Bra(e)dens Have Big Games, Gonzaga Closes Non-Conference Play With 91-82 Win Over Oregon
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Gonzaga’s Braeden Smith, center, celebrate the Bulldogs' victory over Oregon in the Northwest Elite Showdown at the Moda Center in Portland Dec. 21, 2025. Credit: Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images [/caption]
PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing in an NBA arena, Gonzaga (12-1) closed out non-conference play by pulling out a professional win over Oregon 91-82, as the Zags got scoring contributions from all over the roster.
The Ducks presented a similar challenge to when the Bulldogs suffered their lone loss of the season, but Gonzaga was able to effectively counter in ways it wasn’t in its 40-point defeat to Michigan, instead earning a victory in the Northwest Elite Showdown at the Moda Center, home of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Oregon trotted out three players that were either the same height as the Zags’ frontcourt duo of Graham Ike and Braden Huff or taller: 7-0 Nate Bittle, 6-11 Ege Demir, and 6-10 Kwame Evans Jr. Although Braden Huff was able to provide production scoring-wise, Bittle gave Ike problems, especially early on, as the graduate student started 1-for-6 from the field with Bittle blocking two of Ike’s shots before he converted a field goal. It paved the way for another Bulldog to step up alongside Huff’s 20-point, six-rebound night, and that player happened to come off the bench.
That would be point guard Braeden Smith, who scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, marking just the second time this season where Gonzaga’s leading scorer in a game wasn’t one of Ike or Huff. He also dished out seven assists and grabbed three rebounds without turning the ball over. Smith’s performance continued a string of excellent efforts from him, especially after getting demoted from the starting lineup in place of freshman Mario Saint-Supéry. He wound up playing over double the minutes (27) of Saint-Supéry (13), who has been dealing with the flu, earning the nickname ‘Quarantine’ from his teammates. The Spaniard didn’t practice during the week and wasn’t feeling well in warmups or during the game itself.
Smith stepped up for his team that needed a primary ball-handler to lead the way, as he was decisive and efficient with the ball in his hands, his final bucket being a turnaround fadeaway jumper from just above the free-throw line.
“Braeden was exceptional tonight,” said GU head coach Mark Few. “…We leaned on B-Smith hard, and he responded big time. I mean, he saved us and was a huge key to the game.”
It was Smith’s second straight game scoring in double figures, and the redshirt junior is now averaging 4.5 assists per contest. For the most part, he has done an admirable job filling the role he was expected to, even if it has come with decreased playing time.
“Just trying to stay ready whenever I get out there, trying to help the team as best I can. Make an impact,” Smith said. “And so that's kind of been where my head's at since the change and just trying to continue to have that mentality.”
Also scoring at least 10 points for the Bulldogs were Ike and Steele Venters. The former was able to resist getting taken out of the game completely, like in his one-point performance against the Wolverines. Although shooting just 4-of-14, Ike remained aggressive, getting to the charity stripe to convert nine of 11 free throw attempts en route to a 17-point game. Pairing this with 11 rebounds, Ike collected his 40th career double.
Venters is another auxiliary player for Gonzaga who continues to stack strong showings, proving he is getting further and further from his Achilles injury and more and more like himself on the court. The sharpshooter netted four of his five shots from beyond the arc, while fellow marksman Adam Miller flushed three of his five tries from deep, marking the best game the two have had as a tandem shooting from the outside and fueling a 43.5% (10-for-23) day for the Zags from three-point range.
For the fifth straight game, GU has shot at least 37% from three, shooting above 50% in two of those contests. Being able to keep defenses honest on the perimeter takes pressure off a big who works on the inside like Huff, and consistency from those spots on the court will only increase Gonzaga’s chances of going deep in March.
“It makes my job a lot easier, able to get more one-on-one matchups and kind of attack that, rather than double teams and stuff like that,” Huff said. “So yeah, the way they've been shooting, they stepped up big time and expect more of that throughout the year.”
Although they actually finished the game barely leading in the categories, the Bulldogs were losing the rebounding battle and getting outscored in the paint for much of the matchup. Bittle had a lot to do with that, as the Ducks center finished with 28 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four blocks. It led to a few rough stretches for the Zags where they couldn’t go to the well in terms of creating high percentage looks close to the basket.
As far into the game as five minutes into the second half, they were shooting below 40% as a team. But when Oregon looked to be clawing back into the game, GU leaned on its identity of turning to defense to create turnovers and score in transition, all but sealing the victory as the final minutes of the contest consisted of the foul game.
With the size rostered by the Ducks, it seemed like an appropriate way for Gonzaga to close its non-conference schedule, having to work considerably more than it has for much of its first 13 games. Boasting six blowouts, the Bulldogs managed to keep their distance a decent amount from the power programs they faced, as the lowest margin of victory to this point was this nine-point win. Few always attempts to make sure his teams are challenged outside of WCC play, and this year GU made the gauntlet look relatively easy, to the point where Few believes it was the best stretch he’s seen out of one of his squads.
“I've been doing 27 years of this stuff, and we've always tried to schedule difficult, especially this last 10-12 years we've been trying to schedule to be a number one seed in the non-con,” he said. “…But I think it's the best run we've had in the non-conference. I mean, literally, with who we've played, where we played, how the games have stacked up. I mean, it just felt like that.”
Still, Few knows better than to peak at this point in the season, and if his team wants to go deep in the tournament, they have to continue to improve, no matter how many wins continue to stack.
“We’re not even halfway through our season. So the teams that continue to get better, I've said this every year, you got to continue to get better, those are the ones that will win and advance in the NCAA Tournament. Teams that get stuck with how they're playing in late December, you know, it's not going to happen. So, I mean, we have to stay on that gross plane.”
