SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball gave No. 12 Gonzaga all they could handle Saturday evening in a 1 vs. 2 showdown at Leavey Center, but the Broncos ultimately were unable to hold on, falling 94-86 for their first home loss of the season. Four players scored in double figures with Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi combining for 31 points in front of the sellout crowd of 4,200. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Santa Clara (22-6, 13-2) jumped out to a 19-11 lead thanks to a quick 6-0 scoring spurt highlighted by consecutive buckets from freshman KJ Cochran. Gonzaga (25-2, 13-1) pushed back, however, and tied the game on a Graham Ike 3-pointer with 8:17 remaining. Thierry Darlan responded with a layup to give the Broncos the lead again, but a triple and another score from Ike in the paint gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the night at 31-29 with just over six minutes to play.
• SCU regained the lead thanks to a Cochran 3-pointer at the four-minute mark to make it 36-35, however Gonzaga closed the half on a 9-3 run to take a five-point lead into the locker room at 44-39.
• The Broncos shot 45 percent in the opening half while Gonzaga converted on 51 percent. Ike led all scorers at the break with 17 points and nine rebounds while Cochran and Hammond each logged nine points to lead the way for Santa Clara.
• SCU used a quick 5-0 spurt in the early stages to swing the momentum back in their favor and regain the lead 49-48. The lead proceeded to change hands three times before back-to-back 3-pointers from Darlan and Sash Gavalyugov made it two-possession game in the Broncos' favor at 60-55 with 12:24 remaining. 
• Gonzaga answered with a run of their own, rattling off eight unanswered points to take the lead back at 63-60 and push it up to seven at 73-66 on an Adam Miller 3-pointer with just under seven minutes remaining. 
• Santa Clara chiseled the lead down to 73-70 with 5:47 remaining as Hammond knocked down a jumper and Allen Graves and Bukky Oboye converted on the front end of 1-and-1 opportunities, but that was as close as they would get as Gonzaga responded with a 10-4 spree of their own to take a nine-point advantage in the final 2:30 of regulation.
• Gavalyugov knocked down another 3-pointer with 2:18 left to make it a two-possession game once again, but a couple of free throws and a dunk on fastbreak by Tyon Grant-Foster gave Gonzaga their largest lead of the night at 10 inside the final minute to put the game on ice. 
• The Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the floor against a 46 percent clip for the Broncos. Gonzaga controlled the boards 41-32 and scored 15 points off of 12 SCU turnovers. 
• Ike had yet another double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds while Miller also finished with 21 points. Grant-Foster was the Bulldogs' third 20-point scorer, finishing with 20 on 7-of-12 shooting. 
• Gonzaga dealt the vast majority of the damage from close range, finishing with 66 points in the paint. 

NOTABLE NUMBERS:

• Hammond led the Broncos with 16 points for his team-best 23rd double-figure scoring game of the year. 
• Mahi was right behind him with 15 points to reach double-figure scoring for the 21^st time. He also logged five rebounds. 
• Graves also reached double figures, doing so for the 11^th-straight game and 19^th time overall. The big man got the bulk of his 13 points at the free throw line (9-of-10) and also logged two steals, three assists and three rebounds before fouling out late. 
• Gavalyugov finished with 10 points and four assists for his seventh game in double-figures.
• Oboye matched his career-high of eight rebounds to go with seven points, a block and an assist. 
• The Broncos' 13-game home winning streak came to an end and is tied for the third-longest in program history. 
• This was Santa Clara's first loss on the year when reaching the 80-point marker (17-1). 

POSTGAME COMMENTS:



UP NEXT:
The Broncos will return to action next Saturday, Feb. 21, with a short trip to San Francisco to take on the rival Dons.