What Gonzaga players said following blowout victory over Loyola Marymount

Bulldogs ride a big night from their second unit to convincing victory over the Lions

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

It's not often that Gonzaga's two-headed monster in the frontcourt gets upstaged by anyone — just ask the 16 teams that have been on the other side of a Graham Ike-Braden Huff masterclass this season.

But on Sunday, the players who came in to give Ike, Huff and the Bulldogs' other starters a rest were the ones to catapult the Zags (16-1, West Coast Conference) to victory.

Gonzaga endured another sluggish start offensively, falling behind by double-digits to Loyola Marymount roughly 48 hours after rallying to beat Seattle U in overtime. The Bulldogs simply couldn't buy a bucket in the first few minutes, allowing the Lions to mount a 14-4 lead not even 7 minutes into the first half.

Then the wheels started to turn, thanks in large part to some assertive play from Tyon Grant-Foster and Jalen Warley, as well as a collective effort defensively from the Zags' second unit.

Warley helped set the table offensively, while Grant-Foster gave the Kennel something to get excited over as he threw down a couple of monster dunks, fueling a 15-0 scoring run that saw LMU go without a score for over 8 minutes.

The Zags forced the Lions into tough perimeter jumpers and ended possessions with defensive rebounds, resulting in LMU scoring just five points over the final 13 minutes of the first half. Meanwhile, Mario Saint-Supéry and the bench established a rhythm offensively, scoring 20 of the Zags' final 29 points of the half to take a 33-19 lead into the break.

Gonzaga kept its foot on the gas coming out of the locker room and never turned back after opening the second half with an 11-2 scoring run, pushing its lead to 23 points. LMU (10-7, 1-2 WCC) went on a few more scoring droughts, including one that went on for 8 minutes, en route to finishing with its lowest scoring output since 2021 in an 82-47 win for the Zags.

Ike still led the way with 16 points, but Gonzaga's bench was the headliner with 53 combined points among six players, led by Saint-Supéry's 13 on 5-of-7 from the field. The freshman guard struggled to start league play, going just 4-of-21 in the Bulldogs' first three WCC games, but managed to shake off his shooting slump to put together one of his more efficient outings of the season.

Warley added 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Adam Miller helped keep Gonzaga in control during the second half with three 3-pointers after halftime as part of his 11-point night.

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

On overcoming their double-digit deficit

Warley: "We really tried to bring that spark with the second unit and execute the game plan that we were working on coming in. I think the energy boost kind of carried a little wave, and we never looked back after that."

Saint-Supéry: "I think we tried to get onto the court with a lot of energy, trying to do the things we had to do and just play basketball."

Miller: "Just trying to come in the game and muck it up and do whatever was possible to kind of get a little bit more grimy in there. We kind of picked up a little bit full court and just pressure those guys, and that's kind of what helped us out."

Miller on defending LMU's offense

"I think they do a lot of ... we call them zero cuts, where they kind of go screen when stuff's kind of breaking down, and then you kind of just got to guard your yard if it's not a flat little ball screen. I think I told [Saint-Supéry], 'They are trying to go at you.' I told him, just guard your yard; don't allow them to take up space."

"We just got to solid on defense, because they're trying to shake us down. And I told the guys, if we can get them to shoot a lot of tough fade away midranges, we're going to win this game."

Saint-Supéry on his shotmaking after struggling from the floor to start WCC play

"It's true, I made the shots; but that's the only difference with the other games. I always try to keep my energy high and try to help the team as much as I can. And today I could do maybe more than other days. I'm always trying to help the team."

Warley on what Gonzaga does well defensively

"We're disruptive. I think is it's really easy to apply ball pressure when you know your teammates have your back; so if you do mess up, or they do get a step on you, knowing that you have help on the backside, it just makes it really easy. Especially for me — I feel like I can try to get steals and pick up guys, because I know my teammates got my back. So, it's a lot of fun being disruptive and seeing other teams struggle to run their offense. We take pride in that."

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