Gonzaga dominates Portland on senior night, clinches WCC regular-season title

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs secured at least a share of the WCC regular season title on Wednesday night, blasting the Portland Pilots, 89-48, in a cathartic and emotional senior night.

Gonzaga (28-2, 16-1) started one freshman, Mario Saint-Supery, and a quartet of seniors in Adam Miller, Steele Venters, Graham Ike, and Noah Haaland. Tyon Grant-Foster was the lone senior not in the starting lineup, with Jalen Warley not suiting up while he continues to recover from a thigh bruise suffered earlier this month.

Ike got the Zags going early, scoring 12 of Gonzaga's first 17 points, but it was the team's defense that really separated them on Wednesday. UP went over seven minutes without a bucket in the first half, and ultimately finished with more turnovers (22) than made field goals (17).

The win ensures Gonzaga their 23rd WCC regular season title in the coach Few era, but first since 2023 after Saint Mary's won the last two. It also guarantees Gonzaga the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament, which carries significant value as it means the Zags will avoid playing either Saint Mary's or Santa Clara until the WCC championship.

Below is a look at three takeaways from Gonzaga's senior night win over Portland in Spokane:

1. Emmanuel Innocenti flipped the game

After Joel Foxwell racked up eight points in the first four minutes for Portland, Zag fans were bracing for the worst. The Australian freshman hung 27 on Gonzaga in the early February loss, and he looked ready to spoil senior night by doing it again.

But Emmanuel Innocenti came to the rescue. The 6'5 wing, who has made a living carving up opposing guards this season, subbed in and immediately flipped the script. Foxwell could not get going offensively with Innocenti all over him, and it resulted in a seven minute scoring drought for the Pilots - and an even longer 12 minute drought before Foxwell scored again on a floater with 3:28 left in the half.

UP's offense completely stagnated without their star guard's ability to break down the defense - which resulted in a whopping 15 turnovers, and just seven made field goals, by the Pilots just in the first half.

As if that wasn't enough, Innocenti got going offensively in the second half - drilling his first three of the game early in the second half and getting three more the hard way with a beautiful spin move for a layup and the free throw to boot.

Most of Innocenti's work on Foxwell didn't show up in the box score, but he was arguably the most important player for Gonzaga on Wednesday night - a trend we've seen quite frequently the last few weeks.

2. Graham Ike's career game...defensively

Graham Ike was his usual dynamic offensive weapon, scoring 12 of Gonzaga's first 17 points and ultimately finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on 7-13 shooting, including 3-6 from three. While his streak of 20+ points came to an end, Ike did find a way to set another Gonzaga record in his final game at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The 6'9 big man racked up a career-high seven steals, tying a Gonzaga record set by point guard Derek Raivio in 2004. Six of those steals came in the first 14 minutes of the game, with Ike showing incredible activity by stripping the ball multiple times from UP's big men down on the block - using his strength to jostle the ball loose and help get the Zags easy buckets in transition.

Ike's impact has always been strongest on offense, but his emergence as a quality defender this season has been critical for the Zags - and will remain crucial once the team gets into postseason play.

3. Celebrating the Seniors

Gonzaga fans were able to celebrate a large group of seniors on Wednesday night, with Graham Ike, Tyon Grant-Foster, Adam Miller, Steele Venters, Jalen Warley, and Noah Haaland all honored before the game.

Warley unfortunately wasn't able to suit up due to a leg injury, but everyone else did - and they all had their moment in the sun.

Haaland drew his first career start and racked up two points and an assist in six minutes of action, while Venters re-entered the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 4 against LMU. He finished with three points after drilling a trey late in the second half.

Miller (six points) Grant-Foster (12 points) and of course Ike were instrumental in Gonzaga's blowout win as well, with the five veterans scoring 42 of Gonzaga's 89 points on the night.

This is an incredibly talented group of seniors for coach Few, and while Ike is the only multi year contributor out of the six - they all deserved to be celebrated for contributions for this program in 2025-26.

Gonzaga heads to Moraga for their final regular season game in the WCC, taking on the Gaels of Saint Mary's Saturday night. The game will tip at 7:30 PM PT on ESPN.