Gonzaga stifles LMU in slugfest from the Kennel: 3 takeaways

The Bulldogs clamped down on the Lions in a 20-point margin from Spokane

Cole Forsman | Feb 7, 2025

Gonzaga Bulldogs Emmanuel Innocenti (5) and Michael Ajayi (1). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

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The Gonzaga men's basketball team pulled away from Loyola Marymount down the stretch of their West Coast Conference matchup to come away with a 73-53 victory at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs (17-7, 8-3 WCC) went on a 22-2 scoring run over a 7-minute stretch in the second half, just after the Lions (14-9, 6-5 WCC) had gone ahead 46-45 on a jumper from Jevon Porter, while thoroughly handling their business on the defensive end of the floor all night long to snap LMU's five-game winning streak.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

LMU guard Myron "MJ" Amey, Jr. (5) and Gonzaga guard Nolan Hickman (11). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Since allowing 103 points to Santa Clara at home, Gonzaga has tightened up defensively over the past week while mixing in a variety of looks, from man-to-man, different zone schemes and sometimes a mixture of both.

Against the Lions, the Zags dictated the flow of the game early on through traditional man-to-man disciplines, such as jumping passings, taking away air space and forcing their opponent to redirect its offense away from its first and second options.

Right away Gonzaga's pressure had LMU rattled, as Stan Johnson's squad committed a turnover on five of its first seven possessions. The Lions also endured a stretch in the first half where they missed 11 of 12 from the field after starting the game 2-of-2.

Overall, LMU was just 19-of-55 (34.5) from the field and 4-of-22 (18.2%) from 3-point territory. It was Gonzaga's fourth consecutive game holding its opponent to sub-40% shooting from the field. And not long after letting Santa Clara and Oregon State have their way on the offensive end of the floor.

KHALIF BATTLE RETURNS TO STARTING LINEUP

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

It's been quite an interesting past few weeks for sixth-year guard Khalif Battle. After putting up goose eggs against Santa Clara and Portland, he dropped 23 points in a dominant win over Oregon State, followed by a 2-point performance in Gonzaga's loss at Saint Mary's last Saturday.

Battle's roller-coaster scoring trends continued Thursday, as the 6-foot-5 guard led the way with 24 points. He was just 4-of-13 from the field but was still effective in his ability to apply foul pressure and get to the free-throw line, where he made 15 of his 16 attempts.

"He's been a little bit of an enigma quite honestly, it's just hard to figure out," Few said of Battle. "We're at our best when he's at his best, clearly, and so hopefully we can keep him in that space he was in tonight and keep delivering. But it has been wildly inconsistent. But when he's on, he's on."

Battle made his return to the starting five after coming off the bench in the team's previous three games.

"That's good that coach did that, I deserved that," Battle said of him moving to the bench."[Emmanuel Innocenti] stepped up, deserved the minutes, but I'm happy to be in the lineup and I gotta keep building off this."

ON TO PACIFIC

Gonzaga guard Michael Ajayi (1). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Gonzaga faces a short turnaround as it heads down to Stockton, California, for its next matchup against Pacific on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT.

The Tigers (8-18, 3-9 WCC) were also in action Thursday night, as they edged out San Diego in a 71-69 final from the Spanos Center thanks to Lamar Washington's 19 points. Petar Krivokapic added 15, Elijah Fisher chipped in 14 to help lead Pacific to a second win in its last three games.

Fisher paces the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game. Elias Ralph, a 6-foot-7 senior, entered Thursday tied for 31st in the country with eight double-doubles. He's second on the team with 15.7 points to go with 7.4 rebounds per contest.