Gonzaga defeated Bucknell 86-65 in its second straight home game of winter break, securing back-to-back wins following recent losses to Kentucky and UConn.

Graham Ike had the best performance on Saturday night, leading the team with 25 points and 10 rebounds, all in just 20 minutes on the court. His efficient 11-for-15 shooting against 7-foot Bucknell center Noah Williamson was the main reason the No. 13 Zags (9-3) held a comfortable lead for most of the contest. Williamson led the Bison with 16 points.

“Really just on offense, I take what the defense gives me and then just be alert on defense and try to stay one step ahead,” Ike said of his approach to the game.

Ike got things started for the Zags, scoring the team’s first nine points, including a three-pointer, before being substituted after the first five minutes.

The first part of the game saw several back-and-forth battles between both teams. First GU led 9-3, then Bucknell stormed back with a 9-0 run. The two teams exchanged a basket each before a 14-5 GU run left the Bison in the dust.

The first non-Ike basket came at 7:29, when Ben Gregg hit a 3-pointer. He followed with another three-pointer about a minute later, giving GU a 15-14 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

“I’ve never seen this before where they’re just not guarding two guys and just standing in between and basically being more than happy to let their 4 men shoot 3s,” GU head coach Mark Few said of Bucknell’s defense against GU’s forwards . “People like to screw things up and try everything against us and it takes a while to find your rhythm and feel, and especially when the first try doesn’t go in.”

GU’s guards got off to a slow start as Khalif Battle, Dusty Stromer and Nolan Hickman combined to shoot 1-for-6 from the field in the first half. Ryan Nembhard was the only player in the backcourt to score multiple baskets in the first 20 minutes, going 3 for 5 from the field, but maintaining an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1 with two assists and two turnovers.

Nembhard’s two turnovers paled in comparison to the 19 turnovers the Zags’ tight defense forced and which they turned into 24 points on the other side. Nembhard himself grabbed four of GU’s eleven steals. A few missed opportunities for praise for Battle kept the Kennel relatively quiet, especially without all the commotion coming from the student section.

Although the Bulldogs lost the battle on the glass in the first half, their efforts in the second half gave them a 41-34 overall lead. Nembhard had the second-most rebounds in the game with six.

The Zags struggled to pick up the tempo, scoring just eight fast break points after scoring 21 points against Nicholls State. Bucknell’s defense slowed the game to a half-court battle.

GU adjusted and focused on three-pointers and post-ups, which paid off as the game progressed. Ike, Gregg, Michael Ajayi and Braden Huff combined for 38 shot attempts, 14 of which came from long range. Gregg made seven attempts, making the second-most three-pointers behind Nolan Hickman, who shot 4 of 8 from deep.

Hickman was the only Bulldog to record a 50% 3-point percentage on more than two attempts after going 3-for-4 from distance against the Colonels.

A 16-6 GU run midway through the second half sealed the victory. Ike, Gregg and Huff scored the first 13 points of the run, followed by a Hickman 3-pointer that sent much of the starting lineup to the bench.

The next game for GU is a crucial one: a showdown against No. 18 UCLA at the Intuit Dome on Dec. 28. The Bulldogs then travel to Malibu to face Pepperdine on December 30th, marking their first West Coast Conference game.