Gonzaga players react to loss vs. Texas in NCAA Tournament

PORTLAND, Ore — Graham Ike's 101st career game in a Gonzaga uniform played out very similarly to the previous 100: A lot of paint touches, a handful of double-teams and a few bumps and bruises to go along with some big box score numbers.

The one thing that didn't come on this particular night, during which the 6-foot-9 All-American dropped 25 points and played all but one minute against a physical Texas squad: A win for his Zags.

As such, Ike's time in the Gonzaga red, white and blue came to an end, roughly three years after it began with a commitment to Mark Few and company out of the transfer portal.

It was also the end of Jalen Warley's brief but very impactful Gonzaga tenure, which began over a year ago but wasn't realized until the Florida State transfer got to play following his redshirt year.

Here's what both Ike and Warley had to say after Gonzaga's 74-68 loss to Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ike on his immediate thoughts

"It was a great season. We played a hard-fought game. Ultimately we didn't come out with the outcome that we wanted, but we put in the work this season day-in and day-out to try and win the day."

"Just super proud of this team for the adversity that we pushed through. We were built for adversity, no doubt about it. We faced so much of it. That built us for, to be better men in life, absolutely. It's not just this game, but this season built us to be better men in life."

"I'm proud of this squad, I'm excited to see where everybody goes after this. I'm just extremely grateful for Coach, the rest of the staff, for allowing me to be part of such a great legacy. And to my teammates I can't thank them enough for always having my back, the fans always having our back."

Ike on growing as a player and person during his time at Gonzaga

"Just a human being in constant evolution. That's who I stepped in here as, that's who I'm leaving as. I grew as a man. Coach built us. My teammates helped me grow."

"Like I said, I'm just extremely grateful that I got to experience something so grand as this."

Warley on his time at Gonzaga

"I couldn't even imagine it until I went through it. It was everything to me. I'd make the same decision a hundred times over."

"Just looking back on all the guys and all moments that we had, on and off the court. Like both of them said, we battled a lot of adversity. This was my most fun year playing basketball. I feel like this is one of my most connected teams I've been a part of, and it really means a lot to me to say I can be a Zag for life, because this was everything for me."

Add us as a preferred source on Google