Shorthanded Gonzaga Holds Off Hot-Shooting USF, 68-66

It always seems to come down to the wire when the Zags face the Dons of USF. Despite the fact that USF hasn’t beaten Gonzaga in Spokane since the 1980s, wins over the Dons neveer seem to come easy, usually decided by single possessions and tight margins in the scoring column. This one was no different, but on the backs of Jalen Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster, and–once again–Davis Fogle, the Zags pulled out a 68-66 win at home. 

San Francisco arrived in Spokane at 13-8, while the No. 8 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs entered at 20-1. The Zags once again took the floor without Graham Ike, out of commission with ankle soreness, or Braden Huff, sidelined four to eight weeks with a knee injury. The game followed a familiar pattern for this matchup, with Gonzaga building separation through defensive pressure and lineup flexibility before San Francisco reeled it back in behind shot-making and composure. With 30 seconds remaining, Gonzaga’s ten point lead had diminished to just two, forcing the outcome to be decided on the final defensive stand. It was an ugly, gutsy, often terrifying win at the Kennel, a performance defined by Gonzaga’s ability to survive a difficult night while short-handed.

First Half

Gonzaga opened the night shorthanded again, playing without Graham Ike and Braden Huff, with the expectation that Ike returns next week against Saint Mary’s. Even with that limitation, the Zags established control early behind a starting group of Emmanuel Innocenti, Braeden Smith, Jalen Warley, Ismaila Diagne, and Adam Miller, leaning on pace, defensive versatility, and constant lineup flexibility.

The Zags built out a 6-0 lead to open the game while San Francisco missed its first six shots. The small-ball Zag defense looked active across the floor, jumping passing lanes with active hands and shrinking driving lanes to force late-clock decisions. That pressure carried into the first wave of substitutions, where Davis Fogle provided an immediate spark with four quick points off the bench, prompting a USF timeout at the 13:30 mark with Gonzaga ahead 10-0.

San Francisco finally broke through when Tyrone Riley buried a corner three, and the Dons began to find a rhythm shortly after. Tyon Grant-Foster responded with six straight points at the rim, pushing the Gonzaga lead back to fourteen, but momentum shifted quickly. A pair of USF threes compressed the margin to three as Gonzaga cycled through smaller lineups and continued searching for rhythm and a hot hand.

Through the turbulence, one throughline held steady. Every unit functioned more cleanly with Jalen Warley directing defensive pressure and tempo. Down the stretch of the first half, Gonzaga once again experimented with a two-guard look featuring Mario Saint-Supery at the two alongside Braeden Smith at the one, a necessity given limited production from Adam Miller and early foul trouble for Steele Venters, whose defensive troubles continue.

San Francisco stayed connected behind a deep Beasley three and a three-shot foul that sent Smiley to the line, trimming the lead to five. With three and a half minutes left, the Dons layered in new defensive looks, testing Gonzaga’s spacing and decision-making, while the Smith–Saint-Supery pairing showed flashes that suggested a group still developing shared timing.

Despite the uneven shooting profile, Gonzaga closed the half with composure. At the two-minute mark, the Zags held a 31-21 edge with zero turnovers and zero made threes. Grant-Foster reached nine points by halftime despite a difficult night at the line, and Warley carried the scoring load with ten of his own, entering the break on 4-for-5 shooting as Gonzaga took a 36-25 lead into halftime.

Second Half

Gonzaga opened the second half leaning even further into small ball, inserting Davis Fogle in place of Ismaila Diagne and playing truly positionless basketball five-out without a true post presence. San Francisco’s three-point shooting kept the Dons within striking distance, while Gonzaga continued to search for any perimeter rhythm of its own. Three minutes into the half, USF already sat at 7-for-14 from deep on the night, a margin that contrasted sharply with Gonzaga’s struggles at the free-throw line and from outside. 

Five minutes in, Braeden Smith finally connected on Gonzaga’s first three of the night to push the lead to 50-36, yet the response was immediate. Ryan Beasley answered, Legend Smiley followed, and the Dons’ shooting surge escalated into something bordering on ridiculous. By the 12:30 mark, USF had climbed to 10-for-17 from three, with Beasley sitting at 4-of-5 from deep while Gonzaga sat at 1-for-10. Two more USF threes soon followed, pushing the Dons to within single digits once again. Interesting to note that Ismaila Diagne would not return for Gonzaga in the second half as Gonzaga stayed committed to speed and spacing, doubling down on the Let Fogle Cook strategy.

More three-point shot-making from San Francisco and a sharp drop in Gonzaga’s ball security kept the Zags from ever settling into a comfortable margin.The game settled into a scrappy, possession-by-possession stretch where offensive flow came hard for both sides. Gonzaga’s control slipped further when turnovers crept in, five in the opening eight minutes of the half after posting zero before the break, many of them unforced and costly.

Production from Steele Venters and Adam Miller remained elusive (neither scored in this one), and Gonzaga responded by toggling lineups, looking for any kind of actionable guard play. A two-point-guard look featured both Mario Saint-Supery and Braeden Smith, before briefly flipping into a no-point-guard alignment with both on the bench and Jalen Warley serving as the squad’s primary ballhandler. At that stage, Gonzaga sat at 2-for-17 from three and just 52 percent at the line, numbers that left little margin for error.

Free throws from Junjie Wang pulled USF within three with five minutes left, but Gonzaga pushed the lead back to six with 3:30 remaining. Fogle split a pair at the line with 2:30 left to make it a seven point lead, and then Grant-Foster delivered the biggest shot of the night, drilling a corner three to stretch the lead to ten.

San Francisco refused to fade. In under a minute, the Dons carved the margin back to five, with Smiley hitting yet another three, his fifth of the night. A Masic triple cut it to two, and a baseline turnover by Saint-Supery added to a second-half total of seven giveaways. After a timeout with 27 seconds left and Gonzaga clinging to a two-point edge, the Zags came up with a critical defensive stand, choosing discipline over fouling. Wang got a clean look at a three for the win, but it went way wide, not even close, sealing a hard-earned Gonzaga escape after a second half defined by volatility and resilience.

Final Thoughts:

Once again, Gonzaga navigated a night without Graham Ike and Braden Huff, and once again the result reflected a team still learning how to exist without its two central pillars. The rotations stayed fluid throughout, lineups flashed and then faded, stretches of care with the ball gave way to careless ones, and rebounding ebbed after early stability. San Francisco remained composed through all of it, playing physical, staying connected, and repeatedly stepping into big shots without hesitation.

The margin reflected that tension. Gonzaga finished 3-for-18 from three and 11-for-22 at the line, lost the rebounding battle 41–37, and generated only 10 assists on 27 made field goals. In the second half, even the backup center never re-entered as Gonzaga leaned fully into speed and improvisation. None of it resembled a clean performance, and very little came easily down the stretch.

And yet, the Zags still found a way. They beat a very solid San Francisco team while short-handed, while searching for functional lineups on the fly, while the Dons shot lights-out from deep, and while nearly every statistical category leaned the wrong direction. The game came down to a single possession, demanded discipline on the final defensive stand, and asked Gonzaga to survive rather than dictate.

There’s plenty to be alarmed at within the box score (Venters, Miller, and Diagne combine for zero points on 0-of-5 shooting from the field, two rebounds, no blocks, no steals, and no assists in their 37 minutes of action). But there’s also plenty to be encouraged by, including a 15-point, nine rebound performance from Gonzaga’s freshman phenom, Davis Fogle; 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from Jalen Warley; 11 steals to just seven turnovers committed, and holding USF to just 40% from the field. 

It was a gutsy win. Rarely pretty, occasionally thrilling, often frustrating, and ultimately earned through persistence more than polish.

Saint Mary’s waits next, and whatever form Gonzaga carries into that matchup, one thing is extremely true: the new-look Zags have become the most difficult team to prepare for in all of college basketball. Even with a week’s worth of tape, the version you prepare for may never fully arrive.