No. 9 Gonzaga loses leading scorer Braden Huff for 1-2 months

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have lost half of their two-headed monster in the paint for a significant chunk of the season.

The No. 9-ranked Zags announced ahead of their game Thursday night at WSU that forward Braden Huff has a left knee injury that will keep him out of action for an estimated 4-8 weeks. Huff’s injury was suffered this week during a practice.

AP Top 25: Gonzaga falls again despite not losing

The Zags will now look to their other star forward Graham Ike to shoulder even more of the offensive load with Huff out for a month or more.

A 6-foot-10 junior, Huff entered the night with a slight edge with Ike for the team lead this season with 17.8 points per game. The 2022 Illinois Mr. Basketball, Huff is second on the Zags with 5.6 rebounds per game.

In 18 games this season, Huff is shooting 66.2% on field goals, which ranks seventh in the nation. He’s made a third of his 3-point attempts (7 of 21) and makes free throws at a 57.5% clip.

Huff averaged 11 points and 3.4 rebounds last season for the Zags. He primarily came off of the bench in 2024-25 but has started all of his games this season.

Gonzaga is off to a 17-1 start and has marquee wins over Creighton, Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA, Oregon and No. 18 Alabama. The Zags have been ranked as high as No. 7 in the weekly Associated Press Top 25 poll but have slipped in recent weeks despite not losing since the start of West Coast Conference play. Gonzaga’s only loss this season came against No. 4 Michigan.

The Zags’ game Thursday at Washington State is the first of two in-state WCC battles this week. Gonzaga will next visit Seattle U on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena.

Wednesday: No. 4 Michigan beats UW Huskies 82-72

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