What Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard and Ismaila Diagne said after big win at Santa Clara

They made quite the duo standing next to each other against a wall outside the locker room, 7-foot freshman center Ismaila Diagne and, at a full foot shorter, senior guard Ryan Nembhard.

They had just helped the Gonzaga Bulldogs to a clutch 95-76 win against the Broncos, and in impressively different ways. Nembhard broke the West Coast Conference single-season assists record by dishing 15 times, which matched his career high. Diagne helped swing the first-half momentum with a dunk and then a block, and a disrupting presence in the middle while playing his most significant first-half minutes yet after Graham Ike and Braden Huff got into foul trouble.

In a postgame interview with Gonzaga beat writer Theo Lawson, Nembhard said Diagne came up “big time. It’s huge. He’s 18 years old. He just turned 18 a little while ago. His attitude has been great every day. He probably has the most energy in the gym every single day. He was great tonight when his number was called. He didn’t know he was going to play. Guys got into foul trouble and he was big time."

The Zags credited Diagne’s presence with helping their coverage against Santa Clara’s previously lethal 3-point shooting. After the Broncos made their first eight 3-pointers, the Zags allowed only three more from behind the arc. And that was one game after the Broncos hit a WCC-record 23 3’s at Washington State. The Broncos made 18 3-pointers in a win on Jan. 18.

“He anchored our defense,” Nembhard said. “He got blocks, made shots difficult and that just adds another dimension to our team. It’s huge for an 18-year-old to come in and do something like that, especially in a big game like this.

Nembhard pushed his season total to 285 assists after breaking the old record of 284 set by Emmett Naar of Saint Mary’s in 2017-18. Nembhard finished one shy of Blake Stepp’s single-game school record of 16 set in 2002.

Here are the highlights from what Nembhard and Diagne said after the win.

Diagne on staying ready

“Even though I know I’m not getting a lot of minutes or something like that, I’m always like hyping up my teammates to do great from the bench and I always stay ready if they need me defensively. Defensively I can help anytime.”

Nembhard on what Diagne brings every day in practice

“Just the joy he plays with every single day. Just the energy he comes in with. He’s always the loudest guy when we’re stretching and doing stuff like that. He always has so much emotion. That’s huge. A lot of times he’s on the scout team and doesn’t even get reps with us. I think he just loves playing defense as well, too. He likes getting blocks. He’s passionate about that side of the ball. It’s huge to have a guy like that.”

Diagne on whether he was nervous

“A little bit, when I get in. But then I was like, ‘OK, it’s my time, I’m going to have to take it, so stay ready every time.’ “

Diagne on his favorite play

“I guess the block. I like blocks.”

Nembhard on his favorite play by Diagne

“Blocks, lobs, everything. He was huge tonight. Super happy for him and super happy for our squad.”

Nembhard on how Diagne changed the 3-point coverage

“When you have him dropping, it’s more like 2-on-2. They either have to get downhill and make tough shots over him and we can just stay connected to the guys on the wing. It definitely takes away some of the 3-point shooting for sure.”

Nembhard on pursuing assist records

“Honestly I really don’t care about none of that at this point of the year. I’m trying to win games, honestly. We’ve got another one on Saturday that’s a big one for us. Then we’ve got a conference tournament we want to do well in. I’m not worrying about the individual goals, I’m trying to win games and finish up my senior year in a good way.”

Nembhard on Saturday’s game against San Francisco at the Chase Center

“It’s huge. Winner takes second place and that’s another bye in the tournament. We’re going to probably have a day off tomorrow, two days prep and then we’ll tackle those guys when they come into Chase Center on Saturday. It’ll be fun.”

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

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Ryan Nembhard sets WCC assists record: 3 takeaways from Gonzaga’s big win at Santa Clara

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