Oct. 31—Mark Few urged Gonzaga to tighten things up on the defensive end after the Bulldogs inadvertently gave up 96 points to USC in Saturday’s exhibition in Palm Desert, California.
The message was delivered to Gonzaga about 10 minutes into Wednesday’s exhibition against Warner Pacific – an NAIA club from Portland – at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Bulldogs put together their biggest sequence of the game – fueled by a multitude of Warner Pacific turnovers and fast break opportunities the other way – and maintained their momentum the rest of the way to earn a 109-52 victory in the final. tune-up ahead of Monday’s season opener against eighth-ranked Baylor.
Gonzaga led 21-19 when a lineup of Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer, Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike went on a 12-0 scoring run that turned into a 36-3 run with 2 minutes and 25 seconds left in the first. half.
The Zags did this with aggressive on-ball defense that led to deflections on many WPU passes, forcing the Knights into 15 turnovers in the first half, 23 total and seven during one stretch 7 minutes in the first half.
“It was much, much better,” Few said of GU’s defense. “I was obviously thinking about a different level of competition, but much better. More active, more alert, more doing what we want to do.”
After trailing by two points with 10:38 remaining, the Zags entered halftime leading 64-27 and scored 88 of the game’s final 121 points.
Ike attributed the defensive adjustment to Gonzaga playing with “a little more push.”
Expanding on that thought, the senior forward said: “Everyone was talking a little more, a little more actively on that side of the ball at the end of the day and that affected the game defensively.”
Few experienced another starting lineup after USC opened with a five-man unit that included Nembhard, Khalif Battle, Ajayi, Ben Gregg and Ike.
Nembhard, Battle and Ike were the three survivors, but Hickman replaced Ajayi and Braden Huff took Gregg’s place Wednesday night.
All 11 scholarship players got at least 12 minutes, and three substitutes all saw floor time in a game that saw Gonzaga lead by as many as 58 points in the second half.
The Bulldogs have scored at least 90 points in every home exhibition they have played since 2006 – most against teams at the NAIA, Division II and III levels – and are averaging more than 101 points per game in those contests.
Hickman accounted for seven of GU’s first 14 points and led the Zags with 19 points, knocking down 3 of 6 3-point attempts while scoring on a variety of mid-range shots.
“He shot the ball well all camp, so I don’t think anyone was surprised, and they just collapsed and tried to fill the paint,” Few said.
“He really made them pay for that, and that’s certainly what he can do. I thought he had a really good game, I thought he was a lot more active in his defense. His hands were going , he broke the balls, he looked much more assertive, especially after having passed this second media timeout.
Ajayi and Huff both finished with 14 points, Nembhard with nine points and seven assists, Gregg with eight points to go with 11 rebounds and Ike finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Six players had multiple steals, but Stromer led the group with four to go with his eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Warner Pacific’s leading scorer and most willing shooter was Matt Solomon, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 from the 3-point line in 23 minutes.
