What Gonzaga's Graham Ike said after dominating Kentucky

Bulldogs forward engineered a 35-point win over the Wildcats

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Emmanuel Innocenti (5), forward Graham Ike (15), and guard Braeden Smith (3) walk back to the bench against the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Gonzaga forward Graham stewed on everything that transpired during the Bulldogs' 40-point loss to Michigan in the Players Era Festival for over a week.

The 6-foot-9 forward and preseason All-American candidate looked anything but one of the best players in the country against the Wolverines. Ike scored just one point — his lowest point total since his first collegiate game as a freshman — and failed to make a single shot from the field for just the third time in his five-year college career, epitomizing the kind of night Gonzaga had to endure on its way to the program's worst margin of defeat in the Mark Few era.

The ensuing nine days leading up to Friday's showdown against Kentucky from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena was business as usual, according to Ike, though wanting to right all the wrongs from the previous outing would've been natural for him and the Zags.

That, and getting to face off against a familiar opponent he had dominated the past two meetings probably helped too.

The Wildcats wound up being the punching bag Ike and the Bulldogs needed to take their frustrations out on, as Gonzaga pulled off its second-largest win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in a 94-59 final from Bridgestone Arena on Friday.

Ike matched his Gonzaga career high with 28 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, nearly duplicating his 28-point, 11-rebound performance from last season's overtime thriller against Kentucky in Seattle. This time around, though, the Zags held onto their double-digit halftime lead instead of giving it up in crunch time, handing the Wildcats their second-largest defeat as a ranked team in program history.

Friday also marked Kentucky's third loss to Gonzaga since November 2022. Ike had a hand in the Zags' impressive 89-85 win over the Wildcats at Rupp Arena in 2024 (23 points, 10-of-17 shooting) and followed up nine months later with 28 points and 11 rebounds in a narrow loss from Climate Pledge Arena.

With Friday's game in the books, Ike averages 26.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 59.2% shooting from the field in three career games against Kentucky.

Here's what Ike had to say after the game.

On the nine days in between the Michigan game and Friday

"Standard nine days. But definitely just wanted to dial in on our response. It was a great opportunity to see what we're made of, and we responded well. Proud of the guys for doing so tonight."

On taming the pro-Kentucky crowd early on

"I thought it was huge, keeping the crowd out of it. Credit to the guys — everybody stepped in and played great defense. I remember holding them to two points for a while and after they hit their first 3, that's kind of when the crowd erupted. It just let me know how many people were here tonight so, I thought we did a great job controlling the crowd."

On dominating Kentucky in paint points

"It's really just our brand and style of basketball. Just forcing the ball inside, high-low, post duck-ins — just trying to get other guys open and sometimes, I got myself open. I appreciate you guys for giving me the ball. [Braeden] Smith had a great game tonight. Him and Mario [Saint-Supéry]. Six assists for B Smith — I just appreciate all my teammates."