Gonzaga’s home opener against the New Mexico State Aggies came live from the McCarthy Athletic Center, and for all but two guys on the roster, this was the first time playing in front of one of the most terrifying student sections in college basketball. It was never supposed to be close, and it wasn’t, ultimately, but it was closer than it should have been for longer than it should have been. The Zags played without Izan Almansa, who was nursing a lower leg injury, and the absence gave fans a 40-minute
look at what this team would be without him: not terrible, but clearly missing something vital in the interior. They’re also still without 6-foot-11 three-point specialist Chauncey Wiggins, whose eligibility requests have now been bounced from two different circuit courts and who entered his name into a third in Spokane County last week (the same court that granted Tyon Grant-Foster’s eligibility in the nick of time last season).
High profile five-star recruit Jalen Davis was in attendance and the Zags put on an absolute show for the long-time target out of Bremerton, WA. It was exactly the kind of game that looks like it was fun to play, alongside high-IQ bucket-getters playing within a crisp, efficient offensive scheme. If I were Jalen Davis, coming to Gonzaga to play that kind of basketball in front of that kind of crowd would be a no-brainer.
Davis Fogle remains Davis Fogle, finishing tied for a team high with 22 pionts alongside Isiah Harwell. The Huff-Diop frontcourt pairing has entered the “getting there” stage of the early season, with plenty to be excited about and a few things to keep an eye on. Xaivian Lee didn’t chip in much in terms of points, but distributed at an extremely high clip and also took spectacular care of the basketball throughout. With the exception of Carter Nilson, every Zag on the roster got minutes against New Mexico State, including Alonzo Metz, who somehow left with the game’s highlight despite going 0-for-2 from the field in garbage time. The dude might end up on SportsCenter just for smiling.
First Half
Gonzaga opened with its usual starting lineup of Massamba Diop, Braden Huff, Davis Fogle, Isiah Harwell, and Xaivian Lee, and although they eventually took a slight edge into the locker room for halftime, nothing about the first half felt comfortable. That’s not to say the Zags played particularly horribly, but New Mexico State came in with a sharp offensive gameplan, intense physicality inside, and moved the ball with patience and purpose, hitting the right shots at the right times. On the other end, their perimeter defense spread the Zags offense out and forced them to be opportunistic on the fly (to mixed results). The Aggies have a Santa Clara feel to them: super tough on the offensive glass, and super disciplined in getting their bigs into the right spots. Coach Jason Hooten is a very gifted X’s and O’s guy who came in with a solid first half gameplan, credit where it’s due.
But it wasn’t enough.The Zags shot 7-for-13 from three in the first half, but they also got outrebounded 16-10, and without Almansa the interior was soft against New Mexico State’s bruising frontcourt. Huff eventually had to take a breather which moved Fogle to the four and the small-ball lineup with Diop as the lone big never found its footing. Rebounding was inconsistent, rotations were a half-step slow on every interior switch, and the Aggies kept finding cracks, getting rebounds, and finding ways to score. 6-foot-8 Mark Lavrenov bullied Diop throughout the half with polished footwork and physicality. It’s hard to imagine the Aggies’ big man won’t land somewhere high profile next year.
Fogle finished the half with 16 points and 4 assists while Harwell pushed the pace early and looked eager to cook, maybe too eager at times, getting loose in transition instead of letting the offense set. But he’s a major hustle guy who’s not afraid to hit the deck and the Zags are extremely lucky to have him. Xaivian Lee was quiet in the scoring column but kept distributing and moving the ball smoothly. Javon Bennett gave the Zags a lift off the bench, including a turnaround to close the half, after De Sousa’s minutes got cut short by his foul-prone defensive intensity.
The first half revealed that Gonzaga hasn’t figured out how to run an offense yet with just one big. Without Almansa off the bench to stabilize the interior, the Aggies found every gap.
Second Half
In the postgame words of Isiah Harwell, the Zags “came out blasting” to start the second. Harwell hit a beautiful catch-and-shoot three on the first possession of the second half, Xaivian Lee got to the rim for two on the following, and suddenly the Zags were up double digits. Harwell got to double figures two and a half minutes in and kept going, eventually finishing tied with Fogle for a team high 22 points.
Early in the half Fogle came down awkwardly and briefly went to the locker room to get stretched out. He didn’t score again until the 11-minute mark when a free throw got him to 20. While he was out the pick and roll from De Sousa to Huff looked extremely smooth as Huff continues to get his feel back for the interior offense. Meanwhile, the game became about perimeter defense into transition, quick reset to Huff on the pick and roll, and a kickout to Fogle as the release valve with a green light from everywhere. Diop picked up his fourth on two calls that looked like clean blocks and went to the bench.
Harwell finished with 22 and looked like a dude Houston is sad to now be without, a rare mix of high motor, high IQ, and physicality that gets dangerous when he’s playing with confidence. The Aggies went scoreless from the field for over ten minutes to close out the half, which I have to believe is a program record. With five minutes left and the lead at 23, the reserves came in and did precisely what we’ve been hoping they would. Luca Foster and Juwan Ekanga immediately hit back-to-back threes and finally got the welcome they deserve the Kennel Club. And then, with two minutes left, this year’s fan-favorite garbage time superstar Alonzo Metz checked in to the most raucous applause of the night, and immediately took a tooth-cracking elbow to the face in the key. That’s not hyperbole; his tooth literally cracked in half, fell out, and he still finished the game with a smile on his face. He actually looked psyched, and it will remain one of the tone-setting moments for this season. That’s how much it means to play for this team.
Zags finish with 109, Aggies with 68.
The Good
Defense to Offense: The Aggies went scoreless from the field for nearly 11 minutes to close the game, completely unable to get the ball inside past Gonzaga’s longer, more athletic guards. Everyone had a nose for the ball, and the perimeter combination of Harwell, Lee, and Fogle can be lethal when opposing teams get lazy with their passing. The Zags finished with 36 points off 19 forced turnovers and 20 fast-break points. The offense was blazing, but especially in the second half it was the defense that put them in position to capitalize.
Versatility in Scoring: The scoring came from the right places. Huff finished with 20, all from inside, and looked much more comfortable than he did against Purdue. The shots that rimmed out in the opener just went in this time. Harwell and Fogle both finished with 22, and the three of them combined to go 25-for-36 from the field. Seventy percent. And when those three are all cooking and the Zags can still bring Javon Bennett off the bench to drop 13 on 4-for-6 shooting, there isn’t a defense in the country that can cover every spot at once. It was a complete, versatile, unanswerable offensive night.
Is the 3pt Nightmare Over: This team can actually shoot from outside. The Zags finished 13-for-24 from three, a ridiculous 54 percent, and they weren’t contested heaves or prayer balls. They were the right looks in the right spots. Fogle, Harwell, and Bennett combined for 9-of-15 from deep, but Diop, Foster, and Ekanga chipped in too. After two consecutive years of poor perimeter shooting, it’s tempting to wonder if this is the season Few’s team finally figures it out. It’s still early. But the Zags set the nets on fire against the Aggies without Izan Almansa and without Chauncey Wiggins, and what those two could eventually add to a night like this is a mouthwatering prospect for Zag fans.
The Weird
There’s not a lot of bad to write about that hasn’t already been covered, but the box score has some strange lines in it. Braden Huff finished with 20 points and zero rebounds. Zero. It’s hard to even explain how a dude who lives in the paint, scores 20 inside, and doesn’t grab a single board, even by accident. Meanwhile, Nathan De Sousa fouled out in 12 minutes from the point guard spot, against guards who didn’t require that level of physicality to contain. His performances have been uneven through two games, but his defensive presence is obvious when he’s on the floor, and that’s going to be his calling card when Lee slides to the two and the Zags need someone to contain opposing ballhandlers. He just has to stay on the floor long enough for it to count.
Xavian Lee also finished with six points on 1-for-5 shooting after dropping 18 in his debut against Purdue. On paper, that’s a rough night for the Zags’ new point guard, until you see the 10 assists and 1 turnover. You’ll take double-digit assists from your point guard on any night, even when his shot isn’t falling. Through two games Lee is sitting at a 13-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio in just under 30 minutes a night. The Zags got the right guy, and they’ll get a chance to prove it against LSU on Saturday.
Final Thoughts
A good, exciting win with a lot to be extremely excited about. Through two games the Zags look like they’re establishing their identity for the 2026-27 season: extremely good defensive guard play, runouts in transition, high percentage shots around the rim from one of the most efficient big-men in all of college basketball, and a flurry of buckets from Fogle, a dude who will soon be on every player-of-the-year watchlist once the rest of the world catches up.
That was a fun one, folks. On to the Tigers of LSU on Saturday.
