Gonzaga’s Graham Ike downplays Hunter Dickinson matchup: ‘Opponent doesn’t get me going’

Gonzaga guard Dusty Stromer got an up-close view of the Jayhawks at the Maui Invitational in November.

Although the two squads never faced off, Stromer came away impressed by KU.

“They’re a great team, obviously,” Stromer told The Star. “Super big team. With Dickinson on the inside, they’re a force in there. They work from the inside out, so we just have to shut that down and we’ll be all right.”

The idea of playing a blue blood like Kansas gets Stromer extra excited. He believes it’ll go down as an all-time game that people will rewatch in the future.

In many ways, the two teams mirror each other. Both don’t use their bench much, with the Bulldogs ranking No. 343 in bench-minutes percentage while KU is slightly higher at No. 315.

Both programs are built around a star big man (Hunter Dickinson for Kansas, Graham Ike for Gonzaga.

The game will also have a matchup of star point guards in Dajuan Harris vs. Ryan Nembhard.

“You gotta slow somebody down like that because he’s really good with screens, pick-and-roll games,” Harris said. “I’ve just got to be aggressive on the defensive end — get through screens. Try to just stop that — just cut the head off the snake, basically.”

The most significant difference between the teams is that KU excels at defense, while offense is the Bulldogs’ calling card.

Still, Gonzaga coach Mark Few says Kansas is back to playing well on offense, similar to Jayhawk teams of old. Even if KU isn’t ranked as a top-50 offense in some metrics, like KenPom’s offensive efficiency, Few isn’t taking the Jayhawks lightly.

“I see a total Bill Self-type team in that they love to play high-low, “ Few said. “They love to feed the post. They have great posts. Obviously, KJ Adams is just — he’s much like Anton Watson for us. He just does everything.

“In years past, they were running dribble-drive and small guys. He was playing small ball. I mean, the success didn’t slow down at all. It looks to me like they’re back (and) very comfortable in running the high-low game and playing out of the post, much like we’ve always done over the years at Gonzaga for the most part.”

Perhaps the most compelling matchup is between Ike and Dickinson. Multiple Gonzaga players compared Dickinson to Purdue star Zach Edey.

Dickinson’s teammate Jamari McDowell refuted that claim, telling The Star: “Zach’s got the size, but I feel like Hunter has the skill. So they’ll see. It’s going to be a little different from Zach.”

As for what Ike, the player who’ll match up against Dickinson, thinks of the comparison?

“He’s a great player,” Ike said. “Biggest difference is he’s left-handed from those other guys (Edey and UConn’s Donovan Clingan). He can stretch it out a little bit. He has a good touch around the rim. Good passer, great feel.”

Ultimately, Ike downplayed matching up against Dickinson.

“The opponent never really gets me going,” Ike said. “It’s just the opportunity to play at this level is all I need.”