HONOLULU — Nolan Hickman scored 12 of his team-high 19 points after halftime and Graham Ike and Anton Watson posted double-doubles to lead No. 11 Gonzaga to a 76-57 win over Syracuse in a losers bracket game at the Maui Invitational on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs (3-1) got 16 points and 14 rebounds from Ike, and 12 points and 13 rebounds from Watson. Ike, a 6-foot-9 redshirt junior forward, also came up with four steals. Ryan Nembhard added 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Gonzaga, which led by as many as 23 points late in the game, outrebounded the Orange (3-2) 48-28, and held a 25-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Syracuse got within 51-45 with 9:39 left in the game on a Maliq Brown two-handed dunk that was set-up by a Judah Mintz bounce pass that split a pair of defenders. But, the Bulldogs answered with a 15-5 run that was punctuated by a steal by Ike that led to a breakaway dunk by Ryan Nembhard, giving Gonzaga a 66-46 cushion with 4:17 to play.
The game featured a pair of coaches on opposite ends of their career; Mark Few is in his 25th season at Gonzaga and is the winningest active coach in Division I, while Adrian Autry has three wins in his first season as Syracuse coach.
Judah Mantz had 22 points and JJ Starling 15 for Syracuse.
Gonzaga led at the half, 39-25.
BIG PICTURE
Syracuse’s collective growth and player development will continue to be a work in progress over the course of Autry’s first season leading his alma mater. The Orange have four sophomores and one junior in their starting lineup and were tabbed 10th (out of 15) in the ACC preseason media poll.
Gonzaga, which has five players averaging double-digit scoring, rebounded from a 73-63 loss to No. 2 Purdue on Monday. Ike led the way in that game with 14 points.
UP NEXT
Syracuse: Will look to leave Hawaii on a winning note when it takes on either UCLA or Chaminade on Wednesday for seventh place.
Gonzaga: Will try for its second win in as many days when it faces either the Bruins or Silverswords in the fifth-place game Wednesday.
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