New starting lineup sparks Gonzaga to WCC road win over Pepperdine

Graham Ike led Gonzaga with a game-high 24 points

It was a memorable night for the Gonzaga men's basketball program inside Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday.

The Bulldogs (12-5, 3-1 WCC) put together a strong second half to pull away from Pepperdine, 86-61, and secure the team's first road win of the season. The victory marked a major milestone for Gonzaga coach Mark Few, as he reached 700 career victories. Only Kentucky's Adolph Rupp was faster in reaching that benchmark in his career, as Few joins a short list of nine current head coaches with 700 wins.

The latest victory didn't come easy. The Waves remained competitive and even took a lead late in the first half after converting nine of 11 field goal attempts over a six-minute stretch. A heads-up steal and score from Nolan Hickman made it a tie ballgame at the break, as Pepperdine took advantage of mental lapses defensively from Gonzaga to keep pace throughout the half.

From late rotations leading to bad fouls, to backdoor cuts resulting in layups, the talented Waves had the Zags out of position on a handful of possessions late in the first half. Few adjusted the starting lineup, inserting Ben Gregg in place of Dusty Stromer. The move appeared to pay off, even if it meant waiting until the second half to see it come to fruition.

Mark Few earns 700th career win in Gonzaga's road victory over Pepperdine

Gonzaga's offense hummed as it shot 19-of-27 (70.4%) and outscored Pepperdine 46-21 following the halftime break. The Bulldogs made 17 of their final 21 field goal attempts and couldn't be thrown out of rhythm, while the Waves struggled to get the easy looks they found in the first half.

Here are three takeaways from Gonzaga's win.

 IKE, HICKMAN BOUNCE BACK

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Two staples of the Bulldogs' offensive attack were anything but their normal selves in last week's loss to Santa Clara. Hickman and Graham Ike combined for nine points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor in the 77-76 defeat, with the latter fouling out in 17 minutes of play. That left Anton Watson to fend for himself, and despite his brilliance, that game plan won't be enough every night in the WCC.

From the opening tip against the Waves, Ike made sure he wasn't going to repeat the night he had in Santa Clara. His teammates found him in the post early and often, as the 6-foot-9 post scored 10 of his team's first 15 points before subbing out at the 12:42 mark. Pepperdine, as it did in the first meeting in Spokane, elected to play Ike one-on-one, and he took full advantage just like he did two weeks ago.

Lorenzo Romar made the necessary adjustments at halftime to temporarily limit Ike's effectiveness in the post, though the double-teams were countered by hot shooting from beyond the arc from Gonzaga. As the Bulldogs went 5-for-8 on 3-point looks, Ike feasted more coming off pick-and-rolls and post-ups deep on the low block. Ike finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-for-17 shooting from the floor.

Hickman, meanwhile, never showed a lack of confidence in his 19-point performance. He was much more decisive than he was against the Broncos, as he continually found the soft spots in the Waves' defense to get off his floater or midrange jumper in the lane. Defensively, he did more than just hold his own against a tough matchup in Houston Mallette, who was held well below his season average with just nine points on 3-for-12 from the field.

FEW SHAKES UP STARTING LINEUP

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Lack of energy and hustle were two outstanding characteristics of the Bulldogs in their loss to the Broncos, along with a few mental mistakes down the stretch. That was enough to prompt a change to Few's starting lineup, as Gregg took the place of Stromer to form a real "tall-ball" lineup with Watson at the "3." 

Gregg, who wasn't particularly productive last week, did a little bit of everything in his first collegiate start — five points, four assists and 10 rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes on the floor. He didn't command the rock as much as he has with the second unit this season, but he integrated nicely with a few timely backdoor cuts and touch passes to open teammates. Of course, his biggest asset was his usual hustle and willingness to scrap for loose rebounds.

Stromer, meanwhile, shook off a cold start offensively to finish with six points on two 3-pointers off the bench. The freshman had a rough stretch that saw him airball a shot from the corner, followed by a bad foul on Jevon Porter that led to a 3-point play opportunity. Stromer didn't play the rest of the half after that play.

Braden Huff was also on a short leash when it came to defensive lapses. The 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman was subbed out for the final 6:22 of the first half after rotating late to help cover a backdoor cut from Ethan Anderson, which also resulted in a foul plus the 2-point basket.

Those types of lapses from Stromer and Huff have hurt the Bulldogs at numerous points in big games this season. With hardly any room for error moving forward, every mistake feels magnified and costly for a program striving for its 25th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Expect Few to keep a short leash on his young players moving forward.

A ROAD WIN, FINALLY

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Winning on the road in college basketball is anything but easy this season. Gonzaga found that to be true in its two losses at Washington and Santa Clara, both of which featured hostile environments that were ready to give the visitors everything they had for 40 minutes. The Bulldogs struggled to create their own energy at times, which their opposition seized advantage of to edge out narrow victories.

But Firestone Fieldhouse, where Gonzaga has won 21 in a row now, doesn't compare to the electricity in the Leavey Center or Hec Edmundson Pavilion, with all due respect. 

Still, there's something to be said about getting the first win on the road in blowout fashion. If Gonzaga is to put together any sort of an at-large NCAA Tournament resume, it'll have to start stringing together a lot of wins away from the McCarthey Athletic Center in late February and early March. Perhaps a 25-point win had a few lessons about coming together as a group to overcome adversity early on the road.

Gonzaga beats Pepperdine as Mark Few earns career win No. 700 (photo gallery)