Gonzaga forward Graham Ike earns third WCC Player of the Week honor

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week after a dominant performance on Thursday against the Santa Clara Broncos.

The win was Ike's third of the season and fifth overall for Gonzaga, with Braden Huff winning the award twice in the month of December.

The 6'9 big man scored 34 points on 13-17 shooting against the Broncos on Thursday, setting his career-high in a Gonzaga uniform and coming one short of his overall career-high of 35, which he totaled while at Wyoming in 2021. Ike's 13 made field goals were a career best and the third most in the conference this season, while his 11 rebounds gave him a conference-leading ten double-doubles on the year.

Ike's performance was critical against a very solid Santa Clara team that had beaten Gonzaga two of the previous four meetings, including in Spokane last year, thanks to a ridiculous 18 made three pointers. The 103 points surrendered were the most in Gonzaga history at the McCarthey Athletic Center, and as one of just three returners who played in that game, Ike made sure it wouldn't happen again. He scored nine points in the first four minutes of Thursday's game and had 13 of Gonzaga's first 17 points in an all-around outstanding performance against coach Herb Sendek's team.

"He was on, and again, that's not an easy crew to go against," coach Mark Few said after the game. "I mean, they got some nice athletic shot blockers that are long in there...He did a nice job taking care of the ball too, because there were some rakes in there that I thought he did a good job powering through."

The Aurora, CO native now ranks third in the WCC in scoring (17.8), second in rebounds (8.6), and second in field goal percentage (54.2%). His numbers in conference play are even better, with averages of 19.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and a ridiculous 67.2% mark from the field.

Ike earned his third WCC Player of the Week honor over six other nominees: Joshua Dent (Saint Mary's), Joel Foxwell (Portland), Sash Gavalyugov (Santa Clara), Ty-Laur Johnson (San Diego), Justin Rochelin (Pacific) and Jalen Shelley (LMU).

Foxwell and Gavalyugov shared the WCC's Freshman of the Week award, while Gonzaga guard Mario Saint-Supery was nominated once again.

Next for Gonzaga is a trip down to Pullman to take on Washington State (8-10, 3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 7:00 PM PT. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.

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