What Gonzaga's Mark Few said after win vs. Pepperdine

The Bulldogs hung on for an 89-82 victory over the Waves

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

Khalif Battle tied his season-high with 21 points, Braden Huff added 19 off the bench and the Gonzaga Bulldogs fended off the Pepperdine Waves, 89-82, in their West Coast Conference opener from Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, California.

The upset-minded Waves (6-9, 0-2 WCC), picked to finish last in the WCC preseason poll, nearly rallied from down 20 points in the second half, but the Zags (10-4, 1-0 WCC) controlled the paint to come away with their 48th consecutive win over Pepperdine.

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

On the role turnovers played during Pepperdine's comeback

"We did this to ourselves. We had some silly, silly, silly turnovers at the start of the second half. Just really bad turnovers, which they let get [Pepperdine] going. Great stretch of defense the last 12 minutes of the first half that got us the lead ... and then we got cooked. We absolutely got cooked, especially out there on the perimeter."

On Khalif Battle's big night after being ejected from the UCLA game

"I think he was on his way to that Saturday. I think he was in a pretty good space on Saturday at the start of that game. He had that one jumper, kind of attacking good and so yeah, he was great. He was really good on offense. Again, we're just kind of cycling through trying to find somebody that could stop their perimeter players. Those bigger guards have given us problems in the past with this group."

On Gonzaga's defensive effort in the second half

"We did not do a great job, especially guarding their perimeter players. Some of them were tough shots, but at some point you got to step up and get some stops, so. We had a great defensive first half, I mean they were at .8-something [points per possession], which is excellent. The turnovers led to transition, which led to easy baskets, and then I think it really helped them start feeling good about themselves."

MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS

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