What Mark Few said after Gonzaga rallied to beat Seattle U in overtime

It's likely no one wearing Gonzaga gear anticipated Friday's contest between the Bulldogs and Seattle U would need to be decided with an overtime period.

Considering how the Zags stumbled their way through regulation, though, most fans were probably readying for the worst by the midway point of the second half.

Anxiety levels inside the Kennel reached an all-time high as the Redhawks looked like they were on their way to pulling off the program's first win over a top-25 team since rejoining the Division I ranks over a decade ago with about 8 minutes left in regulation.

It required heroic efforts from three Zags, plus a late-game collapse on the part of the Redhawks, for the nerves to finally calm down.

Gonzaga, which didn't lead at any point in the second half and trailed Seattle U by as many as 13 points, managed to pull off a thrilling come-from-behind victory behind 72 combined points from Braden Huff (28), Graham Ike (24) and Tyon Grant-Foster (19), sending everyone who attended the game home with a rush of adrenaline in wake of an all-time classic at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Not much was going the Zags' way most of the night — they were missing layups, fumbling opportunities to score in transition and committing turnovers that helped fuel the Redhawks' upset bid. A 14-0 run from Seattle U in the opening minutes set the tone and dug Gonzaga into an early hole it wouldn't climb out of until well after halftime.

The Redhawks led 37-29 at the break, joining Michigan as the only teams this season to head into the locker with a lead over the Zags. A wild 3-pointer from former Gonzaga forward Junseok Yeo, followed by another triple from John Christofilis, made it 52-39 with 13 minutes and 30 seconds left to play in the second half, much to the disbelief of the pro-Gonzaga crowd.

Slowly but surely, the Bulldogs chipped away at their deficit. Huff, who scored the team's first nine points of the game and crossed the 1,000-point threshold for his career in the second half, started to connect on the floaters that didn't fall consistently in the first half. Ike, a few days removed from a lackluster outing against San Diego, began to beat Seattle U on the low block, keeping Gonzaga in the fight while it continued to dig its heels in defensively.

Brayden Maldonado led Seattle U with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field and made some tough jumpers down the stretch, putting the pressure on the Zags to respond every time down the floor. Houran Dan had a tough hookshot drop as part of his 7-point, 8-rebound performance, while Yeo finished with 10 points on three makes from behind the arc.

The well dried up on the Redhawks down the stretch, though, as they missed nine of their final 12 looks from the field at the end of regulation and shot just 2-of-8 from the floor in overtime.

Huff, Ike and Grant-Foster fueled the Zags in overtime, combining for all 15 points after Ike scored six-straight toward the end of the second half.

Here's what Mark Few had to say about his team's 80-72 win after the game.

On Gonzaga's late-game execution

"It was a gutty response. Obviously Seattle had us on the ropes for pretty much most of that game ... we were shuffling lineups or whatever, but everybody that got in made plays. We finally got efficient on the offensive end and strung together some stops."

"There was a lot of lot of heroic plays there down the stretch, both defensively and offensively."

On Seattle U's physical play

"They came in with a great plan, and they're a good team. You could see that on film. They went to Stanford and won, and they beat the University of Washington, and so we knew that. But they got some nice offensive rebounders. They got some great rim protection. And I think early on, that kind of stifled us."

"They were covering down on the post really, really hard, and we didn't handle that very well, but eventually we kind of settled in, and we were able to have some success."

On Tyon Grant-Foster's defensive capabilities

"He's just got a real gift for blocking shots out there on the perimeter. It's crazy. I've never had a guy like that [who] can just challenge a shot and and block it. You don't see very many perimeter block shots, and he does it a lot."

"Sometimes it gets a little junky when he's on offense and all that. But again, he can make some plays and he can go downhill and get some finishes. He had some really, really strong finishes, which is what we needed. We were getting the ball to certain points and we just weren't finishing very strong."

On getting perimeter players to help Gonzaga's bigs

"[Ike and Huff have] seen every double these last two or three years under the moon; it's more about talking to the other people, getting to the right spots to give them some outlets. I mean, there were times where three guys down there, and so they have to make themselves available instead of kind of hiding on the backside. So it was more at the other players that were in there with him."

On facing Loyola Marymount on Sunday

"They're hard-nosed, they're tough. They're going to fight us on every screen, every cut, every post up. We got to put our body armor back on and be ready to battle again. They've got some real talented scorers that can spread you out and hurt you from the 3-line. But also they got individual guys that can get their own shot."