Gonzaga runs away from Washington State in 2nd half to win in-state rivalry game: 3 takeaways

The Gonzaga men's basketball team took down Washington State, 88-75, in the 151st all-time meeting between the in-state rivals Saturday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Graham Ike led the way with 21 points on 8-for-11 from the field while Nolan Hickman stepped up to add 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists to help the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) seize momentum down the stretch of the first half and never relinquish it after halftime to come away victorious over the Cougars (13-5, 3-2 WCC).

Here are three takeaways from the game.

ZAGS STEP UP WITHOUT RYAN NEMBHARD BEFORE 2ND HALF RETURN

Gonzaga senior guard Nolan Hickman. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

As Ryan Nembhard headed to the bench with two fouls at the 9:34 mark in the first half, Gonzaga had to figure out how it was going to navigate WSU's defense without its Wooden Award candidate on the floor. The Cougs didn't let the Zags' potent offense burst out of the gate when Nembhard was out there to begin with, and it didn't seem like things would get any easier with Nembhard out of the picture for the duration of the half.

What appeared to be a golden opportunity for WSU to build off its narrow lead ended up being the opposite, in fact, as Nembhard's teammates began to move into the driver's seat as the first half progressed. Nolan Hickman stepped up to fill in the vacant point guard position, a role he once held his sophomore year, while also battling some of the Cougs' big man on the low block on the defensive end of the floor. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard didn't shy away from 6-foot-6, 233-pound LeJuan Watts or even 6-foot-11, 226-pound Dane Erikstrup.

"This guy [Nolan Hickman] stepped up," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said after the game. "He was amazing tonight. I mean, seven boards ... defensively in there, battling in the post. I mean, he did a lot of stuff that, as I said, he's now, he set a high standard, so kind of be counting on that moving forward, but he and Dusty [Stromer] both really helped during that stretch and [Khalif Battle] and obviously having Ben [Gregg] and then Graham was rock solid all night."

Nembhard made his presence felt immediately upon his return to action in the second half, helping spark a 10-3 scoring run with a dish to Battle for 3 to start the second half, then later hitting Ike on a sweet pass down low for a one-hand dunk to make it 50-40 at the 16:41 mark. After a quiet zero points on 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, Nembhard finished the night with nine points and five assists.

"He did a good job with their pace," WSU head coach David Riley said of Nembhard's performance. "I think he gets them up the floor really well. I felt like it was a lot of factors in that second half, and he played a part in that and started isolating some of our bigs when we made a couple of adjustments. [Nembhard is a] good player."

GONZAGA'S GUARDS DETER WSU'S BIGS

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and guard Dusty Stromer. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

WSU certainly had the height advantage all night down low, though Gonzaga's guards appeared ready for the challenge from the onset. Battle, Hickman and Stromer forced a handful of turnovers by either jumping the passing lanes or knocking their matchup off their spot just enough to force an errant pass from the guard on the perimeter.

"I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense, and we knew that was going to be a big key for us," Few said. "[The Cougars] are hard to guard, they're big and they're physical, and [Riley] does a really lot of nice stuff on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them."

Gonzaga capitalized to score 20 points off 16 turnovers from WSU. The Bulldogs also had four blocks, including two from Stromer. The 6-foot-6 sophomore also tied his career-high for steals in a game with three to go along with eight points in 23 minutes off the bench.

"I think we came out, we played as hard as we could," Stromer said."I was fighting the bigs all night, and I think I was able to get some steals by just trying to get around the big and take it ... everyone played their tails off defensively so, we had a great night."

ON TO OREGON STATE

Gonzaga men's basketball team. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Saturday marks the beginning of a pivotal stretch in league play for the Zags, who get a few days off before hitting the road again, this time to face Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon, on Thursday.

The Beavers (13-5, 3-2 WCC) have alternated wins and losses following a six-game winning streak toward the tail end of nonconference action. Their two losses in WCC play came in a 21-point thumping to Loyola Marymount and a narrow 81-80 overtime loss to Santa Clara. Oregon State beat Pacific-handedly, 91-55, on Saturday night in Stockton, California.

Parsa Fallah, a 6-foot-9 junior, and 6-foot-5 junior Nate Kingz combined for 45 points to lead the way against the Tigers. Oregon State outrebounded Pacific, 36-14, and went 18-for-26 on attempts inside the arc.

"They're huge," Few said of Oregon State's size. "It's another big team. It's another team that likes to post really, really hard."

After Thursday's Quadrant 1 game against the Beavers, the Zags return home for a Quad 2 game against Santa Clara on Saturday. Few and company head to Portland on Jan 25. before wrapping up the important stretch at the Kennel against Oregon State (Jan. 28) and then at Saint Mary's (Feb. 1).

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