Braden Huff scored a career-high 37 points on 16-of-18 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 7 Gonzaga defeated Campbell 98-70 Wednesday night in Spokane, Wash.
Graham Ike had 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs (11-1), who won their fourth game in a row. Steele Venters added 13 points and Braeden Smith scored 11.
Dovydas Butka led the Fighting Camels (5-6) with 19 points and DJ Smith added 18 points and five steals. Chris Fields Jr. just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
With Ike in foul trouble, the Camels pulled within 72-62 on a pair of free throws by Smith with 9:35 remaining but that was as close as they’d get in the second half.
Gonzaga shot 57.6% from the field (38 of 66), including 5 of 11 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs outscored Campbell 64-38 in the paint and 32-14 off 20 turnovers.
The Bulldogs took a 55-36 halftime lead as the Camels were unable to stop Gonzaga’s Huff and Ike inside.
The two big men combined for 40 points before the intermission, with Huff scoring 26 — matching his career high for a game — on 12-of-12 shooting from the field.
The first half featured several runs. The Bulldogs pulled away from a 4-4 tie with 11 straight points. Venters sparked the spurt with a 3-pointer, Huff made three straight baskets and Ike completed the run with a jumper in the paint.
Campbell responded with a 7-0 streak of its own, forcing the Bulldogs into three straight turnovers.
The Camels pulled within 27-22 on a layup by Butka before a three-point play by Huff sparked a 9-0 run capped by Mario Saint-Supery’s driving layup off a turnover.
The Bulldogs steadily pulled away, with Huff’s 3-pointer giving them a 45-29 lead with 3:53 left.
Emmanuel Innocenti’s dunk on a fast break after a turnover gave Gonzaga its largest lead of the half at 51-31 and Huff capped the scoring with a hook shot in the paint with four seconds to go.
Venters, who missed the previous two seasons because of injuries after transferring from nearby Eastern Washington University, electrified the crowd early in the second half when he faked a 3-pointer to get a defender in the air, then drove the lane for a thunderous dunk.
–Field Level Media
