SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Drew Timme and Nolan Hickman scored 20 points each and No. 9 Gonzaga beat Santa Clara 81-76 on Saturday night.
Julian Strawther had 18 points and Ben Gregg grabbed eight rebounds to help the Bulldogs (14-3, 3-0 West Coast Conference) get their 25th straight win against the Broncos. Gonzaga has won 48 of the last 50 meetings.
Keshawn Justice scored 22 points and Brandin Podziemski added 17 points and seven rebounds for Santa Clara (14-5, 2-2), which led the back-and-forth contest by one with 90 seconds remaining. Parker Braun had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The Broncos kept the pressure on the Bulldogs until the final buzzer.
Gonzaga trailed by 14 points in the first half but shot 48.3% (14 of 29) — including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc — the rest of the way to pull out the win.
BIG PICTURE
Gonzaga: Timme, who was held to seven points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first half, put up 13 in the second half to put the Zags on top. Recently named to the midseason top 25 watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, Timme is 123 points away from tying Jim McPhee for second place on Gonzaga’s all-time scoring list.
Santa Clara: Podziemski continued to produce at a high level. He came into the game as one of just 14 NCAA Division I players (min. 60% games played) averaging at least 18 points and eight rebounds. Gonzaga’s Timme is the only other WCC player on the list.
UP NEXT
Gonzaga wraps up a three-game road trip at BYU on Thursday.
No. 9 GONZAGA 81, SANTA CLARA 76
GONZAGA (14-3) — Timme 7-15 6-10 20, Watson 2-5 3-4 7, Bolton 4-13 0-0 9, Hickman 8-9 0-0 20, Strawther 6-10 4-5 18, Gregg 2-7 1-3 5, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Sallis 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 30-64 14-22 81.
SANTA CLARA (14-5) — Braun 6-7 0-0 12, Justice 9-17 0-0 22, Bediako 1-6 0-0 2, Podziemski 7-14 2-2 17, Stewart 5-17 1-2 11, Holt 4-4 0-0 8, Knapper 1-4 0-0 2, Tongue 1-2 0-0 2, Akametu 0-1 0-0 0, Tilly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-72 3-4 76.
Halftime—Santa Clara 37-36. 3-Point Goals—Gonzaga 7-19 (Hickman 4-5, Strawther 2-3, Bolton 1-4, Smith 0-1, Timme 0-1, Watson 0-1, Gregg 0-2, Sallis 0-2), Santa Clara 5-16 (Justice 4-9, Podziemski 1-2, Tongue 0-1, Stewart 0-4). Fouled Out—Braun. Rebounds—Gonzaga 35 (Gregg 8), Santa Clara 38 (Braun 11). Assists—Gonzaga 14 (Timme, Strawther 4), Santa Clara 16 (Podziemski 5). Total Fouls—Gonzaga 13, Santa Clara 21.
