Gonzaga finishes Battle 4 Atlantis strong with blowout win vs. Davidson: 3 takeaways

The Bulldogs executed on both ends of the floor to come away with a 25-point win over the Wildcats

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Dusty Stromer (4) reacts after scoring against the Davidson Wildcats. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Following a crushing overtime loss to West Virginia, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team outscored its next two opponents by 41 points over the course of a 48-hour span to finish the highly competitive Battle 4 Atlantis event in fifth place. Quite the response to adversity on short notice.

The Zags (7-1) thumped No. 14 Indiana (89-73) on Thanksgiving, got a good night’s rest and then took care of business against Davidson on Friday to come away with a 90-65 victory. Gonzaga led by two points before its bench unit sparked a 13-1 scoring run to make it 33-19 at the 7:08 mark in the first half. Davidson cut its deficit to single-digits behind Reed Bailey, though the Bulldogs did a good job of holding his teammates Connor Kochera and Bobby Durkin well below their season averages.

Ben Gregg set a career-high with 24 points on 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. The 6-foot-10 senior also grabbed eight rebounds and recorded two steals. Ryan Nembhard’s 14 assists marked a new personal best for the senior guard and a new single-game record for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

“Guys did a great job executing the defensive plan,” Bulldogs head coach Mark Few said after the game. “And the offensive plan, which you have to do against Davidson.”

Here are three takeaways from Gonzaga’s victory.

FRONTCOURT DOMINATES AGAIN

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff (34) shoots over Davidson Wildcats forward Sean Logan (15). / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Mark Few has to be pleased with how his frontcourt imposed its will over the last two days after getting shut down for the most part by the Mountaineers in the quarterfinal. Gonzaga’s bigs overcame foul trouble and Oumar Ballo’s right-handed hook shot to overrun the Hoosiers down low, then put together an explosive night on offense to completely overwhelm the Wildcats from start to finish.

Graham Ike landed the first few blows, as he scored seven of the team’s first 11 points following an and-1 in transition. The 6-foot-9 forward established himself later in the second half to end the night with 18 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes, marking his first double-double since last season’s Sweet 16 game against Purdue (also 18 points and 10 rebounds).

Gregg and Braden Huff took the intensity to another level in the first half while Ike got his short breather on the bench. Along with sophomore wing Dusty Stromer, Gonzaga’s reserves scored 17 points in a row to make it 30-19 with 7:19 to play before halftime. That 13-1 scoring run ended up being the difference maker, as the Bulldogs never looked back coming out of the locker room behind a couple of scores down low from Ike.

The Ike-Huff-Gregg trio proved to be too much for the Wildcats to handle. They combined for 56 points and 22 rebounds on 22-of-35 from the field and set the tone in the paint, where Gonzaga outscored Davidson, 58-24, while also winning the rebounding battle, 40-23. The Wildcats were held without any second-chance points — the Zags had 12 second-chance points.

SHARING IS CARING

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) dribbles as Davidson Wildcats forward Joe Hurlburt (8) defends. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Friday’s victory for the No. 3-ranked team was another early-season reminder of how continuity and experience can make for a dynamic combination on both ends of the floor, particularly on offense. With the best playmaking point guard in the country at the helm, the Bulldogs recorded 24 assists on 35 made field goals against the Wildcats. Nembhard’s 39 assists over the last 72 hours set a Battle 4 Atlantis tournament record, while Gonzaga had at least 20 assists as a team in all three games played in the Bahamas.

ONTO KENTUCKY

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33) celebrates with guard Nolan Hickman (11) against the Davidson Wildcats. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

After three games in as many days, Gonzaga gets a much-needed break before its anticipated matchup with No. 8 Kentucky (6-0) in the Battle in Seattle event on Dec. 7.

Now under former BYU coach Mark Pope, the Wildcats don’t feature a single player on their roster who suited up in last season’s 89-85 loss to the Zags at Rupp Arena. Rather than trot out a handful of 5-star freshmen, Pope assembled a versatile cast made up of mostly upperclassmen he snagged out of the transfer portal. So far through the first four weeks of the season, the newcomers’ experience is already coming through for Big Blue.

Paced by 6-foot-4 junior Otega Oweh (15.9 points, 57.1% from the field), six players average double-figures for Kentucky, which ranks No. 1 in the country in scoring at 96.7 points per game. Dayton transfer Koby Brea (14.1 points) has been unconscious from behind the arc to start the season. The 6-foot-7 senior entered Friday ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (64.6%).

Brea’s down to 61.0% (25-of-41) from beyond the arc following a 2-for-7 showing in Kentucky’s 105-76 win over  Georgia State, though he was still one of seven players who scored in double-figures for the Wildcats. Lamont Butler (12.4 points, 3.7 assists) led the way with 17 points on 7-of-10 from the field. 

Kentucky’s new-look corp hasn’t been tested as much as Gonzaga’s veteran group has through the first month of the 2024-25 campaign, though the Wildcats do boast an impressive 77-72 victory over Duke from the Champions Classic on Nov. 12. Pope and company travel to play Clemson in South Carolina on Dec. 3 before making the trip to the Pacific Northwest later in the week.

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win vs. Indiana in Battle 4 Atlantis

• Gonzaga's Ismaila Diagne suffers sprained MCL

• Gonzaga responds to loss with emphatic Thanksgiving Day win over Indiana: 3 takeaways

• Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard rises to the challenge his senior year: 'It was time for a big jump'

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