What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win at Washington State

Gonzaga fans will likely spend the next few days wondering what the loss of Braden Huff means for their team beyond Thursday night.

For the time being, the idea of not having the Bulldogs' leading scorer in the lineup for at least the next month can take brief a backseat to the Zags' latest victory over their in-state rivals from Pullman, Washington.

Huff's absence due to a knee injury didn't seem to hinder Gonzaga during a 86-65 victory over Washington State Thursday night, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

The Zags (18-1, 6-0 WCC) earned their 11th straight win on the season after clamping down the Cougars (8-11, 3-3 WCC) for 33 minutes — excluding a hot stretch in the first half from the home team — and getting 23 points and 11 rebounds from Huff's frontcourt mate, Graham Ike.

Jalen Warley spearheaded another impressive defensive outing from Gonzaga, which forced 17 turnovers and held Washington State to a paltry 40.4% shooting from the field, including 8-of-24 from inside the arc.

Warley's intensity on the defensive end and on the boards was felt from the get-go, as the Zags jumped out to an early 15-5 lead courtesy of the 6-foot-7 forward's quick hands and timely offensive boards.

Washington State had a response ready, though, and an unlikely one at that. In need of a spark, David Riley turned to 6-foot-9 forward Simon Hildebrandt — a senior from Canada who averaged under 13 minutes of playing time entering Thursday — for a source of offense.

In the blink of an eye, Gonzaga's double-digit lead was erased by three consecutive 3-pointers from the High Point transfer, making it a 15-14 midway through the first half.

Hildebrandt's barrage started an avalanche of nine consecutive makes for the Cougars, going an entire 7 minutes without a miss from the field.

Once the well dried up, though, Gonzaga didn't waste any time seizing momentum. Ten first-half turnovers and almost no presence inside the arc from the Cougars helped the Zags weather the storm down the stretch of the half, turning what was a tied game with 3 minutes left into the first half into a 10-point Gonzaga lead at halftime.

Washington State was 8-for-15 from 3-point range but just 4-for-10 inside the arc in the first half. Hildebrandt, who averaged 2.8 points going into Thursday, led all scorers with 12, while Warley had 11 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Gonzaga's 13-3 scoring run at the end of the half — capped off by a nice turnaround jumper in the lane by Davis Fogle — set the tone for the final 20 minutes of regulation. Washington State missed six of its first eight looks from the field coming out of the locker room and had no answer for Ike on the other end, creating a bad combination for the Cougars faithful in attendance.

It was a bittersweet night overall for the Bulldogs, though, considering their leading scorer had sustained a knee injury prior to Thursday’s game. Huff was ruled out for 4-8 weeks, according to the school, delivering a massive blow to the Zags amid what had been a career-year for the 6-foot-10 redshirt junior.

Gonzaga improved to 15-3 against Washington State under head coach Mark Few, including 10-1 in the last 11 head-to-head meetings. Thursday’s victory also put the Zags at 18-1 on the 2025-26 campaign, marking just the fifth time in the Few era that Gonzaga won at least 18 of their first 19 games to start a season.

The Bulldogs’ 11 straight wins is the program’s longest such streak since rattling off 12 consecutive en route to the Elite Eight in 2023.

Gonzaga will look for win No. 12 in a row Saturday as it takes on Seattle U at Climate Pledge Arena (7 p.m., ESPN+ and KHQ).

Here's what Few said after Thursday's game in Pullman.

On bouncing back quickly from Huff's injury news

"We didn't have much time to feel sorry for ourselves. That's something that I'm very, very proud of this group. It was a really, really, really great win for us; go on the road, play a team that was playing some of the best basketball they played this year. And to do it without not only one of our best players, one of the best players in the league, one of the best players in the out west' I think one of the better players in the country, so that's a lot to have to absorb in 24 hours. The guys were great, absolutely great."

On Jalen Warley's impact

"I think that kind of sent a message like, 'Hey, we're here. We're gonna be all right.'

On Gonzaga's ability to limit Washington State inside the arc

"We were great. Going in, we thought we were under-sized, so we were worried about them posting us up. We just didn't do a great job on our rotations out of our doubles, and a couple times we weren't supposed to be in a double but we did anyway, giving up 3s ... but Hildebrandt did a great job finding those things. Obviously, we knew Ace Glass can do that, but. yeah; we weathered that storm and that little barrage there. I think without that, I think by and large, we really guarded pretty darn well."

On everyone adjusting to their role without Huff

"You're always apprehensive — B-Huff does so much for us. He's just one of those guys ... he just scores the ball so easy and so efficiently. But my thoughts were, our defense would be fine. Obviously, we had somebody like Jalen. [Ismaila Diagne] actually banged up his in the earlier, so we weren't quite sure if he could go, and those minutes of his were huge. I thought he really helped us."

On coming out faster vs. Seattle U

"We just need to play better. This will be a totally different game. The first one will have nothing to do with this one. I think we experienced them, we talked to the team about how they're a tough, hard, nosed team that plays really physical and has a great little point guard and can really defend around the rim."

"They're also good rebounding team. So, the biggest thing for us, and these quick turnarounds; they need to get home, get rested and give a short, easy plan, and then just let them go on the plane."