SPOKANE, Wash. – Santa Clara men's basketball was unable to complete the season sweep over Gonzaga despite another strong offensive performance. The Broncos shot 46 percent from the floor and 42 percent from 3-point range, but Gonzaga's hot offense proved too much as they knocked down 57 percent of their shots en route to a 94-81 victory inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Broncos (18-11, 9-5) started hot out of the gate, jumping out to an early five-point advantage and led again by five at 36-31 with 6:12 to play in the opening half.
- Gonzaga (22-6, 12-2) punched back with an 11-2 run to take 50-42 advantage late in the period before Francisco Caffaro scored on consecutive possessions to stop the spree.
- Gonzaga led 52-46 at the half as both teams shot the ball well. The Bulldogs hit 63 percent of their attempts while Santa Clara was 18-of-33 (55 percent) with six treys in the opening 20 minutes.
- The Bulldogs quickly pushed the lead to double digits at the start of the second half before a Christoph Tilly layup followed by a Johnny O'Neil triple knocked the deficit back to five. However, the Zags grabbed all the momentum right back by knocking down back-to-back triples of their own.
- That momentum held true for the remainder of the night as the Bulldogs maintained the lead and went on to win 94-81 despite a late run by the Broncos that cut the deficit to 10 with just over a minute to play.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Christoph Tilly had one of his best games of the season with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with eight rebounds before fouling out.
- Johnny O'Neil continued his strong play with 16 points and four rebounds, extending his double figure scoring streak to 10-straight.
- Caffaro had a solid night off the bench with 10 points, all in the first half, and five rebounds.
- Adama-Alpha Bal and Carlos Marshall, Jr. each finished with eight points.
- The Broncos edged the Bulldogs on the boards, 35-34, to extend their streak to 10-straight games that they have out-rebounded their opponents.
- Santa Clara knocked down 11 3-pointers – their eighth game of the year with 10 or more treys.
- Five players scored in double figures for Gonzaga with Graham Ike scoring a game-high 26 points and Nolan Hickman adding 20 points.
UP NEXT:
The Broncos head to Portland on Thursday to take on the Pilots for their last road game of the season.
