Gonzaga’s return to California went much better than their first go-round as they easily handled the LMU Lions, 96-68. Here is a quick recap of some nice things from that game:
- Gonzaga’s offense should be putting the ball into Khalif Battle’s right hand as he drives to the hoop. Battle finished with 26 points on 10-for-12 shooting, going 4-for-5 from long range. He had a couple of single-handed coast-to-coast buckets and is easily Gonzaga’s most talented scorer. The offense still runs through Graham Ike, but Battle is a legitimate 20+ points per night scorer.
- Michael Ajayi finished with 15 points, tying a season-high. It is only the third time this season Ajayi has scored in double-digits. After contributing 14 points against UConn on six field goal attempts, Ajayi only attempted 14 shots in the next four games. He is too talented offensively to take that much of a back seat and in the past two games has been a bit more assertive about establishing himself as a member of the offense. He wasn’t as efficient against Portland, but last night, it was a much better job. And it came with the added bonus of a three (finally), his first since November 27.
- Led by Graham Ike’s 27 points, the Zags absolutely devoured LMU in the paint, outscoring the Lions 56-18. Gonzaga shot a respectable 7-for-16 from three, and we got what the Zags’ efficient offensive attack looks like this season: Tons of points down low and enough shots from the outside to force defenders to respect the line.
- Jevon Porter could be one of the tougher guys to guard in the conference due to his size and his ability to stretch the floor. As of yet, he doesn’t have his brother’s NBA potential though, and Gonzaga did a nice job of making him work way too hard for his 17 points, needing 14 field goal attempts and a lot of trips to the free throw line to log those points.
- The Braden Huff experience this season has been a wild one. When he is on, he cannot miss, and when he is not on, nothing will go in. Huff finished with two points off 1-for-8 shooting, the third time this season he has scored just two points. Huff isn’t nearly as good of a rebounder/defender as Ike or Ben Gregg, so when his shot isn’t falling, his value on the court plummets like a rock. I would expect a bounce-back. Huff has only scored in single-digits twice in a row this season.