SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara men's basketball overcame an early double-figure deficit and used a 19-2 second-half run to put away Sacramento State, 83-77, on Saturday night to remain undefeated on the young season.
Sacramento State (1-1) built a 15-4 lead early on before the Broncos (3-0) worked their way back and knotting the game 16-16 on a
David Castillo 3-pointer. SCU settled in for the rest of the half and took a 45-36 lead into the halftime break.
SCU pushed its lead to 58-45 with less than 15 minutes remaining, but the Hornets worked their way back and moved in front 62-60 on Chidi Nwigwe's jumper at the 9:30 mark. Sacrament State pushed the lead up seven at 67-60 before the Broncos flipped the script with the big 19-2 run that began with a
Chris Tadjo dunk and five-point spurt by
Fedor Zugic, including a clutch 3-pointer that tied the contest. Castillo knocked down another trey of his own to swing the lead back in the Broncos' favor at 70-67, and they never trailed again for the remainder of the night.
Sacramento State didn't go down quietly and got back within 81-77 following a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining, but
Jake Ensminger drew a foul on the ensuing possession and made both free throws of his own to ensure the victory.
The Broncos finished with a season-high 45 rebounds, dished out 17 assists and tallied 32 bench points in the win. SCU has scored at least 83 points, recorded at least nine steals and made at least 10 three-pointers in each game on the season.
GAME NOTES:
- SCU improved to 68-19 (.782) inside the Leavey Center since 2021-22 and are 17-1 over the last two seasons.
- The Broncos hit double-digit 3-pointers for the third-straight game, finishing 10-for-31 from deep.
- SCU had five players reach double figure scoring for the third-straight game.
- Santa Clara improved to 9-0 all-time against the Hornets.
- Chris Tadjo led SCU in scoring with a career-best 14 points for his second game of the year in double figures. He also posted a pair of blocks for his second multi-block game of the year.
- Fedor Zugic logged 12 points for his second double-figure scoring outing of the season.
- Elijah Mahi posted his 44th career game in double-figure scoring, logging 11 points.
- Sash Gavlyugov broke the double-digit point barrier as well with 12 points, doing so for the second time on the year and 12th time of his career. The junior also tied his career high for rebounds (7) and logged five assists.
- David Castillo scored 13 points for his third-straight game in double figures to open his SCU career.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
NEXT UP
Up next, the Broncos travel to Denton, Texas, to face North Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 5 p.m.
