What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after impressive win vs. Seattle U

Bulldogs beat the Redhawks without Graham Ike and Braden Huff

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

Considering the nonconference slate Mark Few and company put together for their squad, beating a team that had lost four of its first six West Coast Conference games and ranked No. 119 in the NET would normally be near the bottom of the list of Gonzaga's more impressive wins.

When taking into account the drastic sequence of events the Bulldogs endured over the previous 72 hours, though, Saturday's victory over Seattle U might be an exception to the norm.

With their top two scorers out due to injury, the Zags went on the road and hardly trailed against a physical and hard-nosed Redhawks team that, just 15 days earlier, was 8 minutes away from upsetting a Braden Huff and Graham Ike-led Gonzaga team in Spokane before coming up short in overtime.

Go figure.

The Zags couldn't rely on Ike — he was out due to ankle soreness — nor Huff — he'll miss at least a month because of a knee injury — but managed to put together a more complete performance on both ends of the floor in comparison to their first meeting with the Redhawks, coming away with a 71-50 victory from Climate Pledge Arena Saturday.

The story of round two between the in-state schools got off to a much different start than the first. Instead of Seattle U being the aggressors on the boards, Gonzaga controlled the glass and dug in its heels defensively to help fuel its offense sans Ike and Huff.

Mario Saint-Supéry provided the Bulldogs the juice they needed on the offensive end of the floor, finishing with a season-high 20 points and four makes from 3-point range.

The freshman guard shook off a few miscues that gave the Redhawks life in the first half, knocked down timely 3-pointers and asserted his control when it mattered most, helping his team pull away down the stretch.

The Bulldogs led for a majority of the night but didn't create separation from the Redhawks until about the midway point in the second half, thanks in large part to Saint-Supéry and his shotmaking.

The Zags led 49-42 after a sluggish start for both sides coming out of the halftime break, then rattled off nine straight points as the athleticism and length of their wings became too much for the Redhawks to handle.

Saint-Supéry hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night moments later and from there, made it a 12-2 scoring run in the span of 2 minutes for Gonzaga.

Gonzaga, which was outrebounded, 41-40, by Seattle U in the first matchup, dominated the boards to the tune of 44-24 this time around and managed to score 22 points off 18 Seattle U turnovers.

Saturday's result extended Gonzaga's winning streak to 12, tying the program's longest such streak since it rattled off 17 consecutive victories during the 2021-22 campaign. The 2022-23 squad also won 12 straight en route to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was also the Zags' second win at Climate Pledge this season, improving Gonzaga's all-time record in the building to 17-8 (including when it was known as Key Arena).

Gonzaga will play for win No. 13 in a row on Wednesday when it hosts Pepperdine (6-14, 1-6 WCC) for a 6 p.m. tipoff from McCarthey Athletic Center.

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

On coming away with the win without Ike and Huff

"I'm so proud of these guys. I mean, just when you think Thursday tops everything ... going in short-handed, and to lose the caliber of guys we've lost; that's never happened. And for the guys to respond and come out and play that kind of defense, and then we just figured it out on offense."

On Mario Saint-Supéry's performance

"He was kind of due for that. He did some nice things for us, but some tough outings, and just so it was great; just a great job of hanging with it, not hanging his head, being ready when the moment came.

On Gonzaga controlling the boards

"They beat us on the glass in our place. We addressed it, and we addressed it before the Cougars game and this game. So I think the guys were pretty dialed in on it. But we were undersized; that group has some ball hawkers, man, they get to the ball, they anticipate where it's going and they don't wait around. They just go get it, which is what rebound is all about."

On Graham Ike's injury

"He hurt his ankle late in the Washington State game. We basically had to take him out — I think somebody missed a free throw, and then it went the other way. And so he just looks day to day, and hopefully there's some swelling in there. He's had problems with those feet before, so everybody's just a little bit cautious."

On what he told Ismaila Diagne going into his first career start

"Just, 'this is what you've been waiting for.' It's tough, it's hard, it's scary when these guys are out, but it's opportunities. These guys have been working hard in practice, and they've been longing to get an opportunity like this. So it's exciting for them. And I was excited to see what these guys can do."