No. 18 Gonzaga pulls away from Wazzu after close first half

SPOKANE — In the schools’ first meeting in 10 years, Washington State used a 10-0 first half run to lead by six but allowed Gonzaga to see each of its eight scorers post at least eight points and take control midway through the game.

Gonzaga’s Graham Ike had 21 points and seven rebounds, and No. 18 Gonzaga pulled away from WSU after a back-and-forth first half to earn an 88-75 victory Saturday night at the Kennel in a much-anticipated West Coast Conference men’s basketball meeting.

“We had it slip away from us early in that second half,” WSU coach David Riley said. “We didn’t stay connected as much and I personally didn’t do a good enough job of having us ready for the fight. They got some 50-50 balls, they got a couple offensive rebounds. Just some toughness plays that second half that hurt us.”

Nolan Hickman added 19 points and hit five 3-pointers for the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC), who won their fifth straight game.

Nate Calmese led WSU (13-5, 3-2) with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and finished with a career-high eight assists.

Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg, nephew of Lewiston’s own Gordy Gregg, had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Despite just 66 miles separating the Cougs and the Zags, they had not met in more than 10 years. But after yet another round of conference realignment, these programs will square off regularly now — first in the WCC for two seasons and then in the restructured Pac-12 starting in 2026-27.

Despite the last quarter century of Gonzaga success, WSU leads the all-time series 98-53 since the first meeting in 1907.

The Cougs and Zags traded the lead 11 times, all in the first 20 minutes. Dane Erikstrup and Calmese got the scoring started for Wazzu but Hickman responded in the opening minute with his first of five treys.

The Cougs did not hit their first 3-pointer until redshirt freshman Parker Gerrits hit his first of two triples to cut the lead to 3.

WSU has just eight healthy players, which has provided opportunities for younger players — such as Gerrits and Lapwai’s Kase Wynott — to see extended minutes. Gerrits (seven points) and Wynott (five points) each scored career highs.

WSU center ND Okafor contributed seven points off the bench to provide 70% of WSU’s 10-0 run.

Ike posted 10 of his 21 points in the first half and the Zags entered the break with a three-point lead.

Gonzaga opened the second half with an 8-0 run through two-and-a-half minutes to lead by 11. An Ike layup with 5:48 to go made the Gonzaga lead 23 and WSU narrowed the gap to 13 but could not keep up.

“I just told them, ‘Hey, we’re in a battle. It’s a great game. Both teams are competing really hard, and we’re at our best when we’re in attack mode,’” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said he told his team at halftime. “And they did a great job of taking the message and I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense.

“(The Cougars) are hard to guard, they’re big and they’re physical, and (Riley) does a really lot of nice stuff on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them.”

Takeaways

WSU: Riley has had injury troubles in his first season coaching Wazzu. The reigning Big Sky coach of the year has watched four key players go by the wayside this season and holds a 4-4 combined record in Quad 1 and 2 games.

Gonzaga: Few’s squad struggled early, but a strong second half illustrated the disparity between the teams. Michael Ajayi was the only Bulldogs player who got in the game and didn’t score at least eight points.

Key moment

The crowd at the Kennel roared when Ryan Nembhard and Hickman hit consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half, and Gonzaga made nine straight baskets to extend its lead to 22.

Key stat

Gonzaga won thanks to extra possessions, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and forcing 16 turnovers. Despite keeping the game close, 12 of WSU’s 16 turnovers came in the first half.

“Twelve turnovers in a half is crazy,” Riley said on WSU’s radio postgame show. “I know we seem to do it a lot.”

The Cougs have conceded an average of 15.4 turnovers per game. Calmese, Erikstrup and Ethan Price each gave up possession four times. Dusty Stromer snagged six steals for the Zags.

Calmese said the Cougs shot themselves in the foot against the No. 18 team in the country.

“If we play the way we’re supposed to play, we should be right there with them,” Calmese said.

Up next

Washington State visits San Diego on Thursday night.

Gonzaga plays at Oregon State on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON ST. (13-5, 3-2)

Erikstrup 5-13 0-0 11, Price 1-4 0-0 2, L.Watts 7-15 1-2 17, Calmese 9-14 1-2 20, Thrastarson 2-4 0-0 6, Wynott 2-3 0-0 5, Okafor 3-3 1-3 7, Gerrits 3-4 0-1 7. Totals 32-60 3-8 75.

GONZAGA (14-4, 5-0)

Gregg 5-9 0-0 11, Ike 8-11 5-5 21, Battle 4-13 0-0 10, Hickman 7-10 0-0 19, Nembhard 4-8 0-1 9, Stromer 2-5 3-4 8, Ajayi 0-1 0-0 0, Huff 4-4 2-3 10. Totals 34-61 10-13 88.

Halftime — Gonzaga 40-37. 3-Point Goals — Washington St. 8-21 (Thrastarson 2-2, L.Watts 2-6, Calmese 1-2, Gerrits 1-2, Wynott 1-2, Erikstrup 1-5, Price 0-2), Gonzaga 10-21 (Hickman 5-8, Battle 2-6, Nembhard 1-1, Gregg 1-3, Stromer 1-3). Rebounds — Washington St. 26 (Erikstrup 7), Gonzaga 25 (Gregg 9). Assists — Washington St. 20 (Calmese 8), Gonzaga 20 (Gregg, Nembhard 5). Total Fouls — Washington St. 17, Gonzaga 12. A — 6,000 (6,000).