What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win at San Diego State

Ryan Nembhard and Graham Ike led the Bulldogs to victory on the road over the Aztecs

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

Gonzaga men's basketball head coach Mark Few had his team well prepared to handle the physicality and toughness they faced from the San Diego State Aztecs on Monday night. Maybe a little too ready, in fact.

The Bulldogs racked up seven fouls before the 13-minute mark in the first half, two of which were called on Graham Ike within two minutes of game time from opening tip. Khalif Battle and Ben Gregg also picked up two fouls in the first half, as the two teams combined for more personal fouls (14) than field goals made (11) through the midway point of the first half. Ike was forced to take an early rest with his two fouls, though the redshirt senior's night was far from over.

Ike came out of the second half strong, scoring six of the team's first eight points and tallying 20 total for the second half to finish with 23 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Nembhard also helped close out the Aztecs with 19 points, 12 of which came after halftime, and 10 assists. Huff provided valuable minutes off the bench with 10 points in the first half.

Here's what Gonzaga's head coach had to say after the win.

On Graham Ike's big second-half performance:

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

"I thought that was huge for us. For Graham to come back, especially after the early two fouls. 'A,' to play him for a spurt there in the first without picking up a third, but 'B,' to come in and get back to delivering in a hard, physical ... those bigs are tough to post, tough to score on and I thought that was a huge key in the second half."

On Ryan Nembhard's impact and hot start to the season sharing the ball:

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

"He's been unbelievable. I mean he just had control of that whole game for 40 minutes, I felt. Man I don't think anyone's playing better in the country than him at the point spot. In this environment, against that defense and that kind of physicality, and it can be difficult to communicate with your teammates. I thought he was just absolutely huge tonight."

On San Diego State's physicality and how Gonzaga responded out of the gate:

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

"We got downhill a lot against their ball-screens. Ryan Nembhard's a wizard at those reads so he's finding the bigs and they have no choice but to foul them or give up a layup or dunk. And I think we tried to set the tone early. I wanted our guys to be physical and aggressive, probably got a little too aggressive earlier but, at least they got the message."

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

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• Gonzaga’s Graham Ike and Ryan Nembhard close out San Diego State: 3 takeaways

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• Gonzaga's Khalif Battle throws down windmill dunk vs. UMass-Lowell

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