Buzzer glitch: Khalif Battle’s early ejection sparks debate over Gonzaga’s loss to UCLA

Here are three observations about No. 14 Gonzaga’s 65-62 loss to No. 22 UCLA on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.

Down to the wire…again

Aside from Gonzaga’s 83-63 win over UCLA during nonconference play in 2021-22, every meeting between the schools ended in entertaining fashion.

It is not surprising that Friday’s game was also convincing in this respect.

The teams, whose last two games were decided by a total of seven points, were tied at 58 within the final two minutes at the Intuit Dome.

UCLA’s Sebastian Mack missed two free throws and Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead with a mid-range shot, but the Bruins retook the lead when Mack converted a layup while also drawing a foul on Emmanuel Innocenti.

The Bruins had a three-point lead in the final 20 seconds, but Nembhard drove to the basket and converted while drawing a foul on Mack.

With a chance to tie the game at the line, Nembhard missed his free throw short and UCLA’s Skyy Clark gave the Bruins a three-point lead with free throws at the other end.

With about three seconds left on the shot clock, Nembhard took off and missed a half-court shot, sealing the 65-62 win for UCLA.

Ike sets up a 24-point win

Graham Ike has been Gonzaga’s solution almost every time the Bulldogs have found themselves in an offensive crisis.

There were a handful of those on both teams, and Ike was the most productive player on the field, scoring 24 points on 11 of 16 shots from the field.

Ike still had half of GU’s total points with less than 9 minutes remaining in the game – not unlike last season’s game between the same teams at the Maui Invitational, when Zags forward Anton Watson scored 32 of the team’s 69 points in one Victory in a close duel.

Ike, who had three straight 20-point games since scoring three points in the loss to Connecticut, also had eight rebounds.

Combat ejection sparks debate

Fans had a lot to say about Flagrant 2’s foul on Khalif Battle, which sent Gonzaga’s starting guard to the locker room for the rest of the game.

With 4:13 left in the first half, Battle bit on a pump fake from Eric Dailey Jr. while blocking the UCLA player’s shot from under the rim. As he fell onto the court, Battle grabbed Dailey by the neck and pulled the guard to the ground with him.

Battle’s foul was initially ruled a Flagrant 1, but after a video review, the officiating team upgraded it to a Flagrant 2 and disqualified the Gonzaga guard for the remainder of the game.

Michael Ajayi was whistled for Gonzaga’s second flagrant foul, a flagrant 1, after throwing an elbow at the offensive end of the court early in the second half. Both Dailey and Nembhard were whistled for technical fouls after an altercation broke out just minutes later.