Jalen Warley out for Gonzaga vs. Saint Mary's with leg injury

No Warley or Braden Huff is a tall order for Gonzaga against Saint Mary's frontcourt

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jalen Warley (8). | Photo by Myk Crawford

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs will be without two key players on Saturday, with a team spokesman confirming Jalen Warley will miss his second straight game with a quad contusion.

Warley joins Braden Huff (knee) on the sideline for the Zags in their regular-season finale against the Saint Mary's Gaels, a brutal blow to Gonzaga's depth before a big-time rivalry matchup in Moraga.

Warley played a valuable role as a backup forward for Gonzaga in the early part of the season, using his elite length and athleticism to become one of the most uniquely versatile players in Zag basketball history.

He then stepped into the starting lineup in mid-January when Huff went down with his knee injury and immediately made an impact all over the floor, averaging 11.8 points, 5.0 boards, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 steals in 30.4 minutes per game over his next five contests. That included playing 33 minutes and scoring 10 points with seven rebounds and two assists on 5-7 shooting against Saint Mary's, all while playing lockdown defense on SMC star forward Paulius Murauskas. Murauskas ended up scoring 15 points but on 5-14 shooting, thanks to a strong effort from Warley defensively.

However, Warley suffered an injury to his quad early in Gonzaga's next game against Portland, an injury that has impacted him ever since. Although he suited up in Gonzaga's next six games, his playing time shrank to an average of 18.8 minutes, and the explosiveness fans saw from him early in the season was nowhere to be found.

"He's really hurt," coach Few said after the Santa Clara game on Feb. 14. "He's not even practicing. It's just one of those things that's just going to take a while."

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Erik Smith

Warley did manage to score 11 points in 22 minutes against San Francisco four days later on Feb. 18, but only played 18 minutes with two points against Pacific and then sat out his first game of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 21, against Portland - in what should have been his senior night celebration.

Now Warley will miss the regular season finale, and his absence will be significant against the Gaels. No Huff or Warley means Gonzaga will rely heavily on not only Graham Ike, but Tyon Grant-Foster and potentially Davis Fogle to play frontcourt minutes. Ismaila Diagne will be asked to step in as well, potentially shifting Ike to the four in spurts, but he's been limited by foul trouble consistently this season.

It's also possible Noah Haaland - a 6'9 walk-on big man who has played 54 career minutes across two years in Spokane - could give the Zags some spot minutes.

Haaland did score 10 points on 4-4 shooting with four rebounds in 11 minutes against Pepperdine earlier this year, but his limited experience at this level makes a matchup like this a tough task.

Gonzaga will need a big-time effort from Ike to get a win on Saturday night, which would give the Zags an outright WCC regular-season title for the first time since 2022 and their first season sweep of Saint Mary's since 2021.

The game tips off at 7:30 PM PT on Saturday in Moraga, and will be broadcast on ESPN.