Gonzaga bigs Graham Ike and Braden Huff are wearing out defenses: 'You're not getting a break'

The Bulldogs one-two punch up front has combined for nearly 30 points per game this season

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

Gonzaga men’s basketball head coach Mark Few can recall a few times last season where he had to sub his stud low-post scorer Braden Huff out of certain situations due to unfavorable matchups on defense.

Five games into his redshirt sophomore campaign, those moments have been few and far between. Huff is third on the team at 14.0 points per game but more importantly, at least to his coach, he’s made strides in keeping his opponent off the scoreboard.

“He’s playing better defensively,” Few said of Huff after Gonzaga beat Long Beach State, 84-41, at home. “Last year we had to sub him a lot just because of defensive lapses or matchups, and this year we haven’t.”

When asked about his improvements on that end of the floor after the Beach game, Huff deflected credit to his teammate sitting next to him, Graham Ike, who then pointed the fingers right back at Huff after questioning what makes their one-two punch work so well. Together the two form quite the formidable tandem, as they combine for 28.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game on 52-of-99 (52.5%) from the field.

“Like [Huff] said, I think we've gotten here just because of how hard we've been going at each other over the summer, in the fall, the iron was sharpening every single day,” Ike said. “And like I said last game, you're not getting a break when he subs in, or if I sub right back in.”

Ike has helped set the tone to start the second half in each of the Bulldogs’ last two wins over San Diego State and Long Beach State. Despite foul trouble early on, he scored 20 points after halftime to help the Zags close out the Aztecs on their home court. Already having a sizable lead over the Beach, the redshirt senior put the opposition away swiftly with eight straight points coming out of the locker room.

Ike leads the Bulldogs, though just slightly, at 14.6 points. Sixth-year guard Khalif Battle isn’t far behind at 14.4 points, followed by Huff then senior guard Ryan Nembhard (12.2 points, 9.4 assists) and senior guard Nolan Hickman (11.2 points). Michael Ajayi has been lauded by Few for his rebounding, as he and Ben Gregg have swapped in and out of the starting lineup to provide the Zags with different looks out of the gate. 

“I think each big brings something different to the table, which is really cool,” Huff said. "And everyone makes an instant impact. Ben obviously started then Mike, but no matter who's in, whatever combo it is, you can't really take a break on the defensive end, which is pretty cool. We’ve got a lot of dudes, not just the bigs, the guards too, but yeah it’s a pretty good group.”

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