What Mark Few said following Gonzaga's first exhibition win of the season

Looking to iron out some wrinkles in the weeks leading up to its season opener, Gonzaga ran away with a blowout win over NAIA constituent Northwest University to unofficially tip off the 2025-26 campaign Sunday afternoon.

Led by a productive outing from Davis Fogle, the Bulldogs followed the freshman wing's lead en route to a 111-62 victory over the Eagles at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The former four-star recruit paced a group of five Zags who finished in double-figures, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting while throwing down a few crowd-pleasing dunks in the process.

"[Davis] has been very forceful," said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few after the game. "Making athletic plays and has a nose for the ball. And both in our innersquad [scrimmage], and then this one, he scored it really well."

Here's more of what Few had to say after the exhibition.

On having Graham Ike and Braden Huff bring up the ball to set up the offense at times

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike. | Photo by Erik Smith

"We're comfortable with that. We've always had that, just like with Drew Timme bringing it up obviously. Rui [Hachimura] and [Brandon Clarke] brought it up extremely well and caused a lot of problems that year on the opponent. The opponents really struggled with it."

"Our offense was off the charts when they did that, so we've been doing a lot of that. It's a fine line. They're so effective around the basket. Ike kind of had a bonehead play tonight, but they've been really, really good when we've been doing that thus far this fall."

On Mario Saint-Supéry's adjustment to the college game

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Mario Saint-Supery (17). | Photo by Myk Crawford

"It's just kind of style of play. The game is, over here, sometimes they have a tendency to press up and pressure the lead passes a little bit, which maybe doesn't happen quite as much [in international play]. It's more kind of solid, physical defense — FIBA, usually, you can swing the ball and [make] easy entry passes, things like that."

"So he's been just struggling with that a little bit and just learning — again, it's totally different than what he was [used to]; new roles, new terminology, new style. We're playing really, really fast; trying to get him to do that. But I think he showed glimpses tonight. He can shoot the ball. When you go under a ball screen, he's got good size, there's vision there, and it's just a matter of putting it all together."

On Braeden Smith's leadership and play

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Braeden Smith (3). | Photo by Myk Crawford

"The first thing that comes to mind: he's a great leader. He really reminds me of Kevin Pangos in that regard; great at team building and bringing everybody together. I think last year, he helped us tremendously, even though he wasn't playing."

"He can score. He's a scoring point guard. And then he can clearly shoot the ball from 3; catch and shooter, if you go under on his ball screen, he's a real threat there. I think he's definitely kind of wired to score a little bit, and he's had some big games throughout his career."

On how good the Ike-Huff tandem can be this season

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff. | Photo by Myk Crawford

"I think the combination of those two coming back it, I think that we should be one of the best frontcourts in the country. I mean, I think they've shown that at times. I think they showed that down the stretch, at the end of last year, and they certainly played great in our last game last year against one of the best defenses in the country and probably one of the best defensive frontcourts in the country. So yeah, that's the expectation, and hopefully everybody, all of us, will see some growth from last year to this year."

On the importance of exhibition games for incorporating new players into the fold

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Adam Miller. | Photo by Myk Crawford

"We thought we had a couple of different scenarios going. We had agreed upon exhibitions and/or closed-door scrimmages. And then one fell through, and then we thought we had another one, and then that one kind of fell through, and then we were kind of without our usual high-level scrimmage and/or exhibition that we do."

"Northwest was nice enough to come play us. Just getting out under the lights, I think, is extremely beneficial, and feeling that little game jitters and anxiety and things like that, you got to get it. You got to get used to playing in front of the crowd and under the bright lights."