What Mark Few said after Braden Huff fueled Gonzaga to victory over Campbell

Bulldogs beat Camels behind Huff's career night

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

Fans took their time finding their seats for Gonzaga's Wednesday night matchup against Campbell.

With students gone for Christmas break, the side of the McCarthey Athletic Center normally occupied by rowdy 20-somethings was pretty barren as the Bulldogs warmed up for one final tune-up before taking on Oregon to round out nonconference play on Sunday.

Most patrons had cleared the concourse area with about 5 minutes left on the pregame clock, just in time for "Zombie Nation" and the public address announcer's call of both teams' starting lineups.

Much like the crowd in attendance, the Zags needed a little bit to settle in with the Camels in town.

A feisty Campbell squad looking to pull off a big-time upset never went down quietly, though Gonzaga managed to put the Coastal Athletic Association constituent away late in the second half thanks in large part to a career-high 37 points from Braden Huff.

"It was his normal B-Huff," said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few after the Zags' 98-70 win over the Camels. "We needed every one of them there for a while. He was just incredibly efficient."

Campbell didn't yield despite trailing by 19 points early in the second half. D.J. Smith's timely shotmaking and the Camels' ball pressure on the wing and down low helped keep John Andrzejek's squad in the fight, as Campbell made it a 10-point game after a quick 8-0 scoring run made things interesting with about 9 minutes to go.

For all the fight the Camels showed, it wasn't enough to contain Gonzaga's 6-foot-10 forward.

Huff, who crossed the 20-point threshold for the fourth consecutive game, didn't need much time to find his rhythm in the post. The redshirt junior outpaced Campbell by himself for a majority of the first half before going into the break with 26 points — tying his previous personal best — while making his first 12 attempts from the field.

Huff didn't miss until the 18:19 mark in the second half, becoming the first Gonzaga player in the Mark Few era to start 13-for-13 from the field. Huff wound up going 16-for-18 from the field, breaking Drew Timme's McCarthey Athletic Center record for the most field goals made by a Gonzaga player in a single game.

"He handled their myriad of fronts and digs and double teams and just the physical play kind of the whole game, and yet still delivered," Few said. "He certainly delivered."

Gonzaga outscored Campbell, 26-8, over the final 9 minutes of regulation, clinching the Bulldogs' 11th double-digit win of the season.

Here's more from Few's postgame press conference.

On Jalen Warley's impact

"It's his effort and his heart and again, same thing [with Huff's scoring] — we needed every one of those plays. Just his steals, his defensive pressure. I mean, he was guarding guys four or five inches taller than him and outweighing him by a lot. Just great effort, great great heart."

On Steele Venters maintaining his spot in the starting lineup

"We need some guys that can spread the floor. We need some guys that will hunt shots, but I mean in Steele's case, he's got to keep working on keeping guys in front and not getting blow bys and helping us on that defensive end, too. It's not just all about shots, but the one thing with Steele that helps is he really does space the floor. I mean, they got to guard him if he's out at 30 feet."

On the upcoming game against Oregon

"They're always really, really athletic. They get some really, really talented players; Jackson Shelstad, their point guard, he's a big shotmaker, and can really, really shoot it, and he's quick as heck. I think he'll play at the next level."

"A lot of athletes inside and on the wings that can get it going. Dana does a great job of putting all those pieces together. And it's going to be a really, really big game. We've had an incredible, you know, nonleague season here so far."

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