Graham Ike is at the forefront of Gonzaga’s offensive woes in UConn’s loss

NEW YORK CITY — Determined to shake off a slow first half against Connecticut, Graham Ike returned to the court at halftime to warm up his shot. The forward picked up a basketball, stood a few feet from the basket and began working through his portfolio of low-post moves.

Short jump hooks. Shock shots. Turnaround sweater. Midtones from the glass.

In no particular order, four consecutive practice shots either hit the front rim, bounced off the back iron, or hit a backboard/rim combination before falling to the ground. A visibly frustrated Ike continued until the Gonzaga players were called back into a huddle at the start of the second half.

The situation did not improve when the active defenders returned to the frame.

Ike traveled on Gonzaga’s first possession after halftime, committed two defensive fouls and then missed a 2-foot throw in the painted area, where he is usually as safe as possible. The striker’s first shift of the second half ended a few minutes later, and perhaps not soon enough.

A dismal night from Ike was far from the only reason Gonzaga struggled to get going on offense in the second half of a 77-71 loss to UConn. He was on the bench when the Zags failed to make a field goal for 3 minutes, 25 seconds to tie the game, scoring just one point in that period – on a free throw from Khalif Battle.

But on a night where the Zags scored a season-low 71 points and made just 39% of their two-point attempts in the second half, it was understandably hard to ignore the three points next to Ike’s name on the final stat sheet .

The player who led Gonzaga in preseason honors and led the Bulldogs in scoring at 15.6 ppg heading into Saturday’s high-profile nonconference test against UConn matched his lowest point total in a Gonzaga uniform and made one of three field throws. He also committed more turnovers (4) and fouls (4) than he had points (3).

Ike also scored three points in a win over UCLA in the Maui Invitational last season, a game in which he finished 0 of 6 from the field in 18 minutes.

“That’s exactly what the game was like, man,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said when asked about Ike’s struggles. “It was a physical, hard-fought game and like I told them at the start, we just have to find guys that can function and recover and find plays and play defense. As we said at the beginning of the year, we have many different answers and many bodies. So you sort of browse through who’s doing plays that night and just go with it.”

The Zags often shuffled and didn’t roll with Ike for long. The starting forward’s 12 minutes were less than half of Braden Huff’s total playing time on a night in which the redshirt sophomore played 28 minutes off the bench and scored eight points with six rebounds.

Ike is still the focus of opposing scouting reports, but he has regressed in several offensive categories since his productive junior season – a season that culminated in the Colorado native reaching double figures in the team’s final 12 games, scoring 20 or more points scored over a seven-game stretch.

Ike averaged 16.5 ppg last season, but that number has dropped to 14.1 ppg since Saturday’s loss.

As a junior, he made 60% of his shots from the field and 78% of his attempts from the free throw line. Both numbers have also declined this season. Ike is currently shooting 52% from the field, converting 72% from the line and averaging just 18.9 minutes per game compared to 24.2 last year – a turnaround largely due to the emergence of Huff is whose consistent performance and efficiency are deserved. The 1.80 meter tall second year needs around five more minutes from the bench per game.

During a media call Friday, UConn coach Dan Hurley said one of the key points in the team’s defensive scouting report was preventing Ike from getting to his right shoulder.

UConn was successful in that regard last year, largely due to the defensive work of Donovan Clingan, a 7-foot-2 “cheat code” – Hurley’s words – who led Ike on 2-of-5 shooting in a 76-yard Game limited to five points. 63 win at Climate Pledge Arena.

“Ike, he’s made some middies and he’s got a little bit of a Zach Randolph-esque offensive game about him,” Hurley said Friday. “He’s evil, he’s tough. Everyone says you can’t let him near your right shoulder, but it’s hard to keep him away from your right shoulder.”

Clingan, now a rookie with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, plays basketball much closer to Gonzaga’s campus than UConn’s, but even without him in the middle of the action, the Huskies were able to limit Ike, who only managed two touches, baskets or assists, while five more ended in missed shots or ball losses.

The Huskies held Ike in check both before and after losing starting center Samson Johnson to a concussion early in the first half.

Tarris Reed Jr. and other UConn players were effective to prevent Ike from getting to his right shoulder and routinely denied contributions to the great man.

Ike attempted at least five shots in 44 previous games at Gonzaga and in 82 consecutive games dating back to his first season at Wyoming, but was limited to just three attempts Saturday, his lowest since a game against him on March 17. February 2021 represents New Mexico.

“I thought they did a pretty good job of pushing him out of his spot,” Hurley said. “I thought we did a good job trying to take away his right shoulder. When he reaches his right shoulder, he is a devastating player that way. Her tandem with Huff and Ike is just so hard to take.”

Apparently not hard enough. Certainly not in two games against the back-to-back national champions.