Dan Hurley praises Gonzaga's frontcourt: 'I don't think anyone's got a center tandem like they've got right now'

UConn's head coach said Graham Ike and Braden Huff were 'the best tandem of centers' in regard to their abilities on the offensive side of the floor

Gonzaga senior forward Graham Ike. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

When scouting Gonzaga's frontcourt duo of Graham Ike and Braden Huff, UConn head coach Dan Hurley is reminded of the one-two punch he had at the center position when the Huskies won the first of their back-to-back national championships.

"I don't think anyone's got a center tandem like they've got right now," Hurley said of the Zags. "It's kind of like what we've had the last couple of years with [Adama] Sanogo and Donovan [Clingan]. When the backup center comes in a game, you usually catch a break; but not for them, they're both excellent."

Ike and Huff might not receive the coverage from the national media like Auburn's Johni Broome or Kansas' Hunter Dickinson do, but they certainly have Hurley's full attention heading into Saturday's showdown between the Bulldogs (7-2) and Huskies (7-3) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. And for good reason — the pair of lefties have combined to make about one-third of their team's total made field goals and score over one-quarter of the Zags' total points this season. Each gets the job done in their own way, with Ike bringing the muscle down low while Huff has the touch and footwork around the rim to pair with his outside shot.

"It's I think without question, the best tandem of centers offensively, in terms of, the ability to score in the ball-screen game, low post," Hurley said. "Ike has made some middies and he's got a little Zach Randolph-type of offensive game to him, he's nasty. He's hard. Everyone says, 'can't let him get his right shoulder' ... same thing with Huff."

Ike, who leads the squad at 15.3 points per game, is coming off his most productive outing of the season: 28 points and 11 rebounds in Gonzaga's 90-89 overtime loss to Kentucky in Seattle last Saturday. After looking nearly unstoppable in the first half, the 6-foot-9 forward didn't connect on the same jumpers and turnaround hook shots in the second half, while his teammates also struggled to knock down shots from the perimeter.

The Zags will need to put together two complete halves on both ends of the floor if they're to leave Madison Square Garden with a victory. That wasn't the case when these two college basketball powerhouses met in Seattle last December. In arguably the worst offensive performance of the season for Gonzaga, UConn came away with a comfortable 76-63 victory after holding its opposition to below 40% from the floor and just 2-for-12 from 3-point range.

Donovan Clingan stood out for the Huskies with 21 points and eight rebounds in that game. The 7-foot-2 defensive monster has since moved onto the NBA, however, the Huskies have protected the rim just as well without Clingan's services. UConn ranks No. 1 in the country in blocks per game (7.1) and block rate (19.9%), as three players average more than 1.4 blocks, led by 6-foot-10 center Samson Johnson at 1.9 per game.

"Donovan was a cheat code for us defensively just with what he did at the rim and what he would do to really good offensive players in the post," Hurley said. "And we don't have that, but I do think we've been better. We've gotten better at guarding the post without fouling since we've gotten back from the [Maui Invitational]. So we got our work cut out for us with [Ike and Huff]."

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