Graham Ike sounded like he was discussing something out of “Game of Thrones.”
Perhaps after yielding a saber and smiting a foe.
“Who shies away from the contact? If you do, you’ll be eaten,” the Gonzaga big man said. “It’s like sharks smelling blood in the water, you can sniff that out. You’ve just got to battle back, iron sharpens iron.”
Ike did just that Saturday, matching a career high with 35 points as the No. 12 Bulldogs vanquished host Oregon State 81-61 to bounce back from an upset loss at Portland three days earlier. That loss dropped the Bulldogs from their No. 6 ranking.
Gonzaga (23-2, 11-1 West Coast Conference) will return to their home den to face Washington State (11-15, 6-7) on Tuesday in Spokane, Wash.
Ike, who had guaranteed the Bulldogs wouldn’t repeat their 87-80 loss to the Pilots, almost single-handedly made sure it didn’t happen.
He played all but the final minute Saturday, shot 13 of 18 from the field, 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and made his only 3-point attempt. He also had seven rebounds, two assists, one steal, one blocked shot and drew nine of the 17 fouls Oregon State committed, including two on one possession.
“I liked every single matchup that was on me, on the guards, on the wings,” Ike said. “I thought we could exploit the mismatches in a lot of different areas and we did. … Shout out to the guys honestly for their relentless effort all 40 minutes, every single guy. We couldn’t do it without 1-15 and the coaching staff, included. Great plan, great execution.”
Ike lamented a second-half turnover that prevented the Bulldogs from breaking a program record. They tied the mark by giving the ball away just twice.
“I wish I could’ve taken my one turnover away,” he said. “We took great care of the ball.”
Tyon Grant-Foster came off the bench to add 15 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, who have struggled with secondary scoring while forward/center Braden Huff has missed the past seven games with a knee injury.
Gonzaga’s defense was markedly improved Saturday. They limited the Beavers to 44.2% shooting from the field (19 of 43) after Portland shot 59.3% (32 of 54).
Gonzaga coach Mark Few still hasn’t quite gotten over the latter number.
“It’s hard to find any consistency on the defensive end, let’s start with that,” Few said. “If everybody just does their jobs and bring what they bring, we’ve been pretty darn good this year. When they deviate from that and not bring what they’re supposed to bring, then it really exposes us.”
The Bulldogs defeated Washington State 86-65 on Jan. 15 in Pullman, Wash., in their first game without Huff. Ike led the way with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds and five assists.
The Cougars are coming off a 96-92 loss Saturday to visiting Santa Clara, which has a half-game lead on Gonzaga atop the WCC standings.
“We have got to get over the top. We have got to start winning these games,” Washington State coach David Riley said. “Giving up 96 points at home is too much.”
Eemeli Yalaho led the Cougars with 21 points and Ace Glass added 20.
“We have got to take care of the little stuff. Then just finishing plays,” Yalaho said.
Santa Clara outscored the Cougars 21-11 over the opening 7:15 of the second half to pull away from a 49-all tie and WSU couldn’t quite catch up.
“We have got to lock in on both sides and play a full 40 minutes,” Glass said. “I feel like we have played a lot of 30, 35-minute games.”
