What Gonzaga's Graham Ike and Braden Huff said after win vs. Long Beach State

Gonzaga's frontcourt tandem combined for 27 points in just 31 minutes to lead the way to victory over the Beach

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

Never in Graham Ike's college basketball career has he been known as someone who's going to stand 25 feet from the hoop on offense. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound senior is usually sealing off his defender in the paint or turning over his shoulder in the post for a fadeaway along the baseline. Safe to say Ike has honed both those aspects of his game, regardless of his outside shot.

Wednesday night against Long Beach State, though, presented Ike with the rare opportunity to show off the work he's put into his 3-point marksmanship. In the first half of Gonzaga's 84-41 win over the Beach, Ike was about 10 feet away from his defender when he decided to let it fly from deep, hitting nothing but net for the first made 3-pointer of the season. The rare triple was part of a 15-point night for Ike, who scored eight straight points to start the second half before getting an extended rest while Gonzaga's other bigs and reserves closed out the team's fifth straight win on the season.

“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.”

Here's more of what Ike and Huff had to say following Gonzaga's blowout win over Long Beach State.

Ike on whether he thought the Zags had their best game defensively against the Beach:

Gonzaga's Michael Ajayi (left), Khalif Battle (middle) and Graham Ike (right). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

"Yeah it was a great defensive performance from everybody. Everybody was on point. Everybody was hitting their coverages. The help was there on the backside. This game, and I think UMass-Lowell was up there defensively for us. I mean, every game this year we've been dialed in. So kudos to the staff for giving us a great plan, and kudos to the guys for executing."

Huff on what's helped him improve on the defensive end of the floor:

Gonzaga forwards Braden Huff (left) and Ben Gregg (right). / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

I think from a confidence standpoint you've seen everything, you kind of kind of know what you're in for. There's that and then I mean just going against this guy [Ike] all summer on the defensive end and offensively has been huge. Lot of physicality, a lot of good battles. So that's helped me a ton. Yeah, iron sharpens iron."

Ike on the 1-2 punch between him and Huff:

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

"Yeah, it's great. And like he 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. And like I said last game, you're not getting a break when he subs in, or if I sub right back in."

Huff on the importance of staying locked in for the Battle 4 Atlantis:

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

"I think this kind of stint for us was big, just quick turnarounds. Obviously, that's a little different, three games in three days. But to be that dialed in on the defensive end after these quick turnarounds is important. We're obviously going to need the same in Atlantis, because they got some pretty good teams down there."

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