Analysis: Gonzaga tightens up on defense, races past overmatched Warner Pacific 109-52 in final exhibition

Oct. 31—Mark Few urged Gonzaga to tighten things up on the defensive end of the floor after the Bulldogs listlessly gave up 96 points to USC during Saturday’s exhibition in Palm Desert, California.

The message sank in for Gonzaga after about 10 minutes during Wednesday’s exhibition against Warner Pacific — an NAIA club from Portland — at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs ripped off their largest run of the game — fueled by a slew of Warner Pacific turnovers and fast-break opportunities going the other way — and kept the momentum going the rest of the way to pick up a 109-52 victory in their final tuneup before Monday’s season opener against eighth-ranked Baylor.

Gonzaga was leading 21-19 when a lineup featuring Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer, Michael Ajayi and Graham Ike went on a 12-0 scoring spree that turned into a 36-3 run with 2 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Zags did it with aggressive on-ball defense that led to deflections on many of WPU’s passes, forcing the Knights into 15 first-half turnovers, 23 total and seven during one 7-minute stretch in the first half.

“It was much, much better,” Few said of GU’s defense. “I thought obviously, different level of competition, but much, much better. More active, more alert, more doing what we want to do.”

After leading by two points with 10:38 remaining, the Zags entered halftime leading 64-27 and scored 88 of the game’s final 121 points.

Ike credited the defensive adjustment to Gonzaga playing with “a little more thrust.”

Expanding on that thought, the senior forward said, “Everybody was talking a little more, a little more active on that side of the ball ultimately and that affected the game defensively.”

Few experimented with another starting lineup after opening the USC exhibition with a five-man unit that included Nembhard, Khalif Battle, Ajayi, Ben Gregg and Ike.

Nembhard, Battle and Ike were the three holdovers, but Hickman replaced Ajayi and Braden Huff took Gregg’s spot on Wednesday night.

All 11 scholarship players got at least 12 minutes, and three walk-ons all saw floor time in a game that saw Gonzaga lead by as many as 58 points in the second half.

The Bulldogs have scored at least 90 points in every home exhibition they’ve played since 2006 — most against teams from the NAIA, Division II and III levels — and are averaging more than 101 points per game in those contests.

Hickman accounted for seven of GU’s first 14 points and led the Zags in scoring with 19 points, knocking down 3 of 6 3-point attempts while scoring on a variety of midrange shots.

“He shot the ball well all through camp, so I don’t think anybody was surprised, and they were going under and trying to pack the paint,” Few said.

“He really made them pay for that, which is definitely what he can do. I thought he had a real good game, I thought he was much more active in his defense. His hands were going, he was breaking on balls, he looked much more assertive, especially after we got through that second media timeout.”

Ajayi and Huff both finished with 14 points, Nembhard had nine points and seven assists, Gregg had eight points to go with 11 rebounds and Ike finished with 11 points along with eight rebounds.

Six players came up with multiple steals, but Stromer led the group with four to go with his eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

Warner Pacific’s leading scorer and most willing shooter was Matt Solomon, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field and 4 of 9 from the 3-point line in 23 minutes.