Gonzaga overcomes slow start to beat Nicholls: 3 takeaways

The Bulldogs pulled away from the Colonels in the second half to snap 2-game losing skid

Gonzaga Bulldogs senior guard Ryan Nembhard. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

It wasn’t pretty at times, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs found a way to get back in the win column Wednesday against the Nicholls Colonels.

Led by a season-high 25 points from Braden Huff, the Zags (8-3) overcame another sluggish start before pulling away from the Colonels (7-5) in the second half to come out with a 102-72 victory at the McCarthey Athletic Center. 

Here are three takeaways from the win.

ANOTHER UGLY START

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

For a team coming off back-to-back losses, the Bulldogs didn’t necessarily come out of the gate against Nicholls with a sense of urgency on either end of the floor. 

Though it wasn’t as damaging as the start to the UConn game, Gonzaga misfired on four of its first five field goal attempts and committed three turnovers on its first eight possessions Wednesday night, allowing for the Colonels to hang around in the ballgame longer than expected. A few missed assignments defensively opened up an 11-5 lead for Nicholls, prompting Gonzaga’s coaching staff to search for answers through some of their bench unit. 

"I think we're a little lethargic and obviously playing a team that's excited to play," Mark Few said of his team's start after the game. "And I think their handsiness kind of shocked some of our guys."

Huff provided some much-needed scoring upon checking in at the 15:24 mark. The 6-foot-10 redshirt sophomore racked up six points in a row for his team, which helped spark a 17-2 scoring run that the Bulldogs never looked back from. Meanwhile, the Colonels missed on seven of their last eight field goal attempts of the half after Michael Ajayi checked back into the game around the 5-minute mark. 

While they rebounded from a sluggish start this time, certainly Few and company don’t want to make this a habit with West Coast Conference play approaching. 

IT’S ANYONES NIGHT

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

If the nonconference slate has indicated anything about the 2024-25 Zags thus far into the season, it’s that they have a number of players capable of stepping up to lead the way in the scoring column — especially in the frontcourt.

Huff and Graham Ike combine for over 25 points per game. How they reach that average, though, is on a night-to-night basis. Sometimes it's Ike who asserts himself down low on the block; other nights, Huff will come off the bench and immediately spark the offense. On some occasions, like the one Wednesday, there's no stopping either left-handed big from having a big night.

Along with Huff’s 25, Ike had a bounce-back game himself, finishing with 20 points and six rebounds. Even in what would be considered an “off” night for him, Ryan Nembhard recorded his sixth double-double of the season in an 18-point, 10-assist performance. Nola Hickman did a little bit of everything — 11 points, six rebounds and five assists — on a night where his teammate Khalif Battle didn’t record a field goal.

“If it's not that guy's night, then the positive is there's somebody waiting to come in,” Few said of Gonzaga’s balanced attack. “Like Huff or Ike — fortunately, usually those guys, one of the two, it is their night.”

"It's just the squad we got,” Ike said. “We got heavy hitters, one through 10 — one through however many guys we got — and everybody knows that just as long as we continue to do our job, good things will come. Not getting outside ourselves, not doing too much; as long as we stick to our roles, we be all right."

ONE MORE TUNE-UP BEFORE UCLA

Gonzaga men's basketball team. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Gonzaga is back in the Kennel this Saturday to host Bucknell (4-7) out of the Patriot League before traveling down to Inglewood, California, to close out its nonconference slate with a high-profile matchup against UCLA at the Intuit Dome on Dec. 28. 

The Bison entered the 2024-25 campaign with expectations to compete for the Patriot League regular season title after finishing tied for second in the conference standings last season. Second-year head coach John Griffin returned six of his top seven scorers from that 20-win squad, including 7-foot-tall junior Noah Williamson. The Latvian center is second on his team in scoring at 13.4 points and is adept at applying foul pressure — Williamson averages 7.1 free throws and is top 20 in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, per KenPom.

Senior guard Josh Bascoe paces the Bison with 14.1 points and 3.8 assists per game. The 6-foot-tall Canadian also rips down 4.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Ian Motta is third on the team in points per game (10.1) though he hasn’t played in the team’s last three contests.

The most fun stat of them all: this weekend marks Bucknell’s first trip to Washington. The Bison head back east the following week to close out nonleague play at Syracuse next Saturday. 

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after Nicholls game

• Gonzaga Bulldogs 102, Nicholls Colonels 72: Live score recap, highlights from men's college basketball game

• What Gonzaga's players said after win vs. Nicholls

• 2025 NBA Draft: Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard could join Jalen Suggs with Orlando Magic

• What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after loss to UConn at Madison Square Garden

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