Tyon Grant-Foster scored 15 points in his Gonzaga debut, and Braden Huff added 14 as the No. 21 Bulldogs rolled to a 98-43 victory over Texas Southern on Monday night in the season opener for both teams at Spokane, Wash.
Graham Ike recorded 13 points and 11 rebounds, and reserve Adam Miller also scored 13 points for the Bulldogs, who led by as many as 57. Davis Fogle added 11 points off the bench.
Duane Posey and Jaylen Wysinger scored eight points apiece to lead the Tigers, who missed 16 of their final 17 field-goal attempts.
Grant-Foster, 25, was cleared to play for Gonzaga on Oct. 27 by a Spokane County judge. He transferred from Grand Canyon in late May, and the Bulldogs subsequently applied for an eligibility waiver on Grant-Foster’s behalf in June, but the NCAA denied the request.
Gonzaga shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 7 of 22 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs owned a 56-27 rebounding advantage and had a 22-4 edge in fast-break points.
Texas Southern shot just 25.4 percent from the field and was 3 of 21 from behind the arc. The Tigers were 5 of 30 shooting in the second half when they missed all 11 3-point attempts.
Ike and Huff scored baskets to start the second half to end a run of 13 straight points and give the Bulldogs a 50-27 lead with 18:55 remaining.
Ike slammed home a dunk to push the lead to 30 for the first time at 61-31 with 14:12 left.
Back-to-back baskets by Grant-Foster made it 72-35 with 9:39 remaining.
Gonzaga’s lead reached 45 when Miller drained two treys in 35 seconds to make it 82-37 with 6:01 left.
The Bulldogs went up 91-41 on Jalen Warley’s 3-point play with 3:28 left en route to finishing off the blowout triumph.
Huff scored eight first-half points to help the Bulldogs hold a 46-27 halftime lead.
Texas Southern hung with Gonzaga for the first 10 minutes and trailed 17-15 after Ahmed Nedal Abdelrahman buried a 3-pointer.
The margin was still just four after Anthony Andrews made two free throws for the Tigers with 6:41 left.
Gonzaga then scored nine in a row, with Huff’s layup capping the run and making it 35-22 with 4:26 remaining.
The Zags later scored the final nine points of the half, capped by Steele Venters’s layup with 16 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
