one of those games’: Gonzaga wins fourth in a row, 93-80 over San Diego

Gonzaga picked up its fourth consecutive West Coast Conference win, delivering a comfortable final outcome after being tested deep into the second half by San Diego.

The 18th-ranked Zags finally gained some separation in the final 7 minutes for a 93-80 victory – the Toreros scored the last nine points – Wednesday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga (13-4, 4-0 WCC) joined the Saint Mary’s Gaels (14-3, 4-0) at the top of the conference standings. Washington State (13-3, 3-0) can make it a three-way tie for first place with a victory over Pacific on Thursday before the Cougars visit the Kennel on Saturday.

“Mission accomplished,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “We got the ‘W.’ Like I told them in locker room, we had stretches where we did some really nice things, and some stretches made you scratch your head a little bit. Just kind of one of those games.”

GU senior post Graham Ike had an unusual stat line, finishing with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Ike didn’t make his first field goal until there were 2 minutes and 15 seconds left in the second half, but he hit 13 of 15 at the foul line.

“That was the whole plan, just to post them hard,” said Ike, had 18 boards against San Jose State when he played for Wyoming.

Ike drew nine fouls on USD defenders.

“A lot of people do that to Graham,” Few said. “He generates a lot of attention, a lot of doubling schemes against him and (Braden Huff). I don’t think it was that different than what Portland did or some of these other teams.

“They’re good players, hard to guard 1-on-1. They create double-teams and that’s why it’s important our guys on the perimeter are shot-ready.”

Gonzaga played without Michael Ajayi and Jun Seok Yeo. Both are battling the flu. San Diego (4-13, 1-3) didn’t have third-leading scorer Steven Jamerson, also out with an illness.

Ajayi’s absence resulted in additional minutes for Ben Gregg, who moved into the starting lineup last week. Gregg connected on all three of his 3-point attempts and scored 23 points.

GU senior point guard Ryan Nembhard also was under the weather. He scored eight points in the final 3:26 of the first half. He finished with 11 points and 11 assists in nearly 34 minutes.

“A lot (are battling flu bug),” Gregg said of his teammates. “I know Mike and Jun got it the worst, but I know Ryan has been dealing with it (and) threw up at halftime. It’s not going to hold us back for Saturday (vs. WSU).”

GU’s Khalif Battle hit 4 of 9 3-pointers and added 20 points. Huff chipped in 11 off the bench.

The Zags led by 13 at halftime, but the Toreros, 31-point underdogs and picked to share eighth with Portland in the WCC coaches’ preseason poll, closed within eight early in the second half and were within 59-48 with 13:21 remaining.

GU moved in front 71-53, but the Toreros outscored the Zags 8-1 to trim the deficit to 72-61. The Zags bumped the lead to 86-67 after Emmanuel Innocenti’s three-point play.

The crowd perked up in second half when Nembhard found Gregg for a transition layup, Huff had a three-point play and Huff later followed with a reverse layup on a nifty post move.

The Zags dominated most of the stats, but it wasn’t always reflected on the scoreboard. They made just enough 3-pointers (10), had a 14-point edge at the free-throw line, a 19-7 advantage in assists and dominated the glass 48-31.

San Diego matched its season high of 80 points by scoring nine points in the closing 1:45. The Toreros made seven 3s in the first half and 11 overall.

“Over-rotating, not getting matched up in transition, not talking enough, things like that,” Ike said of defensive lapses that led to many of San Diego’s 3s. “We’ll definitely go back to the film, correct it because we need to for Saturday.”

It was a sleepy start both ways at the outset. Nolan Hickman hit a 3-pointer on the Zags’ opening possession, but they missed their next five shots. San Diego, which started former Gonzaga walk-on Colby Brooks, missed its first five shots before Tony Duckett nailed a 3.

Three-pointers would become a first-half theme.

Gonzaga trailed 15-14 inside the 12-minute mark before scoring 11 of the next 13 points. The Zags couldn’t pull away because the Toreros kept responding with timely 3s, including three by top scorer Kjay Bradley Jr.

Hickman beat the buzzer with a baseline drive and layup to give the Zags a 47-34 halftime edge.

Gonzaga did most of its scoring on 3-pointers (6 of 16) and at the foul line (13 of 16). USD stayed in the game by hitting 7 of 20 3s.