Gonzaga’s streak of season-opening wins never seemed to be in real jeopardy Monday night, even if it did take the Zags slightly longer than expected to shake off cobwebs and dial in their outside shooting.
The Zags still haven’t lost a home opener under 27th-year coach Mark Few and extended their streak of victories in all openers to 22 with a dominant 98-43 win over Texas Southern at McCarthey Athletic Center.
It was a choppy start for the hosts, who came in favored by 29½ points against a Texas Southern team picked to finish fifth in a preseason SWAC poll.
The Zags missed their first six shots, including three close-range tries from prolific senior post Graham Ike, who also missed a 3-pointer inside the opening minutes. The Tigers capitalized on the cold stretch, taking a 7-2 lead on Jaylen Wysinger’s 3-pointer and holding the advantage through the first media timeout.
That’s about when Gonzaga started to surge, playing through newly-eligible wing Tyon Grant-Foster, feeding veteran posts Ike and Braden Huff, and applying defensive pressure that forced Texas Southern to cough the ball up 17 times throughout the game.
Grant-Foster was a somewhat surprising addition to Gonzaga’s starting lineup, getting the nod just seven days after a Spokane County Judge granted the transfer a preliminary injunction that cleared him to suit up for the Zags.
The former Grand Canyon standout and Western Athletic Defensive Player of the Year didn’t need much time to settle in, pacing the Zags with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting with five rebounds.
Ike was able to shake off four missed shots in the opening minutes to post a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, making five of his final seven shots to finish 5 of 11 on the night.
Arizona State transfer Adam Miller scored 13 points in his Gonzaga debut, making 5 of 8 from the field and pacing the Zags from the 3-point line, where he finished 3 of 5. Huff had 14 points and five rebounds and Jalen Warley came up with a number of key plays on the defensive end, finishing with four steals to go with eight points and four rebounds. Also making his Gonzaga debut, and playing in his first college basketball game since March 14, 2023, wing Steele Venters added six points off the bench.
Gonzaga forward Emmanuel Innocenti (5) and forward Graham Ike (15) react to Gonzaga guard Davis Fogle (4) scoring his first point of the night during the second half of a NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
Playing without top returner Zaire Hayes, a double-digit scorer from a year ago, Texas Southern had trouble keeping up with Gonzaga after the opening media timeout.
The Zags piled up big advantages on the glass (56-27), bench points (48-22) and points in the paint (56-22), to name just a few.
First half
17:34 – TSU 4, GU 2: Zags miss their first five shots and TSU capitalizes with a pair of layups. Ike is 0 of 3 on layup attempts, but a pair of Huff free throws are the first points for GU this season.
16:00 – TSU 7, GU 5: Bulldogs shoot 1 of 8 from the field with two turnovers during a choppy start, but an Innocenti 3 trims the Tigers’ lead.
14:43 – GU 8, TSU 7: GU takes its first lead on Grant-Foster’s traditional three-point play, his first points as a Zag, after a Huff block on the other end. Bulldogs are on a 6-0 run, but shooting 2 of 10 from the floor.
11:51 – GU 13, TSU 12: TSU’s Posey throws down a putback dunk over two defenders to cut the Zags’ lead. GU went up after Arizona State transfer guard Adam Miller scored five straight points, a 3 and a putback layup. Zags are 4 of 16 from the field.
9:26 – GU 19, TSU 15: Ike hits back-to-back layups and the Zags are finding a little rhythm after a slow start. Tigers struggling to get good shots off, shooting 6 of 20 from the floor. Nine Zags players have already seen action. Miller, Steele Venters, Mario Saint-Supery and Jalen Warley made their GU debuts.
6:41 – GU 26, TSU 20: Zags had a game-high seven-point lead after Huff’s backdown layup, but TSU’s Wysinger answered with a 3 before a driving layup by Venters, his first points as a Zag. GU shooting 8 of 23 from the field and 2 of 12 from deep. Grant-Foster, whose eligibility had been in question this offseason, is looking impressive for Gonzaga with a team-high seven points and three rebounds.
26-20 edge for #Gonzaga at the 6:39 mark. Tyon Grant-Foster (7 pts.) just came out of the game, motioning with both arms to the Kennel Club as he went to the bench. Steele Venters followed with his first points in a GU uniform.
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
3:28 – GU 37, TSU 27: Zag offense starting to find its rhythm, playing fast and sharing the ball. A 9-0 GU run over 2 minutes puts Gonzaga up by double digits. Huff had a stellar, spinning layup during the spurt. He’s up to a game-high eight points.
Braden Huff just went coast to coast, spun to the hoop, laid it in and gave the Drew Timme finger twirl. Last handful of possessions have looked a little better for Zags.
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
2:12 – GU 43, TSU 27: Bulldogs starting to pull away. They’ve forced three turnovers in the last 1:26 and have hit 6 of their last 8 shots from the floor. Warley grabbed a steal in the backcourt and threw down a two-handed dunk during a 6-0 run.
Halftime
After an uneven start, the Zags found their footing late in the half and built a 46-27 lead at the break.
Gonzaga forced five TSU turnovers over the final 3:34 and closed the half on a 20-5 run. The Bulldogs had an inefficient shooting start, but got hot as the half went on and head into the locker room shooting 15 of 35 (42.9%) from the field and 13 of 15 (86.7%) from the foul line, but just 3 of 14 (21.4%) from 3-point range.
Huff leads all players with eight points. Grant-Foster and Ike have seven apiece. Ike has a game-high eight rebounds already as the Zags are outrebounding the Tigers 28-14. GU has 17 points on 12 offensive rebounds.
Venters (six points), Saint-Supery (six), Miller (five) and Warley (two) have all scored in their GU debuts.
Halftime: No. 21 #Gonzaga 46, #TSU 27
Zags could have seven or eight double-digit scorers by the end of this one. Most notable may be the PG minutes. Mario Saint-Supery played 10 and closed the half, Braeden Smith played just 9. pic.twitter.com/WGDOATGCNp
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
Second half
15:57 – GU 56, TSU 31: Ike opened the half with a dunk and Huff added a floater and a turnaround layup. But Huff was called for a technical, apparently for complaining about no foul call on his turnaround. Ike already has a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
11:55 – GU 66, TSU 33: Zags are on a 12-2 run over the last 4 minutes. Grant-Foster had a driving layup and a dunk, Ike added an alley-oop dunk and Smith scored his first points in a GU uniform on a 3-pointer. Bulldogs are 8 of 12 shooting in the second half.
8:21 – GU 74, TSU 37: Grant-Foster continues to impress in his GU debut. He’s got a game-high 15 points after another driving layup. Four-star freshman guard Davis Fogle is getting his first collegiate minutes. Zags are shooting 66.7% in the second half and holding the Tigers to 26.7%.
5:23 – GU 84, TSU 37: Tigers haven’t scored in nearly 4 minutes. Miller hit back-to-back 3s to get into double figures. He’s got 13 points (3 of 5 from deep). Fogle scored his first collegiate points on a layup.
3:28 – GU 90, TSU 41: Zags are resting their established standouts and giving bench players minutes. Fourteen players have seen the floor for Gonzaga. Senior Rathdrum product Noah Haaland is in. Ike and Huff are resting. Ike had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Huff totaled 14 points and five boards. Gonzaga shooting 67.9% from the field in the second. TSU is 5 of 24 in the period.
0:00 – GU 98, TSU 43: Gonzaga separated late in the first half and cruised during an efficient second half, outscoring the Tigers 52-16 after halftime. Grant-Foster led all players with 15 points in his GU debut.
Starting fives
Gonzaga: Braeden Smith, Tyon Grant-Foster, Emmanuel Innocenti, Graham Ike, Braden Huff.
Texas Southern: Jaylen Wysinger, Zytarious Mortle, Kolby Granger, Duane Posey, Jordan Gorecki.
Few said in post-game press conference that Adam Miller was supposed to start, but an assistant coach accidentally put Tyon Grant-Foster’s name in the scorebook as a starter. First time that’s happened in Few’s time at GU (36-plus years)
Miller did start the second half
— Jim Meehan (@SRJimm) November 4, 2025
Pregame
Gonzaga basketball is back, and there are plenty of storylines to watch in the Bulldogs’ opener.
Fans will want to get a look at the prominence of the Graham Ike-Braden Huff frontcourt duo. Zag supporters are surely eager to see Steele Venters’ return to the court after injuries kept him sidelined for the entirety of the past two seasons. There are also intriguing newcomers to keep an eye on – point guard Braeden Smith, Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster, Virginia transfer Jalen Warley, Arizona State transfer Adam Miller and others will make their GU debuts.
The 21st-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs open their season hosting the Texas Southern Tigers at McCarthey Athletic Center at 6 p.m. The game will air live on KHQ.
The Bulldogs are 29½-point favorites over the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Tigers, according to Vegas Insider. GU has won 21 consecutive season openers dating back to 2003, and 35 straight home openers.
Gonzaga is coming off a 26-9 season. The eighth-seeded Zags exited in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a close loss to No. 1 seed Houston. The Bulldogs didn’t bring back a ton of players from that squad, but Ike and Huff are veterans, and the team returns some GU experience in wing Emmanuel Innocenti and backup center Ismaila Diagne.
The Tigers went 15-17 overall and 12-6 in SWAC play last season. They are led by senior guard Zaire Hayes, who averaged 10.4 points last year on 46.8% shooting.
📍Spokane, Wash.
🏟️ #TSU (0-0) at No. 21 #Gonzaga (0-0), 6 p.m., KHQ/ESPN+
📊GU: Graham Ike (17.3 ppg in 24-25), Ike (7.3 rpg in 24-25), Braeden Smith (5.6 apg in 23-24)
TSU: Zaire Hayes (10.4 ppg in 24-25), Kolby Granger (4.5 rpg in 24-25), Jaylen Wysinger (1.6 apg in 24-25) pic.twitter.com/hYdq7Ci5bt
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
Four-star shooting guard Gene Roebuck is here for his unofficial visit. Top California prospect in the 2027 recruiting class also has offers from Cincinnati, TCU, Washington, UCLA, Cal, Kansas, USC, Arizona State. pic.twitter.com/InpTRStRZN
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
Mario Saint-Supery’s out here early going through a meticulous pregame ball-handling routine. Graham Ike at the other end putting shots up. pic.twitter.com/AblOrH2Xj6
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) November 4, 2025
Game preview
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