SPOKANE, Wash. – It was a tale of two halves for Santa Clara men's basketball at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Broncos went toe-to-toe with No. 8 Gonzaga in the first 20 minutes and went into the locker room tied at 37. The second half, however, did not go in the Broncos' favor as a 20-2 Bulldog run that spanned nearly five minutes spoiled SCU's chances of the upset. The setback was the first in conference play for the Broncos this season while Gonzaga improved to 5-0.
Despite the loss, redshirt freshman
Allen Graves turned in one of the top games of his young career with a career-high 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Gonzaga (17-1, 5-0) took an early 17-12 lead into the under 12 timeout with senior center Graham Ike responsible for 13 of the Bulldogs' points. The Broncos pushed back and cut the lead down to two at 23-21 following a Bukky Oboye steal and slam. SCU took the lead outright on a Brenton Knapper floater that made it 30-29 with five minutes remaining in the half.
- Santa Clara (13-5, 4-1) pushed their lead up to eight with an 11-0 run that made it 37-29, but the Bulldogs closed the half on an 8-0 run of their end the tie the contest at 37 at the half.
- Gonzaga's run continued over into the second half as they scored the first five points in the period to regain the lead. The Broncos quickly regained the advantage at 45-44 on an Oboye corner jumper with 17:46 remaining.
- Ike continued to pour it on for the Bulldogs, scoring 12 straight points by himself to give Gonzaga a five-point advantage at 56-51 with 12:36 left to play. Allen Graves scored in the paint to cut it back to one-possession.
- Gonzaga fully took control from there, using their 20-2 run to take a 21-point advantage at 76-55 with 6:39 to play.
- The Broncos scored the final seven points of the contest in the final 1:03 to make it a 89-77 final.
- Gonzaga shot 58 percent from the field while holding the Broncos to 43 percent, including a 7-fo-26 mark from 3-point range. The Bulldogs also had the advantage on the boards at 35-31 and dished out 17 assists to SCU's 12.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Christian Hammond scored 14 points for his team-leading 15th game in double figure scoring. The sophomore also dished out three assists and had a trio of rebounds.
- Knapper reached double figure scoring for the eighth time this season, finishing with 11 points.
- Graves has now scored in double figures in 10 games on the season.
- Oboye finished with 12 points for his eighth game in double figures.
- Ike finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
UP NEXT:
The Broncos return to the Leavey Center for a three-game home stand beginning Saturday, Jan. 10, against LMU. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
