I should have known that at some point this season I would be reminded of all the boring things that come with being a college basketball fan. I didn’t expect them to all hit at once, but here we are. First, ESPN bounced the game between channels, moved the alert window without warning, and at one point the ESPN+ app forced me into the Spanish-language broadcast, which was funny for about 4 minutes. In all honesty, I wasn’t initially excited about Gonzaga’s broadcast deal with USA Network, but after remembering how annoying ESPN’s broadcast antics can be, this now seems like some of the best program news this year.
Unfortunately, things didn’t improve once the game launched. The Zags took the floor in front of a hostile Tempe crowd, came out flat, never found a rhythm in turnovers and had to deal with an officiating crew that turned the game into a parade of whistles long before either team could gain momentum. It was everything that frustrated basketball fans gathered in one evening. There were some good things in this game, sure, but the whole game felt like trying to eat an ice cream sundae out of a porta-potty at Pig Out in the Park – something you love made nauseating by the squalor of the setting.
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The Zags still leave Tempe with a 77-65 victory against the Sun Devils. The Bulldogs were buoyed by Graham Ike’s 20 points and 9 rebounds and spurred by another quietly devastating night from Tyon Grant-Foster, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs picked up their first significant road win of the season, the kind of result that will age well even if the game itself won’t. Yet the performance also revealed how vulnerable this team becomes when the engine sputters, when rhythm disappears and when the margin between control and collapse shrinks to a handful of possessions and a few flukes (plus a well-timed tantrum from ASU coach Bobby Hurley).
First half
Gonzaga opened the game with one of its flattest stretches of the season, stumbling through 10 minutes where jumpers missed by wide margins and turnovers on Arizona State’s help side snuffed out anything resembling rhythm in the low post. ASU loaded the backline early on in the paint, forcing Ike and Huff into crowded pivots and taking away the short-roll windows that normally clear the perimeter running lanes. ASU point guard Moe Odum (12 points and 7 assists on the night) blew two consecutive low post entries and interrupted several drives by beating Gonzaga guards in their place. The result was a choppy start that led the Zags 20-19 with 9:25 left in the first half and was nothing like one of the fastest and most efficient programs in the country.
The change happened once Gonzaga tightened things up defensively and started piling up stops. After a hot shooting start, ASU went cold, shooting 35% from the field during the half, with very little offense created after the opening burst. Those stops fueled Gonzaga’s broader interior dominance, which showed throughout the half with 22 paint points to ASU’s 12. Grant-Foster controlled the glass with 8 first-half rebounds off the bench, Ike powered through contact for 11 points and 5 rebounds, and the Zags flipped the rebounding margin to a decisive 25-14, including 19 defensive rebounds that wiped out nearly all of ASU’s second chances.
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Even with limited perimeter volume – 3-9 from deep in the first half – Gonzaga still produced 1.25 points per possession, thanks to shot selection, rebounding and clean execution once the initial nerves wore off. The bench contributed 19 points to ASU’s 7, and the Zags entered halftime with a 45-32 lead, a number that better reflected the final twelve minutes than the first eight.
The officiating was just awful on both sides, and the constant whistles throughout the game completely knocked Gonzaga out of rhythm, but they imposed order on a half that was trying very hard to stay messy. Low shooting volume, constant referee interference and a strong start to the game from ASU’s Santiago Trouet (10 rebounds in the first half) made things closer than expected. Still, all the underlying numbers tipped Gonzaga’s direction by the horn, and by halftime the separation was partly as good as the performance.
Second half
The Zags did not come out of the locker room playing with much more energy than the first. But the referees were relentless. After only 4 minutes of play in the second half, Graham Ike and Braden Huff found themselves struggling with 3 fouls each. Any longtime Zag fan has had dĂ©jĂ vu flashbacks to some of the darkest tournament nights in program history, as Gonzaga’s offense tends to flatten out whenever its interior anchors disappear early, and that script felt dangerously familiar.
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It didn’t get any prettier from there, but the Zags held on to their lead and held the Sun Devils in check despite the lead being reduced to just 5. Every move on the court became a negotiation with the officials, who seemed determined to “balance” the game possession by possession. Gonzaga opened the half 2-13 from the field, stuck in an offensive freeze as Arizona State pressed, ran and cobbled together some momentum. The only stabilizing force came from the sidelines, with Tyon Grant-Foster blasting his way to a double-double in his first 16 minutes of action and Emmanuel Innocenti burying a corner three that finally ended Gonzaga’s drought and rebuilt a two-possession cushion.
The emotional temperature of the game reached a high when ASU’s Trouet earned a technical for taunting following a baseline block on Jalen Warley, and a few possessions later, Bobby Hurley exploded into a complete volcanic episode after an obvious foul by Graham went uncalled on the other end. The officials hit him with technology that he absolutely deserved theatrically, even if he was right. The moment turned the crowd around, energized the Bulldogs and brought the game back in Gonzaga’s favor.
But even then, nothing was easy for the Gonzaga backcourt. Mario Saint-Supery never found his rhythm in this one (2 points and 0 assists in 7 minutes of play in the second half). Huff fouled out with five minutes remaining after a productive but handcuffed night. In a half defined by stops and starts, the decisive shots came from Adam Miller, who confidently buried two late threes to bring the lead back to fifteen and finally give Gonzaga some much-needed breathing room. Grant-Foster added the exclamation point with a steal and heads-up dunk that pushed him to 14 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
But perhaps the most telling moment of the night came with 30 seconds left and Gonzaga ahead by 12 points. The show slowly scanned Gonzaga’s bench and found no hint of relaxation or celebration, just clenched jaws, flat expressions and a group that looked genuinely irritated by the whole affair. That snapshot said more than the scoreline ever could, as it showed a team fully aware that the game had slipped to a place well below its standards, even though it had secured the result.
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Final Thoughts
In two and a half hours, 45 total fouls committed and a 6-21 3-point shooting performance, Gonzaga survived an ugly, ugly game against a surprisingly scrappy opponent in an extremely hostile road environment. If ever there was a play to help the Zags get back into the top 10 conversation, this is it, despite the ugliness of the play itself. They proved they could keep their composure, rely on depth and create a game that offered nothing in the way of pace or momentum. Nights like this separate teams built for March from teams that fall apart in December, and Gonzaga left Tempe with proof that this roster can bend without breaking, even when circumstances and game script conspire against them.
Stuff I encourage the comments section to discuss…
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Braeden Smith had 0 points on the night but also finished with 9 assists and only 1 turnover. He played 26 minutes to Mario Saint-Supery’s 13 and was arguably Gonzaga’s point guard for most of regulation. After two remarkable performances from Saint-Supery, Braeden Smith’s performance only made the point guard conversation more interesting. Well it helped stay interesting.
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STILL no Diagne. Huff fouled, Ike had 3, Warley had 3 and ASU’s 7’1″ Massamba Diop continued to find ways to get to the rim and grab rebounds. It’s Diagne time! I’m not sure Diagne time will come to fruition this season outside of late-match eruptions.
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Gonzaga made 35 free throws to ASU’s 23, a gap that shaped every possession down the stretch and created separation on a night where the margin lived in the muck; a more balanced whistle on shooting plays would have resulted in a much closer final and raised real questions about whether Gonzaga would have escaped with the victory.
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14 total turnovers and only 2 steals on the night, this is not the kind of Gonzaga basketball that the first few games of the season led us to believe we were going to see. The perimeter defense will need to rebound and get back on track in short order before Southern Utah on Monday.
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It was an ugly game. It wasn’t fun to watch at all. But a win is a win, and the Zags are now 4-0.
The Zags will face Southern Utah on Monday at the Kennel. Tipoff is at 6:00 p.m., coverage provided by KHQ and ESPN+.
