No. 19 Gonzaga is displaying signs of high-level versatility as it prepares to battle No. 23 Creighton on Tuesday night at Spokane, Wash.
The Bulldogs (2-0) rolled to consecutive wins over Texas Southern and Oklahoma behind three transfers merging with two holdovers.
Stellar big man Graham Ike stands out in the interior, standout transfer Tyon Grant-Foster excels in the backcourt, and Braden Huff contributes in multiple ways. Adam Miller hunts shots from the perimeter, and fellow transfer Jalen Warley is sturdy on defense.
“One of the beauties of this team is we’ll have different guys stepping up every night,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after Saturday’s 83-68 home win over Oklahoma. “Night-in and night-out you’ll have to deal with our bigs. It starts with them at the top of the scouting report, but we’re certainly not one-dimensional.”
Ike is averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds a game and is in his third season as a starter for the Bulldogs.
Grant-Foster, who is at his fourth school, recently gained eligibility after spending two seasons at Grand Canyon and is averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. He is shooting 61.1% from the field and operates in the mid-range and with drives to the hoop.
Huff is averaging 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds as a starter after coming off the bench the previous two seasons.
Miller, who is at his fourth school and played the last two campaigns at Arizona State, has knocked down five 3-pointers while averaging 10.5 points.
Warley, who played three seasons at Florida State, is averaging 10.5 points and 6.0 boards.
Ike led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds against Oklahoma. The Zags collected 18 offensive rebounds and committed just seven turnovers while forcing 16.
“It’s something we take a lot of pride in,” Few said of having only seven miscues. “Obviously we’ve had some teams that can really take care of the ball, and hopefully this is going to be one of them. … So I was proud of them. I mean, seven turnovers in a high-possession game like that is excellent.”
Creighton (1-0) is in reloading mode after the departure of longtime program force Ryan Kalkbrenner to the NBA. Steven Ashworth and Jamiya Neal also are gone.
Iowa transfer Owen Freeman figures to be a key cog this season, and he scored 19 points in the season-opening 92-76 victory over South Dakota last Wednesday. Freeman averaged 16.7 points in 19 games for the Hawkeyes last season before undergoing season-ending finger surgery.
Creighton coach Greg McDermott, in his 16th season at the school, said the team is in transition.
“We have a lot of work to do with this team, obviously,” McDermott said. “But there are some pieces there I think we can work with.”
The victory over South Dakota was McDermott’s 500th as a Division I coach. He won 90 games in five seasons at Northern Iowa and 59 in four seasons at Iowa State and has 351 with the Bluejays.
“I think it means I’ve been at it a long time,” McDermott said of the milestone. “I’ve been fortunate to work at great places and have had a lot of really good players and assistants and staff. I kinda outlasted them, I guess.”
The next task — winning at Gonzaga — might be a tall one for the Bluejays.
“We’ve got a lot of guys learning and still thinking and still wondering where are they supposed to be and when they’re supposed to be there,” McDermott said.
In the last meeting, Gonzaga rolled to an 83-65 win over Creighton in the Sweet 16 of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
