WASHINGTON, D.C. — All night long, University of Miami recruit Chris Lykes gashed DeMatha with theatrical layups and pulverizing 3-pointers. But no sequence dazzled more than the behind-the-back pass the 5-foot-8 point guard performed that landed right in the shooting basket of Myles Dread who camped on the left wing.
Dread, with no hesitation, drilled one of Gonzaga’s 10 3-pointers off Lykes’ slick feed to practically pummel WCAC foe DeMatha – pushing the Eagles’ seven-point lead to 57-47 going into the fourth quarter.
DeMatha never got any closer than eight points from that point on, and behind Lykes’ crowd-pleasing performance (23 points), hot first half shooting and hustle on the offensive glass, Gonzaga downed the Stags at home on Tuesday night, 76-63.
“My father always told me, when you step on the court, you need some type of motivation,” Lykes said. “For me, that’s proving to people I should be on the court. That’s my edge of motivation; it’s easy to find that.”
Everywhere Lykes goes, comments about his small stature bob into the conversation. At this point in his basketball career, the senior lead guard is used to it.
Lykes’ first basket came when he drilled a 3-ball before the first quarter buzzer, which gave Gonzaga (16-4) a 22-13 lead going into the second. His second and third 3’s pushed the Eagles’ advantage to 25-15 and 29-18 minutes into the second quarter.
When DeMatha (16-2) drew within five at the 5:31 mark in the third quarter, Lykes’ jumper stretched the lead to 44-37.
Back-to-back baskets by Lykes in the waning minutes of the third lengthened Gonzaga’s leash to 52-41 and 54-45.
“What makes him go, his haters and doubters of him, because of his size out here,” Gonzaga head coach Stephen Turner said. “He’s kind of clichéd the line heart over height, and every night he plays with his heart and leaves it on the floor for us.”
Not only Lykes, but Gonzaga as a whole stood much smaller than DeMatha. The Eagles’ tallest starter is 6-foot-6 Eddie Scott. DeMatha, meanwhile, holstered 6-foot-6 small forward D.J. Harvery (Notre Dame), 6-foot-10 center Josh Carlton (UCONN), 6-foot-10 forward Jordan Wilmore and 7-foot-1 center Hunter Dickinson in the rotation.
Gonzaga hammered DeMatha on the offensive glass, and capped one possession in the first quarter with four straight offensive rebounds. It was 15-8 at the time, and a DeMatha basket on the ensuing possession would have made it a two-possession game. Instead, Lykes sank two free throws that upped Gonzaga’s lead to 17-8, and set the tempo early.
“I’m just proud of our guys leaving everything they had on the court tonight and their effort on the boards though being smaller than them,” Turner said. “We talked about limiting second chance opportunities, and I thought we did a great job of that.”
Carlton did finish with a game-high 24 points for DeMatha, but the Stags only trailed once when it was 6-5 a few minutes into regulation.
Lykes extolled his team’s execution of the proposed scouting report, which honed in on DeMatha producing points in the paint with the likes of Carlton and Harvey (13 points).
Prentiss Hubb, who finished with 15 points, hit four key 3-pointers for Gonzaga. His first broke a 2-2 tie to make it 5-2. His second and third upped Gonzaga’s lead to 11-6 and 34-24. And his fourth came after DeMatha got within five, pushing the Eagles’ lead to 47-39 in the third quarter.
Gonzaga led by as many as 15, when it was 72-57 deep in the fourth quarter.
Lykes now sits second all-time in scoring at Gonzaga after his outing on Friday, passing Kris Jenkins.
“Win or lose,” Turner started, referring to Lykes. “we always know he’s going to bring it for us.”
