What Gonzaga players said after beating Seattle U short-handed

Jalen Warley, Mario Saint-Supéry and Ismaila Diagne broke down the Zags' impressive win over the Redhawks

Gonzaga men's basketball team. | Photo courtesy of Gonzaga University Athletics

Without two potential All-American forwards in the fold, Gonzaga completely dominated the paint and the glass in a thorough win over a Seattle U team that pushed the Graham Ike and Braden Huff-led Bulldogs to the brink just two weeks prior to Saturday's rematch at Climate Pledge Arena.

Go figure.

The Zags (19-1, 7-0 West Coast Conference) couldn't rely on Ike (ankle soreness) or Huff (knee) like they did the first time aorund with the Redhawks (13-7, 2-5 WCC) back in Spokane on Jan. 2, though losing their top two scorers didn't seem to hold them back during their 71-50 win on Saturday.

Defense, rebounding and shotmaking from perimeter players — Mario Saint-Supéry and Davis Fogle mainly — told the story of the rematch between the in-state rivals. Gonzaga, which was outrebounded by Seattle U in the first meeting, dominated the boards to the tune of 44-24 in the second go-around, in addition to scoring 22 points off 18 turnovers from the Redhawks.

Saint-Supéry finished with a season-high 20 points on four 3-pointers. Fogle logged a season-high 24 minutes and tallied 13 points, while Jalen Warley chipped in 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Ismaila Diagne earned his first career start with Ike out of the lineup. The 7-footer was a force on the boards, finishing with eight rebounds to go along with three points and one block.

Here's what Diagne, Warley and Saint-Supéry had to say after the game.

Warley on Gonzaga coming together after the Huff and Ike injury news

"We just kind of keep the mentality of 'next man up'. Obviously, we got two of the best players in the country, we got to step up for them. So, it's just putting a little bit more on each person's plate and trying to just stick together and figure out ways to win games."

Diagne on getting his first career start

"It's kind of crazy, because like, every day, you'd be fighting with the two best bigs in the country, I can say. And so I always put my mind to stay ready."

"It's not the first time I was on the big stage or, like, trying to have minutes and stuff. So I would just say, like, if I'm ready, I'm gonna do it and [Huff and Ike were] pushing me more and give me more advice."

Saint-Supéry on his shotmaking

"We had to change the way we were playing these games. I think we did it. We just tried to play our best, try to help the team as much as I can. And today, I made the shots."

Warley on Gonzaga outrebounding Seattle U and being aggressive defensively

"We kind of just had to embrace it, just causing chaos. Since we already played them one time at the Kennel, we kind of knew some of their sets, and their guys' tendencies; so just really trying to make them do something that's not their strong suit, and just hang our hat on defense. I feel like we did a great job of every guy that came in, kind of just setting the tone defensively, and we kind of carried on offense and carried it throughout the whole game."

Warley on Gonzaga's depth coming through

"I think it shows the depth. But I also think it shows the connectivity. I feel like a lot of teams could have hanged their head when you got two of the top players in the country not playing. We could have tucked our tail and worry about whenever they get healthy, but we continue to push, and we got a really good chemistry that we've been building since the summer. So I feel like it just showed tonight with the next man like mentality."