3 takeaways as Gonzaga pulls away late from UCLA in the Battle in Seattle

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs finally endured a close game on Saturday night against the UCLA Bruins, ultimately pulling away late and securing a 82-72 victory to move to 10-1 on the year.

It was Gonzaga's first win in four attempts at Climate Pledge Arena, and evened up the series with UCLA after the Zags fell to the Bruins last year at the Intuit Dome, 65-62.

Gonzaga and UCLA led for 9:43 and 9:47 in the first half, respectively, with the Zags heading into halftime with a 45-40 lead. However UCLA played very well to begin the second half, with the teams seemingly staying within a possession of each other for most of the final 20 minutes.

However Gonzaga found a way to prevail, and as expected it was due to big man Graham Ike. Ike - who did not play in GU's most recent game against North Florida - came out of the gate firing on Saturday night, scoring the team's first five points and ultimately finishing with 25, along with a team-high five assists.

Gonzaga also got strong contributions from Braden Huff and Adam Miller offensively, while Jalen Warley and Emmanuel Innocenti wreaked havoc all game long on the defensive end of the floor.

The win puts Gonzaga at 10-1 on the year and gives them three wins over ranked teams and six over power conference opponents, with one still to come against Oregon on Dec. 21.

Below are three key takeaways for Gonzaga in their win over UCLA in Seattle.

1. Gonzaga's bigs cannot be stopped

The starting duo of Graham Ike and Braden Huff for Gonzaga have dominated all season long, and Saturday against UCLA was no different. Both bigs shot a smoldering 6-7 from the field in the first half, combining for 29 of Gonzaga's 45 points.

Ike, who was clearly laboring in the second half with lingering ankle soreness, finished the night leading Gonzaga in points and assists with 25 and five, respectively. Meanwhile Huff dropped 21 on 7-12 shooting, including 6-8 from the free throw line.

UCLA tried everything to stop Gonzaga's bigs: double-teams, triple-teams, single coverage, zone, none of it mattered. As long as these two guys keep scoring at an elite clip, Gonzaga will be a very, very tough team to beat.

2. Mario Saint-Supery is special

This matchup with UCLA was going to be one of, if not the biggest, test of freshman point guard Mario Saint-Supery's Gonzaga career. And he passed with flying colors.

Saint-Supery was the only Gonzaga player in double figures besides Ike and Huff on Saturday, finishing with 12 points on 4-6 shooting. He tacked on four rebounds and while he only had one assist, he also only had one turnover.

Battling it out against preseason All-American Donovan Dent, Saint-Supery was the straw that stirred the drink for Gonzaga all night long. He scored in transition, hit open threes, made plays defensively, and knew when to turn things over to Ike and Huff and let them do what they do best.

3. Too much depth

UCLA is best when they overwhelm their opponents with pressure and athleticism. It's worked against Gonzaga quite a bit, but this year's team is built different. Despite relying heavily on Ike and Huff offensively, Gonzaga was able to pull away and win this game due to their depth.

Case in point, when Ike was laboring in the second half and the Zags were struggling defensively, coach Few subbed out Huff every time GU was on defense, bringing in Emmanuel Innocenti instead and then switching them when they got the ball back. The result was a fresher Huff to take on an offensive load late in the game, and a fresh Innocenti hounding Donovan Dent and the rest of UCLA's ball-handlers in the final few minutes.

How many teams in college basketball can make substitutions like that? Not many, and the combined performance from bench players like Innocenti, Jalen Warley, Adam Miller, and Braeden Smith was a key part of Gonzaga's gritty win over UCLA on Saturday night.

Next up for Gonzaga is a Wednesday evening home game against the Campbell Camels, slated for 6:00 PM PT.