‘I’m never in a slump’: Khalif Battle gets his points across in Gonzaga’s 73-53 win over LMU

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Feb. 6—There are probably few, if any, college players in the country with stat lines resembling Khalif Battle’s over the past five games.

In order, Battle has scored zero, zero, 23, two and 24 points — the latter helping Gonzaga pull away from Loyola Marymount 73-53 on Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

It’s the second time the senior wing has stung the Lions. He scored his season-high 26 points in GU’s 96-68 win in Los Angeles, hitting 10 of 12 shots from the field, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.

In the rematch, Battle struggled from the field (4 of 13, 1 of 7 on 3s), but he cashed in at the foul line (15 of 16). He’s in the top 10 nationally at 92.6% from the line for the season.

“It’s huge (Battle getting to the free-throw line) and sometimes he’s able to do that and other times he’s not,” head coach Mark Few said. “So it’s kind of hit or miss. They were switching a lot, so when they’re doing that it should give him an advantage to take somebody off the dribble. He picked his spots wisely and was able to convert or get himself to the line.”

The five-game stretch has seen Battle go from starting and going scoreless in Gonzaga’s 103-99 loss to Santa Clara to three games coming off the bench — zero points and no shots against Portland, 23 points against Oregon State and just two points in the loss to Saint Mary’s last Saturday — before returning to the starting unit against LMU.

“People were talking about I’m in a slump or whatever, I’m never in a slump,” Battle said. “I just didn’t get enough shots up, in my opinion. I’m a wired scorer. It’s good that coach did that (pulled him from starting lineup). I deserved that. ‘E’ (Emmanuel Innocenti) stepped up, other people stepped up, deserved the minutes.

“But I’m happy to be in the lineup and I have to keep building off this.”

That would be just fine with Few and the Zags. Battle’s scoring averages reflect his influence on outcomes. He’s putting up 13.7 points in Gonzaga’s 17 wins and 10.3 points in seven…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/im-never-slump-khalif-battle-045900348.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2025-02-07 04:59:00

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