No. 3 Gonzaga welcomes Long Beach State to Spokane, Wash., on Wednesday for a tuneup before they head for the Bahamas and a three-day run at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The Bulldogs (4-0) scored a season-low 80 points to deal San Diego State only its fourth double-digit home loss under coach Brian Dutcher on Monday behind 23 points in 20 minutes from Graham Ike and 19 from Ryan Nembhard. The seniors scored 30 of Gonzaga’s 40 points in the second half, hanging another quality wins pelt on the wall and building a resume worthy of a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed.
The Bulldogs survived SDSU’s smothering defense but made only 1 of 9 second-half 3-point tries. Nembhard, Michael Ajayi, Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle combined to shoot 2 of 14 from 3-point range.
Head coach Mark Few credited Nembhard, who had 10 assists and three turnovers, for keeping Gonzaga on course against a physical defense in the first road game of the season. Gonzaga helped itself by making 27 of 31 foul shots; Ike and Nembhard made a combined 17 of 19.
Nembhard has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 8-1 with 40 assists and five turnovers, a steady and consistent calm Few will lean into even more as Gonzaga packs for Nassau and its opening game against West Virginia on the eve of Thanksgiving.
“He controlled that whole game for 40 minutes. I don’t think anybody is playing better in the country than him at the point spot,” Few said. “In this environment, against that defense, that kind of physicality and the difficulty communicating … he was absolutely huge.”
Before they head for a tournament holiday at the beach, Gonzaga prepares for Long Beach State with the Dirtbags fresh off another close loss.
The Beach dropped to 1-3 in a 63-61 loss to Portland on Saturday, trimming an eight-point deficit in the final 3:26. Devin Askew’s attempted game-winner didn’t fall. The defeat came six days after a heartbreaking loss to South Dakota State, which drained a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in an 80-79 victory.
First-year coach Chris Acker has 12 newcomers on his roster after the 2023-24 season ended with Long Beach State (1-3) parting with former Gonzaga coach Dan Monson only for The Beach to make a run to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big West conference tournament.
Acker said he knows the “true rebuild” can take time with less than five percent of the team’s scoring, rebounding and minutes played back from last year’s roster.
Askew is a headliner. He’s averaging 17.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the first four games of the season.
The senior has 82 total games under his belt. He started 20 games at Kentucky as a freshman in 2020-21, bouncing to Texas for one season and then logging two years at Cal. He has battled injuries over his career but also knows the feeling of walking into unfriendly environs like the one that awaits Wednesday night at McCarthey Athletic Center.
“He’s competed at the highest level, so he knows what that needs to look like,” Acker said.
Long Beach State has lost three consecutive games since defeating La Verne 93-48 in the season opener.
–Field Level Media
