Baylor vs Gonzaga: Box score, stats, game summary and more

No. 6 Gonzaga opened the 2024-25 college basketball season with a bang, trampling No. 8 Baylor, 101-63. Monday's matchup took place at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington.

In a game that had an NCAA Tournament feel before tipoff, the Bulldogs showed might and fierceness from tipoff to devour the hapless Bears.

Five players scored in double digits for Gonzaga, led by Nolan Hickman's 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-pointers. Graham Ike added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Mark Few-coached team, which notched its first win.

Braden Huff contributed 14 points in 15 minutes, while Khalif Battle and Dusty Stormer added 12 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Bulldogs, who bucked a bad offensive night from Ryan Nembhard (six points).

Nembhard, however, made amends in other departments, tallying five rebounds, 11 assists and one steal.

Transfer forward Norchad Omier topped Baylor's offense, scoring 15 points. He also recorded nine rebounds, one steal and one block in 30 minutes of playing time.

Freshman Robert Wright added 12 points, one rebound and six assists, and Josh Ojianwuna contributed 10 points, six rebounds, one assist and three steals for the Bears.

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Baylor vs. Gonzaga box score

TEAM	1ST	2ND	TOTAL
Baylor	30	33	63
Gonzaga	49	52	101

Baylor Bears

Name	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jayden Nunn	G	26	3-8	0-5	0-0	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	6
Jeremy Roach	G	27	2-9	1-4	4-4	0	2	3	1	1	2	1	9
Josh Ojianwuna	F	24	3-3	0-0	4-7	4	6	1	3	0	1	2	10
Norchad Omier	F	30	5-12	0-2	5-7	2	9	0	1	1	3	2	15
V.j. Edgecombe	G	29	2-11	0-3	0-0	3	7	1	1	2	3	2	4
Davidson Hubbard	F	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Jalen Celestine	G	23	2-5	2-5	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	6
Jason Asemota	F	6	0-0	0-0	1-2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1
Marino Dubravcic	F	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Omar Adegbola	G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Robert Wright	G	29	6-14	0-2	0-0	1	1	6	2	0	1	0	12
Total			23-62	3-21	14-20	14	32	11	8	4	12	14	63

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Name	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Ben Gregg	F	16	3-4	0-1	3-5	1	3	1	1	0	0	2	9
Graham Ike	F	21	6-12	0-1	3-6	5	8	3	1	0	2	2	15
Khalif Battle	G	30	4-10	4-8	0-0	1	5	2	1	1	2	3	12
Nolan Hickman	G	30	7-11	3-6	0-0	0	6	1	2	0	0	0	17
Ryan Nembhard	G	33	2-6	2-4	0-0	1	5	11	1	0	2	1	6
Braden Huff	F	15	7-11	0-2	0-0	1	1	3	0	1	0	4	14
Dusty Stromer	G	20	4-6	3-5	0-0	2	6	1	1	0	4	3	11
Emmanuel Innocenti	F	2	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Ismaila Diagne	C	2	1-1	0-0	2-2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4
Joe Few	G	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
Jun seok Yeo	F	2	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Michael Ajayi	G	21	4-5	1-2	0-0	3	8	0	0	1	1	1	9
Total			40-70	13-31	8-13	16	45	25	8	3	11	18	101

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Baylor vs. Gonzaga: Game Summary

Gonzaga was sharp from tip-off, racing to an 8-1 lead in the first 3:30 of the game. But the Bears responded with eight straight points from Norchad Omier, Jayden Nunn and Jalen Celestine to take a 9-8 edge.

That was the last time Baylor would take the driver's seat, as the Bulldogs unleashed a 10-0 run that handed them an 18-9 lead. Gonzaga's lead ballooned to 21 after another 15-4 assault in the latter part of the first half.

The second half proved to be a mirror image of the opening 20 minutes, as the Bulldogs piled up more points to gain a 55-30 advantage. Scott Drew's men showed signs of life in the next four minutes, unleashing a 16-4 surge that reduced the deficit to 13, 59-46, with 13:34 left.

But the lead ballooned again to 75-48 after Graham Ike scored eight points in a telling 16-2 surge that snuffed the life out of the Bears, who couldn't handle Gonzaga's spectacular surge in a rematch of their 2021 national championship game.

It was the Bulldogs' biggest margin of victory over a top-10 opponent in school history. Gonzaga outrebounded Baylor, 45-32, to set the tone for the rout.

Gonzaga will shoot for its second-straight win on Sunday as it clashes with Arizona State while Baylor looks to bounce back with a showdown against No. 16-ranked Arkansas on Saturday.