Gonzaga returned to the Kennel on Sunday for an early December tune-up on the heels of a stretch that had already delivered a 40-point collapse to Michigan and a 35-point correction against Kentucky. As expected, the Zags handled business at home, pummeling the Ospreys of North Florida, 109-58.
Up next comes UCLA, Oregon, and a narrowing runway of non-conference opportunities to beef up their résumé before West Coast Conference play begins. North Florida supplied precisely the level of resistance that reassures a home crowd and lifts the confidence of a roster still looking for a consistent identity and a roster full of good options.
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Prior to tip-off, it was announced that the team’s leading scorer, Graham Ike, would be sitting this one out, nursing an ankle injury that’s hobbled him since the opening round of the Players Era Festival against Alabama. Credit to the dude’s toughness for playing through three games since sustaining the injury and still notching a new career high of 28 points along the way. Ike is an absolute force of nature.
The final outcome of this one was never really in question. The Zags attacked the Ospreys from every angle and with every weapon available, comfortably weathering the barrage of threes North Florida relied on to try and keep things competitive.
It was the kind of night that let the Zags lean into what they do best without revealing anything about how the group handles real strain. The lead stretched early, the shot clocks stayed short, and the Bulldogs kept stacking clean looks in a matchup whose outcome was never really in question. The win still carried one meaningful ripple, since the blowout lifted Gonzaga to No. 3 in KenPom behind only Michigan and an Iowa State team that keeps forcing its way into the national picture following their 20-point route of No. 1 Purdue.
New lineup, same outcome
Without Ike, the Zags rolled out their fifth different starting lineup in 10 games. Braden Huff slid into a full shift at the five, which brought Jalen Warley off the bench at the power forward spot. The absence of the usual physical edge and height Ike offers was hardly felt against North Florida’s undersized frontline. Huff settled in immediately, worked for position down low, and turned routine touches around the rim into a season-high 24 points on 12-for-17 shooting across 26 minutes.
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Warley, for his part, reshaped the frontcourt completely with active hands and quick reads, piling up three steals, a block, and five rebounds while keeping actions crowded around the nail. Emmanuel Innocenti and Steele Venters held their spots in the starting group over Tyon Grant-Foster, whose shot selection coach Mark Few questioned last week, and Adam Miller, who continues to chase the perimeter consistency he showed at Arizona State. As usual, Innocenti played spectacular perimeter defense, even though the box score captured almost none of the value he adds in his time on the floor (two points, zero rebounds). His offensive fit remains the one unresolved element in an otherwise complete profile. He also appeared to be managing some discomfort, unlacing a sneaker and heading to the bench in the second half, which ended his night before he had a chance to settle in or add anything else on the scoring side.
Ike’s absence opened extended minutes for Ismaila Diagne, who played 22 minutes and finished with four points on two clean touches plus eight rebounds, three on the offensive end. His ball security and overall stamina still need work, yet he supplied size and a dependable presence around the rim, which covered the gaps created by the adjusted frontcourt rotation. Despite 40 minutes without Ike, it’s hard to picture the Zags owning the paint any more decisively than they did against North Florida. The 35-18 rebounding margin and the 58-14 advantage in paint points underscored how firmly Gonzaga handled the interior on a night when Ike could stay in recovery mode.
Mario Saint-Supery does it all
Mario Saint-Supery turned a routine December blowout into a showcase, finishing with 13 points in 20 minutes, perfect 4-for-4 shooting from deep, and seven assists that kept the defense completely without answers. The offense keeps opening around him as he probes, retreats, changes angles, and picks out the next advantage before defenders track the shift. The Spanish freshman added two highlight-reel moments that pulled the crowd to its feet, beginning with a spot-up corner three that he converted into a four-point play and a few minutes later, hitting Braden Huff with a behind-the-back assist in a crowded lane for an easy layup.
A dependable outside shot from El Principito would unlock a fresh layer of spacing and add a new contour to an offense that already operates at an elite level. His reads have been getting quicker, and his style of play is something that Few has rarely–if ever–had at the point. The mix of control and invention continues to fold seamlessly into what this roster needs to accommodate all of the different weapons around him.
Return to the Fogleverse
Davis Fogle clearly has a longer leash to go get buckets than any wing Few has had in years. The freshman finished with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting in 18 minutes, including 3 vicious dunks. In his limited minutes off the bench, well after the outcome had been decided, he once again looked like the purest scorer on this year’s roster. With Fogle on the floor, the offense shifts toward isolation space and early attack angles, and he turns those pockets into points with a level of ease the Zags haven’t seen since Rui Hachimura. Gonzaga’s game plan in the second half could best be described as “Let Fogle Cook,” and no one’s mad about it.
He still needs to get comfortable playing against length and physicality, a hitch that reared its head in his limited minutes against Michigan, and that piece will shape his ceiling this season, but his touches already carry unprecedented upside. A lot of people may flip the channel during a 50-point blowout, but Fogle is must-see in Zagville every time he checks in.
The uptick from deep
Gonzaga’s long-range numbers nudged upward after a night that finished at 10-for-18 from deep (and the total would have climbed to 11-for-19 if Tyon Grant-Foster’s one-foot corner fadeaway hadn’t been ruled a two). The season mark now sits at 33.8 percent as a team, still the lowest of the Few era, but over the last four games, the Bulldogs have gone 36-for-91 from outside, a 40 percent run that reflects cleaner spacing, quicker choices, and real confidence across the roster.
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Steele Venters and Mario Saint-Supery supplied the surge against North Florida with an 8-for-10 combined outing. Venters looked more decisive on every catch and stepped into shots without hesitation, and Saint-Supery continued his rise as a perimeter threat who can function as a floor-stretching off-ball guard as well as the primary ballhandler.
Sustaining that rhythm becomes the next challenge, because this offense reaches another level when the shots arrive in patterns rather than bursts. The rotation gives the staff options, though, since a different shooter keeps stepping forward each night, a rare asset for a group that relies so heavily on its bigs for scoring production.
Final thoughts
There was plenty worth noting in this one. Walk-on Noah Haaland logged 3 extremely physical rebounds in four minutes; Gonzaga posted 19 fastbreak points but probably left 10+ more unfinished at the rim; Tyon Grant-Foster added 19 points (second on the team behind Braden Huff) and went 9-for-10 at the free throw line, a number that underscores the progress he continues to make as figures out how to best contribute to the offense.
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But what stuck out the most was the way North Florida stayed engaged throughout the night despite the blowout score. The Ospreys ran their sets cleanly and generated 38 three-point attempts that came from organized actions rather than late-clock bailouts. They put up much more of a fight than Gonzaga saw from Kentucky, and several dudes on that roster should draw significant portal attention when the season ends.
The focus now shifts to UCLA on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, a yearly highlight for Gonzaga fans, and this year’s group heads into that tilt against coach Mick Cronin’s 7-2 squad with depth, speed, and an offensive game plan that grows more versatile and more dangerous each week.
