Off to Torrid Start, Does Gonzaga Look the Part of Title Contender After 10 Games?
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Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff (34) shoots the ball against North Florida Ospreys forward Trey Cady (22) in the first half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images [/caption]
If you would have told Gonzaga fans before the start of the 2025-26 season that the Bulldogs would win nine of their first 10 games, with three of those victories coming against teams that were ranked at the time, the reception would likely be very positive.
Assumptions would be made about forwards Graham Ike and Braden Huff leading the way in their first full season starting together, or the faster pace the team intended to play with, as it emphasizes getting stops and scoring in transition. But the utter dominance the Bulldogs have shown for the majority of their time on the floor so far this season can’t help but be at least slightly eye-opening to all who are watching.
To further stretch the point, the smallest margin of victory for the Zags has been 10 points, six of their wins have been by at least 25 points, and they’ve scored at least 100 points on three separate occasions. GU has experienced a gradual climb in the AP Poll each week as it continues to stack impressive wins, currently sitting at the No. 8 spot, while consistently residing in the country’s top 5 of efficiency metrics like KenPom and the official NET ratings.
Gonzaga has essentially done everything it set out to do and then some on the court. Ike and Huff are indeed posting stellar starts to the season. The tandem’s gravity on opposing teams has thus created open looks for their teammates. Redshirt junior Braeden Smith was expected to receive the bulk of work as the team’s starting point guard, but true freshman Mario Saint-Supéry has usurped the position with his energetic playstyle of setting up others while creating his own shot. And the defense has been tenacious, led by a group of wings that put immense pressure on ball-handlers and create turnovers and bad shots.
But as teased previously, the Zags haven’t been perfect, with the lone blemish on their schedule being more than just a blip on the radar. Michigan blew them out by 40 to close the Players Era Festival, with the game never being close and Ike scoring just one point in the affair. Since then, the Wolverines are widely viewed as the best team in college basketball, and the Bulldogs have bounced back admirably, but that game is at the very least in the back of the minds of various figures in the sport.
So, how does GU measure its start to the season, and what is to be taken away from the one lopsided loss? There is obviously more good than bad to sort through, equating to a seemingly high floor in March with sizable hope for a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
Dominant Bigs, Depth, and Perimeter Defense
In his fifth and final season of college basketball, Graham Ike once again looks as dominant as ever. The 6-9 big man is averaging 16.4 points, 8.1 rebounds a game, and shooting 51% from the field, backing up the preseason hype he received when being named to numerous award watch lists. Ike’s running mate, 6-10 redshirt junior Braden Huff, has been spectacular as well, averaging 17 points and 5.1 rebounds with a stunning 65.6% shooting percentage. The two lefties are almost unguardable on the block with their backs to the basket, as they possess great touch on hooks, floaters, and push shots inside. Causing opposing teams to collapse and help, Ike and Huff create double teams, therefore setting up shooters and cutters with high-percentage shots as the defense is left reeling.
Compiling the crew around these two forces are a slew of players who have all played their role to a tee. Whether it’s been Mario Saint-Supéry or Braeden Smith bringing the ball up, there has been a consistent feeling of the ball getting pushed, high energy, and some flair as they dish off dimes to their teammates. After getting the turmoil with his waiver sorted out for his final year of eligibility, Tyon Grant-Foster has emerged as the team’s third leading scorer, doing a little bit of everything on both ends to have a true all-around impact.
Steele Venters and Adam Miller come flying off of off-ball screens or quickly get the ball up after a pass to get shots up from beyond the arc. And Emmanuel Innocenti and Jalen Warley have been the defensive stalwarts they’ve proven to be over the course of their careers, sitting in chairs and frequently getting their hands on the basketball as the point-of-attack defenders.
But there are only so many spots open in the rotation for all of these talented and productive Zags. Even though true freshman Davis Fogle has flashed an ability to score, and 7-0 Ismaila Diagne would be a starting center on a lot of teams across the country, neither has received noteworthy minutes this season. Head coach Mark Few has already utilized five unique starting lineups – albeit one was due to Ike missing a game because of an ankle injury – as Gonzaga hasn’t settled on its ideal five yet, as Few seems to be deferring to the hot hands. Perhaps he never will, opting to play matchups and deploying the ideal starters depending on a specific opponent.
Three-Point Shooting and Closing Out Games
A big question mark heading into the 2025-26 season was how the Bulldogs would fare on their shots from the outside. After losing four of their top five players in three-point shooting percentage from last year, Steele Venters, who is returning from back-to-back season-ending injuries, and Adam Miller, who transferred in from ASU, were expected to fill a huge void for GU. After sluggish starts, Venters and Miller have reached solid marks of 37.8% and 34.8% from beyond the arc, respectively.
But the big boosts to this stat for the Zags have been from two of its foreign players on the roster. Spaniard Mario Saint-Supéry can fire off a flashy pass in between a tight window, but the 6-4 guard is also shooting 53.6% from deep on 28 attempts. Meanwhile, the Ivorian Emmanuel Innocenti, heralded for his defense, has taken a noticeable leap offensively, buoyed by a 45.5% clip on three-point shots so far, already hitting as many shots from downtown as he did last year (10), on 12 fewer tries.
Overall, Gonzaga is shooting 35.6% as a team from long range, ranking fifth best in the WCC, and with the Bulldogs not heavily relying on their ability to hit those shots as is, they are certainly getting the bang for the buck at the moment.
Another thing to watch was the Zags’ ability to score baskets and get stops in the clutch and during tight games, after losing a handful of games down the stretch last season, including their final game, where they fell to Houston by five in March Madness, ending a streak of nine straight Sweet 16s reached by the program. With the many moving parts of this year’s team, how the players would mesh and get the job done when it was time to gut out a win could be predictive of the group’s ceiling.
Well, it’s safe to say it remains to be seen. Being that the closest game GU has played to this point has been that 10-point win over Maryland, where Gonzaga broke away with just under five minutes to go, the Bulldogs have simply been too overpowering – outside of one game – to get a true test in crunch time. The hounding nature on defense and smooth operation on offense have led to cruising second halves where the Zags’ feet remain on the gas.
It's plausible that with the familiarity of conference play and utter competition, GU will be forced to sweat out a victory in the waning minutes of a game, and that it would even be good for them one way or the other. They are one of the oldest teams in college basketball and roster several players with plenty of experience in those situations — not to mention Few is in year 27 at the helm — so they won’t be completely caught off guard when the scenario arises. But for the time being, they seem like a buzzsaw that has only been shut off once.
Meeting Their Makers
Comedian Katt Williams had a great line during one of his standups.
“A Chrysler 300 looks like a Phantom until a Phantom shows up.”
Not to call Gonzaga a Chrysler 300 in this analogy, but that would be an astute way to describe how the game unfolded between the Bulldogs and the Wolverines, with the team names offering as a metaphor as well.
The Zags dominated everyone in their path leading up to the championship game in Vegas and have done more of the same since. But Michigan imposed its will on GU to take the Players Era title, beginning with how it was able to virtually take Ike and Huff out of the game. As frequently as the Bulldogs’ bigs work in the paint, they are not traditional centers, but more so big forwards. When the likes of 7-3 Aday Mara, and 6-9 forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. rolled into MGM Grand Garden Arena, they brought a different level of ferociousness down low that overmatched Ike and Huff.
They were able to guard Gonzaga straight up when the ball went to one of those two, not needing to send a weakside helper, thus being able to clog up passing lanes and opportunities for shooters. Then they finished the job with their defensive assignment, holding Ike to a 0-for-9 shooting night. Huff found some success with his floater just inside the free-throw line, but shot 7-for-17 overall.
And as renowned for their scoring as they are, Ike and Huff are more pedestrian presences defensively. U-M outscored GU in the paint and outrebounded them, the only such team to do so this season. They rocked the rims with thunderous dunks and to boot, were lethal when they got up shots from three. It didn’t help that one of the Wolverines’ assistant coaches, Justin Joyner, was formerly on the staff of Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga’s rival in the WCC, and being keen of slight crooks in the armor of the Bulldogs’ playstyle.
It all culminates to more of a terrible matchup for the Zags at the time, hence being the worst loss of the Few era, but it sets up as likely the biggest obstacle keeping them from hoisting the National Championship title in March. Jalen Warley routinely gets work as the team’s small-ball “4” when one of Ike or Huff is not on the court; could the tallest man on the roster, Ismaila Diagne, find work when teams can match Gonzaga’s size? If the team across the court is bigger than them, what is their response?
There isn’t much to poke holes through in the Bulldogs’ performance through 10 games, but as a team with eyes on the ultimate prize, there is always room for improvement. And going forward, can they keep their pace of dominance while finding a way to work on what plagued them in that sole stain of their season?
