After last season’s lackluster start, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have shown the nation they are back in a big way. But also in a bigs way. The Zags’ frontcourt has been absolutely dominant through this season's first five games.
Senior forward Graham Ike leads the team in points at 14.6 per game and rebounds at 6.2 per game, while sophomore forward Braden Huff is third on the team averaging 14 points per game.
It’s not exceptionally uncommon, especially in college basketball, to have two bigs lead a team in scoring. What is uncommon is how Gonzaga’s bigs are doing it.
Ike is the senior. He’s the starter. He’s been named to multiple National Player of the Year preseason watchlists. It's no surprise he's leading the team.
He’s also playing fewer minutes than his backup.
Huff is clocking 19.2 minutes per game, while Ike is averaging 17. Those numbers put them respectively sixth and seventh on the team in terms of playing time.
Another notable detail is that Huff and Ike are not like-for-like substitutions for each other. Sure, they typically replace the other in the game at the five spot on the floor, but their games are absolutely nothing alike.
Ike has been a bruiser, while Huff has shown his skill.
They’re both bigs, but their games are perfect complements.
Ike is drawing fouls at a rate of 9.8 per 40 minutes (5th in Division I as of Thursday), which unsurprisingly means he's getting to the free throw line at an absurd rate. On the season, he’s taken 32 free throws this season compared with 44 shots from the field.
At the start of the game, Ike can log some minutes and put opposing big men into early foul trouble. Which sets up Huff perfectly.
When Ike comes out and Huff comes in, there’s a good chance the latter is either going up against less-skilled reserves or facing off with starters who need to avoid picking up any more fouls. Against backups, Huff’s going to outplay pretty much everyone. Against foul-laden starters, Huff’s got to take advantage of their defensive hesitancy.
Huff’s also had the opportunity even when Ike is on the bench without any foul trouble, as was the case this week against Long Beach State. Ike sat from the 14:57 mark of the first half until the 8:09 mark despite having picked up zero fouls. Even without their leading scorer, Gonzaga’s offense steamrolled over the Beach.
What makes this two-headed, five-man monster even more scary is that they could still ratchet up another gear.
Last season, Huff connected on 33.3% of his shots from three-point range. This year, at 2-for-7, he’s at just 28.6%. And we’ve yet to mention fellow big Ben Gregg, who has yet to connect from downtown after making 39-of-103 (37.8%) last season.
Gonzaga’s guards have been phenomenal from deep, but if the bigs click into gear from behind the arc, this team’s offense could become unstoppable. Which is incredible considering it already rates as the most efficient in all of college basketball.
Last season, Ike was often prone to foul trouble, and Huff wasn’t quite ready to shoulder the load. Especially against the big boys. This season, Ike might still be fouling (as was the case early versus San Diego State), but Huff has shown he’s more than ready for the spotlight. Huff's two highest-scoring and most efficient games have come against Baylor and Arizona State, the two power conference programs Gonzaga has faced thus far.
It’s got to be daunting for an opposing team to see a preseason Player of the Year candidate come off the floor, only to be replaced by a guy who’s largely been outplaying him thus far this season.
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Gonzaga at New Mexico • Sun., Nov. 24 at 1 pm • golobos.com/watch
