Remember when this program started the 2025-26 season ranked just No. 21 in the Associated Press poll?<\/p>\n
Despite being embarrassed by the Michigan Wolverines in the Players Era Festival championship game, the now No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs still have a national championship ceiling. Here are a few reasons as to how this group, with a current 14-1 overall record, has gotten to this point at the near halfway mark.<\/p>\n
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Statement Against Elite Non-Conference Opponents<\/p>\n
The 2025-26 non-conference slate of Power Conference opponents was possibly the toughest schedule that the Zags have ever faced.<\/p>\n
Eight wins over said Power Conference programs are a school record (3-0 vs. SEC, 3-1 vs. Big Ten Conference, 1-0 vs. Big East Conference, 1-0 vs. Big 12 Conference). Four wins vs. Associated Press Top 25 opponents match the most under coach Mark Few.<\/p>\n
Enough said.<\/p>\n
Ike\u2019s National Player of the Year Candidacy, Huff\u2019s Continued Dominant Stretch in Low Post<\/p>\n
It\u2019s falling off a bit as of late, but graduate forward Graham Ike is still the big man on campus in Spokane and the major reason why this team has found early success. The double-double machine is No. 6 in that category amongst the nation\u2019s best, with eight and counting already.<\/p>\n
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As for the redshirt junior forward in the frontcourt, no one can seem to stop Braden Huff with his back to the basket and patented footwork when trying to get to the rim. What makes the leftie so special is his efficiency and consistency, scoring a team-leading 18.1 points per game on a 66.9 field goal percentage (sixth-highest in college basketball).<\/p>\n
The pair of Ike and Huff has made for a dangerous duo down low and will continue to into March.<\/p>\n
Saint-Supery\u2019s Immediate Emergence, Smith\u2019s Stability<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a nice problem to have when you have two ultra-talented lead guards fighting for the starting spot. Redshirt junior guard Braeden Smith holds the seventh-best assist\/turnover ratio (4.79) in all the land. Spaniard freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery has had a seamless transition to competing in the States and is gaining traction across various national media outlets as a potential late second-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft this summer.<\/p>\n
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Because of these two ball-handlers\u2019 ability to control the floor and take care of the rock, Gonzaga ranks as the No. 9 program in assists per game (20.1) and No. 41 after only turning it over 10.1 times per game.<\/p>\n
Depth Throughout Roster<\/p>\n
Few hasn\u2019t been afraid to use a deeper rotation this season, resulting in six different starting lineups through the first 15 games in 2025. Nine different players are playing 17+ minutes per game this year.<\/p>\n
The bench production out on the wing from graduate Tyon Grant-Foster, graduate Steele Venters, and senior Jalen Warley are who stand out the most. As a whole, the Zags\u2019 second unit scores 36.1 points per game (ranks No. 20 in the NCAA) and is a major reason that the margin of victory (24.6) is the best of the Few era.<\/p>\n
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Not Just an Offensive Juggernaut, Defensive Too<\/p>\n
Everyone knows that the Zags were going to fill it up on the offensive end, scoring 91.7 points per game, which is near the top-10 at No. 12.<\/p>\n
Gonzaga shocked everyone with their immediate ability to play both sides of the ball at a high level. The Zags are known for their high-scoring outputs, but now display a top-tier defense, especially out on the perimeter with their length and versatility.<\/p>\n
The 2025-26 group has caused discomfort for their opponents after allowing just a 27.9 three-point percentage (No. 19 in the country) and 38.7 field goal percentage (No. 23 in the country), forcing 15.1 turnovers per game (No. 42 in the country), and just 66.6 points per game (No. 48 in the country) through the first 15 games of the season.<\/p>\n
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The bigs of Ike and Huff (along with the rest of their teammates) are also securing possessions off the glass and not giving up second-chance opportunities with their 43.4 rebounds per game. That places them in the top-10 at No. 9.<\/p>\n
Sneaking up Three-Point Ranks<\/p>\n
This was thought to be Gonzaga\u2019s weakest link during the offseason, but it has shot up into the top-50 at No. 49 after hitting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. Over the last seven games, the Zags have made 58-for-126 (46.0 percent) of their looks from deep.<\/p>\n
Happy New Year!<\/p>\n
Arden Cravalho\u00a0is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area\u2026 Follow him on X @a_cravalho<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Remember when this program started the 2025-26 season ranked just No. 21 in the Associated Press poll? Despite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3723],"tags":[53408,7,3474,47281,217,4250,6635,1043,231,772,1544,4485,49706,15428],"class_list":{"0":"post-509054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-associated-press-poll","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-big-ten-conference","11":"tag-braden-huff","12":"tag-college-basketball","13":"tag-gonzaga-bulldogs","14":"tag-graham-ike","15":"tag-michigan-wolverines","16":"tag-ncaa","17":"tag-ncaa-basketball","18":"tag-ncaab","19":"tag-points-per-game","20":"tag-steele-venters","21":"tag-zags"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115817825434789879","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}