3 takeaways as Gonzaga cruises past Washington State, stays undefeated in WCC

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs made their first road trip of 2026 on Thursday - without leading scorer Braden Huff - and came away with a comfortable 86-65 win over the Washington State Cougars in Pullman.

It was announced roughly one hour before tip that Huff, who is averaging 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds this year, will be out 4-8 weeks after suffering a left knee injury at practice this week.

Huff's absence is significant for Gonzaga, especially with upcoming matchups against San Francisco and Saint Mary's to close out the month of January.

However, the Zags were able to handle a struggling Washington State team without the 6'9 big man, thanks in large part to his replacement in the starting lineup - Jalen Warley - and Graham Ike, Huff's longtime teammate in the frontcourt.

Thursday's contest was a game of runs early, with WSU jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Gonzaga's defense tightened up, holding the Cougars scoreless for a six minute stretch while racking up a 15-0 run of their own. However, the Zags ten point lead was erased almost instantaneously by a personal 9-0 run from Simon Hildebrandt, who hit back-to-back-to-back threes in 58 seconds to make it 15-14 at the under-12 media timeout, en route to a career-high 16 points off the bench.

The future Pac-12 rivals traded blows for the next few minutes, with Adam Miller making a lay-in to tie the game at 30 with five minutes to go in the first half. The Zags put on the jets after that, going on a 13-3 run - capped by a midrange jumper from freshman Davis Fogle in the closing seconds - to head into the locker room up 43-33 at the half.

From there it was the Graham Ike show. The big man drew a foul on WSU center ND Okafor - his fourth of game - just 0:38 seconds into the half, and then proceeded to go to work on the block. Ike scored six points with three rebounds in the opening four minutes, while Gonzaga ran their lead up to 53-37 just before the first media timeout.

Gonzaga coasted after that, moving to 18-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play. They have now defeated Washington State all three times the schools have matched up since WSU joined the WCC as an affiliate member, with one more regular season matchup slated for Feb. 10 in Spokane.

Below is a look at three key takeaways from Gonzaga's 18th win of the year and 15th by double-digits:

1. Jalen Warley is ready for his close-up

As expected, Jalen Warley replaced Braden Huff in the starting lineup for Gonzaga - and he reminded fans he is more than capable of taking over for this team when needed.

Warley racked up four points, three steals, one rebound, one block, and one assist...in the first five minutes of Thursday's game. He finished the half leading Gonzaga in points (11), steals (3), and blocks (2) while adding three rebounds and two assists and shooting a blistering 5-6 from the field and 1-1 from the free throw line.

The 6'6 wing has been among the most versatile players in recent memory for Gonzaga, and while he's not your average power forward he brings a unique dynamic to the Zags on both ends of the floor - which showed up right out of the gates tonight in Pullman.

2. Graham Ike took over

It's no secret Gonzaga will need Graham Ike to take over for this team with Huff on the shelf, and coming off a career night last week against Santa Clara, the big man looked fully ready to keep it rolling on Thursday.

Ike was ferocious on the block all night long, finishing with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds - six of them offensive - giving him his conference leading 11th double-double on the year. The 6'9 big man also added a team-high five assists along with two steals, while shooting 11-15 from the field and effectively neutralizing WSU's starting center, ND Okafor, who played just 11 minutes due to foul trouble and failed to score with three turnovers.

Ike, who was recently named to the Wooden Award midseason Watch List, will need to play like an All-American for Gonzaga to stay undefeated during Huff's absence. So far, so good.

3. Gonzaga dominated the offensive glass

Ike wasn't the only Zag crushing it on the offensive boards. Overall Gonzaga outrebounded WSU, 43-29, with a whopping 17 of them coming on the offensive glass.

Warley (3), Grant-Foster (4) and Emmanuel Innocenti (2) were major parts of Gonzaga's rebounding dominance on Thursday night.

Most teams who lose a 6'9 veteran like Huff to injury would struggle on the glass, but more playing time for Warley, Grant-Foster, and 7'0 Ismaila Diagne should allow the Zags to stay dominant in that category through WCC play.

Gonzaga will head across the state next to take on Seattle University for the second time this month, with tip-off slated for 7:00 PM PT at Climate Pledge Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.