No. 11 Gonzaga struggles to put away Pacific as Graham Ike sets mark
Graham Ike scored 20 points to break a school record as No. 11 Gonzaga held off pesky Pacific for a 71-62 West Coast Conference victory Saturday night in Spokane, Wash.
Davis Fogle added 18 points off the bench, Emmanuel Innocenti scored 13 and reserve Tyon Grant-Foster had 10 for the Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1).
Ike scored 20 or more points for a ninth consecutive game, eclipsing the mark of eight set by both Adam Morrison and Derek Raivio in 2006.
Justin Rochelin and Elias Ralph scored 12 points apiece for Pacific (17-13, 8-9). TJ Wainwright added 10 while Rochelin grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
Gonzaga shot 42.9% from the field (24 of 56) but committed just four turnovers. Pacific shot 46.9% (23 of 49), but gave the ball away 15 times, leading the Bulldogs to a 14-4 edge in points off turnovers.
Wainwright made 3-pointers for the Tigers' first two baskets of the second half, giving them a 35-31 lead.
Adam Miller's 3-pointer and stepback jumper in the lane put Gonzaga up 36-35.
Wainwright made two free throws after Ike was called for a technical foul after arguing he was infringed upon on the offensive end, as the lead changed hands again.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good as Ike was fouled on a turnaround jumper in the lane with 9:57 remaining. The three-point play made it 50-47.
A 3-pointer by Innocenti and three free throws by Fogle put Gonzaga up 56-49.
Isaac Jack's three-point play with 5:06 pulled Pacific within 59-56, but that was as close as the Tigers would get the rest of the way.
The score was tied at 29-all after a ragged first half.
The Tigers shot 54.5% from the field but committed 11 turnovers. The Bulldogs shot 36.7% and were just 5 of 11 from the free-throw line but turned it over just twice.
A 3-pointer by Rochelin sparked a 10-4 run, which he capped with a layup off an offensive rebound, to give Pacific a 12-6 advantage.
Gonzaga didn't take its first lead until there was 8:54 left in the first half, when Innocenti outmuscled four defenders to grab Ike's miss from the top of the key. Innocenti's putback made it 17-16.
That was part of a 10-2 run for the Bulldogs that gave them a 22-18 lead, their largest of the half.
The Tigers responded with a 9-2 run to go back up, with Jaden Clayton's 3-pointer breaking a 24-all tie.
Gonzaga's Mario Saint-Supery made a driving layup with 29 seconds left that evened the score at 29-29.