Emmanuel Innocenti was Gonzaga's unsung hero in massive win over Saint Mary's

The Gonzaga Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 73-65 victory over Saint Mary's on Saturday, ending a two year streak of losing to the Gaels in Spokane.

Graham Ike was the star, dropping 30 points for just the second time in his Gonzaga career while playing a whopping 37 minutes - despite missing the past three games with lingering ankle soreness.

However, as is often the case with rivalry games, it was an unheralded player who stepped up and helped bury the Gaels.

Emmanuel Innocenti, who has started 17 games this year but is just tenth on the team in points per game, cemented himself as a villain for SMC fans in the lore of this historic rivalry. The 6'5 guard - known more for his effort defensively - single-handedly kept Gonzaga afloat during a rough stretch on offense.

Innocenti finished with ten points, all of which came during a 3 minute and 12 second spurt early in the second half. This coincided with Ike's roughest patch of the game, when he missed five straight field goal attempts while the Gaels smothered him with double-teams and forced him into tough mid-range jumpers.

Gonzaga could not find any outside shooting in the first half, so Saint Mary's opted to get the ball out of Ike's hands by sending two at him and daring the Zags to beat them from deep.

Innocenti was the only player who answered the call, going 2-4 from three including a game-tying triple at the 13:55 mark of the second half.

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Emmanuel Innocenti (5). | Photo by Myk Crawford

The strong showing raised Innocenti's three point percentage to 32%, the highest mark of his career. The ten points also mark his third game of the season in double figures, following a 15 point performance against Maryland at the Players Era Festival and a 13 point game earlier this month against Santa Clara.

Innocenti was also crucial for the Zags on the boards, securing five rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass. Gonzaga outscored Saint Mary's 17-5 in second chance points, a massive reason they were able to get the win on Saturday night.

As if that weren't enough, Innocenti was his usual self defensively: quick, physical, tenacious, and versatile, making life extremely difficult for the variety of SMC players he was tasked with defending.

"He did a great job," coach Mark Few said after the game. "They're going to put you through a million ball screens with big, physical guys setting them and really, really smart, crafty guards executing. He guarded it time and time and time again spectacularly."

"Big shout out to E-Man," added Jalen Warley. "I think he came up really big, because when he wasn't guarding Murauskas, he was guarding [Joshua] Dent and he was really making life difficult for him."

Innocenti is a crucial part of Gonzaga's rotation thanks to his on-ball defense, rebounding, and ability to move the ball offensively. His scoring has never been a major factor, but his ability to knock down open looks and snake his way in for offensive rebounds forces opponents to keep him on their radar - or else he will make them pay.

Gonzaga will look to extend their winning streak to 16 on Wednesday, Feb. 4 in Portland against the Pilots. The game will tip at 7:00 PM PT and will be available on ESPN+.

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