What Mark Few said after Gonzaga took care of business vs. North Florida

Bulldogs thump Ospreys for their win No. 9 on the season

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Myk Crawford

Sandwiched in between two high-profile games involving blue bloods on Gonzaga's calendar was a home game against a North Florida team that ranked No. 333 in the nation on KenPom.com going into the nonconference tilt from McCarthey Athletic Center.

Despite having barely 48 hours to recover from a thoroughly-dominant win over Kentucky, the Bulldogs (9-1) remained focused on the task at hand without their leading scorer dressed in uniform.

Graham Ike was in street clothes nursing ankle soreness, but it didn’t seem to impact Gonzaga much as the Bulldogs’ depth came through on both ends of the floor in a 109-58 beatdown of North Florida on Sunday night.

The 6-foot-9 forward watched from the bench in a matching zip-up hoodie and sweatpants as 12 of his teammates scored at least one points during Sunday’s blowout win, led by 24 points from his frontcourt partner, Braden Huff, and supplemented by double-digit outings from Tyon Grant-Foster (19), Davis Fogle (15), Mario Saint-Supéry (13) and Steele Venters (12).

North Florida, led by 14 points from Trey Cady, made it competitive early on before a 20-0 scoring run from Gonzaga made it a 25-point game at halftime. The Ospreys shot 20-of-60 from the field (33.3%), including 10-of-38 from 3-point range, and committed 18 turnovers leading to 26 points for the Bulldogs. 

Here's what Mark Few had to say about his team's performance after the game.

On how the Zags handled the short turnaround from Kentucky game

"It was a really, really short to turnaround. Especially with all the travel we had and getting home so late the other night. But they did a great job just staying focused and kind of playing the right way, so I was proud of them for doing that."

On Braden Huff's night

"He was very solid. I mean, he actually missed a couple shots. We're so used to him making all those shots. He missed some of those little short hooks that he usually makes. But he was solid."

On Mario Saint-Supéry's development

"He's shooting the ball really, really well. He's just got to make reads. I'm constantly on him on reading the game, not making up a decision what he's going to do before it happens. Basketball is so dynamic. You can't just decide what you're going to do. You can get away with it sometimes, especially maybe even games like this, but you've got to read the situation."

"So I think that that's his next step in the growth on that end. And then just kind of same thing on the defensive end. He works so hard. He's running hard and talking and pretty dramatic, but, we just got to kind of settle him down a little bit, just execute the plan and probably save some calories doing it that way too."

On clinching win No. 750 of his career

"It means I've been doing it a lot longer than I remember doing it, or feel like I've been doing it. No, it's to say it's been an awesome run with just awesome guys, incredible players and incredible people around me and great support. Maybe [I'll] take a moment to reflect on that in a little bit, and then you just kind of move on. We got a big one coming up Saturday, so that's kind of gets the full attention."

On what he thinks of UCLA's team

"I think they've done a nice job. They did a nice job in the portal in adding some pieces and keeping the ones that they needed to keep. That's a really nice looking team. They lost a couple [games] there that might have been because they weren't healthy in all the spots. I think they're now healthy at all the spots."

"You're playing a Mick Cronin team; it will be extremely physical. I'm sure they'll try to slow the game down. And it's just fun game to play in. They challenge you in a lot of ways. Mick's a great coach."