The crowd looked pretty healthy for the must-watch, high-level matchup of Day 1 at the Players Era Festival. You could hear the fans of the No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs (6-0) throughout the MGM Grand Garden
Arena that made the trip to everyone’s favorite destination of Las Vegas. A special thanks to the ‘finger guns’ guy for bringing that energy and a meme that will live in meme lore forever.
Coach Nate Oats and the No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-2) came into this matchup with already owning standout victories over then No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini and No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm, and its lone defeat came by a two-point margin to the top-ranked Purdue Boilermakers. They were already battle-tested but tonight was their toughest test against arguably the deepest and most gifted team in America to this point in the early 2025-26 season.
The Zags started this one slow offensively, but as the first half went on, coach Mark Few’s first unit picked it up for the final five minutes. Graduate student forward Graham Ike appeared to have finally settled in after missing his first six attempts from the field. He would go on to finish with his already fourth double-double on the season with 21 points on 8-for-19 field goals, 11 rebounds, and three assists.
The big man truly is one of the best players in the pivot around college basketball, with all those years under his belt coming into full fruition. Great things happen on the offensive end when he and his frontcourt counterpart, redshirt junior forward Braden Huff (19 points on 9-for-12 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists, one block, a steal), just touch the ball on any given possession. That duo has been unanswered by almost everyone inside the paint, feeding off each other’s infectious energy, high IQ, and passing ability.
What was most impressive about Gonzaga in this NCAA Tournament resume-stamping type of win? Their relentless effort on the offensive glass from the entire offense, not giving up after misses, and fighting for loose balls. Looking at the box score, the eye-popping stat is the Zag’s 17 offensive rebounds. That led to a 25-10 advantage in second-chance points over the Crimson Tide.
As for Alabama, the announcement of graduate student guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (minor right leg injury) being out for the whole tournament was a major loss and reason for Gonzaga’s success in the rebounding department (48-36 in total rebounding). A major loss for Oats as Wrightsell Jr. was the longest-tenured player in Tuscallosa on his roster.
Graduate student wing Tyon Grant-Foster (Zags’career-high 21 points on 9-for-16 field goal shooting, seven assists, two blocks, a steal) continues to get better and better with the more time he’s been around the rest of the guys. He has great ball instincts as an unnderrated defender in the national scene, agility is off the charts, and the killer instinct to score. Grant-Foster seems to be comfortable now in Few’s system, as seen with him just having fun out there and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Yes, at times he can play out of control and needs to work on the shot selection. That’s not a worriesome problem at this point in time with how quickly and well he’s adjusted to the program in such a short time.
A much more glaring issue that is quite noticeable is the continued missed three-point looks. The opportunities were there for the taking for Gonzaga, just not dropping and on the wide open attempts (6-for-22 from beyond the arc, 22.3 percent). This has been the storyline of this team’s biggest weakness throughout the early going.
Having graudate student wing Steele Venters see the ball go through the basket like he did against the Crimson Tide (12 points on 4-for-8 three-point shooting) is a step in the right direction for Few’s directory of talent reaching their true ceiling. What a moment for the sharpshooter from Ellensburg, Washington, who is coming off consecutive missed season (torn ACL in 2023-24 and Achillies injury in 2024-25).
Alabama is a special offensive group that loves playing in Oat’s run-and-gun style and fast pace. It just so happened that everyone, outside of a career-high 29-point performance on 11-for-18 field goals, to go along with seven assists/six turnovers and two steals, from sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr., couldn’t step up. The shifty ball-handler has copious moves in his bag and will command the attention of every opponent he comes across. Wouldn’t be suprised if he leads the country in scoring when it’s all said and done.
He was virtually impossible to defend throughout, but the Zags were fine with him playing one-on-one throughout. They would eventually lock in on that side of the floor when it came to crunch time, pulling out the defensive zone late in the second half and competing with discipline. The conditioning over the summer/fall is looking to pay off with the Crimson Tide tiring out at the end.
Through Gonzaga’s undefeated start, they have been outstanding defensively, shown off the depth, and consist of veteran leadership. Those are the three characteristics that are needed for any championship team.
They have the size advantage, athleticism, length, and one of most intelligient and experience lead guards at just 19-years-old in freshman Mario Saint Supery (10 points on 10-for-11 free throws, six assists/three turnovers, five rebounds, one steal) in his second straight start at the one spot over redshirt junior Braeden Smith. It’s a stunning thing to watch the Spaniard glide across the floor with such grace when leading the fastbreak and fight his way to the rim with such craftiness and charisma.
What’s crazy to think is that none of the Zag’s six victories have been fewer than 10 points. Gonzaga put the world on notice against Alabama, but the job is far from done in Sin City with the Maryland Terrapins next on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena once again at 6:30 p.m. PT on truTV.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
