Jan. 16 (UPI) — Gonzaga forward Brayden Huff, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, will miss four to eight weeks with a knee injury, coach Mark Few confirmed.
There was little talk about injuries following the No. 9 Bulldogs’ 85-65 win over the Washington State Cougars on Thursday in Pullman, Wash.
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“We don’t have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Fife told reporters. “That’s something I’m very, very proud of as a team [for]. It’s a really great win for us, being able to play a team that’s playing some of the best basketball this year on the road.
“To do that without not only one of our best players, but one of the best players in the league, one of the best players in the West, and I think one of the best players in the country — that’s a lot to take in in 24 hours. These guys are great. They’re absolutely great.”
On Thursday, Huff tied with forward Graham Ike for the Bulldogs’ single-game scoring average with 17.8 points. He led the team with 320 points in 18 games. Huff’s 66.2 percent field goal percentage this season ranks sixth nationally.
Huff averaged 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his first 18 starts this season.
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Ike scored a game-high 23 points against the Cougars, bringing his season total to 325 points. He currently leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 18 points per game.
Ike also led the Bulldogs with 17.3 points per game last season, ahead of senior guards Khalif Battle (13.6) and Huff (11).
Bulldogs guards Adam Miller and Jalen Worley scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, in Thursday’s win. Ike grabbed 11 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, ranking among the top five in the country.
“It’s a tough time because I know how much he wants to play,” Ike said of Huff.
The Bulldogs (18-1) rank 10th nationally with 91.4 points per game. They also rank third in field goal percentage (52.6%) and scoring rate, seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio, and eighth in assists per game and rebound rate.
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They will face the Seattle Redhawks (13-6) in Seattle on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs defeated the Redhawks 80-72 in overtime on January 2 in Spokane, Washington. Huff scored a game-high 28 points in that game, the second-highest total of his college career.
