Graham Ike stars in return as No. 6 Gonzaga handles Saint Mary’s

Graham Ike scored 30 points in his return from an ankle injury to lead No. 6 Gonzaga to a 73-65 victory over Saint Mary’s on Saturday night in West Coast Conference play at Spokane, Wash.

Jalen Warley had 10 points and seven rebounds and Emmanuel Innocenti also had 10 points for the Bulldogs (22-1, 10-0 WCC), who won their 15th consecutive contest.

Ike was 11-of-20 shooting — including 3 of 5 from 3-point range — to post his second 30-point outing of the season. Ike missed the previous three games.

Joshua Dent scored 16 points and Paulius Murauskas added 15 for the Gaels (19-4, 8-2). Dillan Shaw had 13 points for Saint Mary’s, which has dropped two of its last four games.

Gonzaga shot 46.6% from the field, including 6 of 17 from 3-point range, while beating Saint Mary’s for the 28th time in the past 38 meetings.

The Gaels made just 34% of their attempts and were 6 of 21 from behind the arc.

Shaw’s 3-pointer early in the second half gave the Gaels a 44-38 advantage.

Gonzaga answered with a 10-2 run and took a two-point lead on Ike’s turnaround jumper with 12:59 left.

Dent followed with a layup to tie the score before the Bulldogs rattled off eight more points. A basket by Warley capped it and gave Gonzaga a 56-48 lead with 10:12 to play.

Mantas Juzenas drilled a 3-pointer to pull Saint Mary’s within 60-56 with 8:35 left.

The Zags held off the charge and the lead was 71-61 after Ike made a trey with 1:27 left to play en route to closing it out.

Murauskas scored 13 first-half points to help Saint Mary’s hold a 38-34 halftime lead. Ike had 14 first-half points for the Bulldogs.

Ike’s dunk gave Gonzaga a 23-13 lead with 8:15 left in the first half before the Gaels dominated the rest of the half.

Saint Mary’s scored nine straight points to cut its deficit to one and later moved ahead at 33-32 on Dent’s 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining.

–Field Level Media