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Nov. 16—Khalif Battle, unofficially Gonzaga’s director of entertainment.
The Arkansas transfer has been must-see on the court, scoring on everything from soaring one-handed dunks to silky 27-foot 3-pointers.
The three-game sample size is small, but he leads the fourth-ranked Zags in scoring (17.3), 3-pointers made (11) and 3-point accuracy (61.1%). That latter isn’t easy with Nolan Hickman, Dusty Stromer and Ryan Nembhard in the 47-57% range.
Battle has also delivered in postgame interview sessions with humor, insight and perspective, even in somber tones after an exhibition loss to USC, led by Eric Musselman, his former coach at Arkansas.
The 6-foot-5 guard, in his sixth collegiate season at his fifth school, has experienced plenty and it comes through when he answers questions from the media.
“Honestly, it feels good because I’ve never really had a coach from the jump … he (Mark Few) put his entire faith into me to just be myself,” Battle said of his transition at GU. “The whole coaching staff, these guys (teammates) told me when I was being recruited they just needed me to be me.
“It’s been like a family atmosphere since I stepped on campus. It feels good to be part of this. I’m just happy to be a Zag.”
It’s a two-way street. Battle arrived with a well-earned reputation of putting up a lot of points in a little amount of time. That’s been the case, but the 6-foot-5 guard also averages 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and shares the team lead with five steals.
He scored 21 points in Friday’s 113-54 rout over UMass Lowell, but some of his best work was defending versatile forward Quinton Mincey, who came in averaging 23.5 points.
Mincey managed a team-high 10 points but misfired on all three 3-point attempts and committed six turnovers. Battle had three steals and Mincey, who had 24 free-throw attempts in his first two games, only had two vs. Gonzaga.
“He did a really nice job on No. 3 (Mincey),” Few said. “He’s a good player and somebody they look to score it, drive it, shoot it and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/just-happy-zag-gonzagas-khalif-030200816.html
Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
Publish date : 2024-11-17 03:02:00
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