‘Spectacular’ Graham Ike scores 23 of 27 points in second half of Gonzaga’s near-comeback against Houston

WICHITA, Kan. – The question was directed at Graham Ike, not Mark Few.

Gonzaga’s coach decided to weigh in anyway.

On the heels of a 27-point outing, the senior forward was asked by a reporter to describe his mindset during a second-half takeover that brought eighth-seeded Gonzaga within one point of top-seeded Houston late in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 matchup.

Ike wrapped up his thoughts in about 20 seconds. Few went next.

“He was spectacular,” Few said. “When you get 27 (points) on Houston with the bigs that they have, I mean, are you kidding me? Nobody has done that to them. Nobody. You’re facing double-teams every time. I’m telling you, there’s double teams, and then there’s Houston double teams, and it’s a whole other neighborhood.

“For him to do that is unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

Ike willed Gonzaga, put the Zags on his back for long stretches of the second half and nearly powered them through the finish line of a 81-76 loss at Intrust Bank Arena.

The forward’s stats were modest at halftime – just four points on 2 of 5 from the field with three rebounds and two turnovers – but Ike shifted to a different gear in the second half to finish with a team-high 27 points and five rebounds.

He was efficient from the field (8 of 13), surprisingly effective from the 3-point line (2 of 3) and automatic from the free throw line (9 of 9) in his second-highest scoring game of the season.

“It took great adversity and great fight,” Ike said. “Special group to be a part of this game with. As a collective, we fought and it showed. A couple key things on a couple possessions and this game is ours. But we fought, that’s one thing we did do.”

The defensive-minded Cougars were able to slow a couple of Gonzaga’s key players, but they had few answers for Ike once he started to pick up steam in the second half.

Ike has traditionally established himself on the low block, settling into the game with hook shots and post moves before attempting to stretch his game out to the perimeter. The forward took an inverse approach on Saturday, spotting up for a pair of 3-pointers inside the first five minutes of the second half before resuming his work down low.

“Ike is pretty good. He can score on both blocks,” said Houston forward J’Wan Roberts, who was matched up against the Gonzaga forward when their minutes overlapped on Saturday. “It was are a good matchup. He was hard to guard, but I feel like at the end of the day we kind of still did the job, though. You just find a way to win, like coach said.”

Houston players fouled Ike eight times and the senior did most of his damage inside the final 11 minutes, making all nine of his free throws during that stretch and converting two close-range shots – the second of which came on an and-one play that trimmed the Cougars’ lead to 76-72 with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining.

“That’s just who he is man, he’s a gamer,” senior forward Ben Gregg said. “He’s one of the most resilient guys I’ve ever been around. Just mentally tough. He’s not going to take no for an answer, ever, and he showed that tonight. That’s just who he’s been all year for us, just making big-time plays and we needed him in the clutch. There’s nobody like that, I’m super proud of them.”

Ike earned AP All-American Honorable Mention during his first season at Gonzaga after transferring from Wyoming and didn’t regress during his second season, earning All-WCC First Team honors while improving his scoring average from 16.3 points per game to 17.2.

“He’s been unbelievable, just to see his growth and what he can do on the court,” frontcourt mate Braden Huff said. “We see it every day as a unit, so he’s an unbelievable basketball player and he’s a large reason we were in that game. I’m super proud of him and just to be able to share the court, especially these last couple games has just been so much fun.”

Ike didn’t walk on Senior Night and still has one year of eligibility available, but the forward was non-committal when asked about plans for next season.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Ike said. “Just still enjoying this moment and being with this group. I’ve still got a lot of time with these guys, even through we’re not playing basketball. I’m in the moment.”