Gonzaga’s Graham Ike turns the tables in funny press conference exchange

In the bowels of the Moda Center, where the second round of the NCAA Tournament is set to continue Saturday, journalists fired off questions hoping to gather insight and analysis from players and coaches about the upcoming game between Gonzaga and Texas.

However, as is the case with many of these media availability sessions, there's not always enough intel to fill the full 20 minutes allotted for them. That wound up being the case during the portion of time carved out for Gonzaga players to talk with the media on Friday.

Instead of an awkward silence, though, Graham Ike took it as an opportunity to conduct his own journalism.

"What goes through your head after watching a game?" Ike asked the hardly-filled room of media personnel after the moderator gave him permission. "What makes you ask a certain question you ask?"

Tyon Grant-Foster chimed in as well, implying the conversation should've been centered around Gonzaga's 20-of-23 showing at the free-throw line the day prior against Kennesaw State. Grant-Foster himself went 3-of-4 at the foul line, where he's shooting 60.1% from on the season.

Ike's question wasn't followed with an answer, though it did generate a collective chuckle from the small gathering of professional journalists and writers.

Here are the rest of the highlights from Gonzaga's press conference ahead of Saturday's tipoff against the Longhorns (4:10 p.m. PT).

Saint-Supéry on his expectations of the NCAA Tournament

"Well, all my teammates told me how big these was. I was just honestly super excited. The atmosphere was super, super nice. It was great the other day. I'm just grateful for being here."

Ike on the Moda Center being a pro-Gonzaga crowd

"It was huge to get the turnout that we got yesterday. Definitely needed. It's like the sixth man on the floor for us. Whenever Zag Nation shows up, they show out. We appreciate them for that. We definitely look forward to them doing the same tomorrow and exceed what they did last night."

Ike on the matchup with Texas' Matas Vokietaitis

"Yeah, should be a great game, a physical game. He had a great performance yesterday. It's going to be a team effort to try and stop him and their whole entire team. I know he's a physical player who does a couple tricky nuance things that we should be aware of."

"It's going to take a team effort to stop him and their whole team."

Ike on Gonzaga staying out of foul trouble against Texas

"We knew coming into the game that Kennesaw State, they put a lot of pressure on us defensively like through fouls. That was definitely something we were cognizant of and wanted to stay out of foul trouble. It was a little tough towards the end of it. We kind of expected that going into that game."