Gonzaga took the floor without its top scorer and rebounder Sunday night against North Florida.
Coming off a 28-point outing against No. 18 Kentucky on Friday against Nashville, Graham Ike was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Ospreys with left ankle soreness, a school official confirmed to The Spokesman-Review roughly an hour before tipoff.
Ike initially tweaked his ankle during Gonzaga’s trip to the Players Era Festival, but didn’t miss any time against Alabama, Maryland and Michigan. Following a nine-day break, the preseason All-American third team selection started and played 30 minutes on Friday against Kentucky, leading the Zags with 28 points and 10 rebounds in a 94-59 rout.
“He tweaked that ankle I think at the end of the Maryland game, so that was bothering him,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “It bothered him kind of all week, and he kind of got it right for Kentucky. But then him and (Otega) Oweh kind of collided there in the second half and he kind of tweaked it again. He’ll be fine.”
Ike’s 28 points tied his Gonzaga-high, set last year in a 90-89 overtime loss to the same Kentucky team, as the forward finished 11 of 18 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
Ike wasn’t wearing an ankle brace or boot when he took the floor with teammates in a team-issued sweatsuit and players/coaches didn’t seem concerned he’d be in jeopardy of missing Saturday’s nonconference clash with UCLA at Climate Pledge Arena.
“He’s a machine. We’ve known that,” said frontcourt mate Braden Huff, who led the Ike-less Zags with 24 points in a 109-58 win over North Florida. “I think he’s been dealing with that since Alabama, so he’s been going through it and dealing with that ankle injury. But he’s a warrior, he’s a trooper. That game was ridiculous if he wasn’t injured. The fact his ankle’s been bothering him, you couldn’t tell. Glad he was able to get some rest tonight, and hopefully he’ll be ready to go Saturday.”
After Friday’s win in Nashville, Ike took over the team lead in scoring average from Huff, and is now averaging 16.4 points per game to go with a team-leading 8.1 rebounds.
Without Ike available, Gonzaga used its fifth different starting lineup Sunday, rolling out a five-man unit that included Mario Saint-Supery, Emmanuel Innocenti, Steele Venters, Jalen Warley and Huff. Warley, who’s been playing a small-ball “4” role for the Zags when one of either Huff or Ike is on the floor, made his first start of the season on Sunday.
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