Gonzaga returns home to play 'hungry' Santa Clara team

The Zags are back in the Kennel for the first time since their 68-67 loss to LMU on Jan. 19

After a pair of wins on the road, the Gonzaga men’s basketball team is returning home for the first time since their 68-67 loss to LMU on Jan. 19, which ended the Zags’ 75-game winning streak at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

No. 12 Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 WCC) will have a chance to start a new home streak when it hosts Santa Clara (16-7, 4-4) on Thursday at 8 p.m. PST.

It marks the second meeting between the teams after the Zags visited the Broncos on Jan. 7. Gonzaga narrowly escaped that game with an 81-76 victory.

“It’s a great team. Super-skilled squad,” Strawther said to the Spokesman-Review. “Lot of scorers, lot of shooters and the way the game went down there at their place, I know they’re hungry to come back and try to get one at ours.”

Strawther had a career-high 40 points in the Zags’ win over Portland on Saturday. However, his potential matchup with the Broncos has put up similar numbers.

Santa Clara guard Brandin Podziemski scored 38 points in his team’s 95-89 loss to Pacific on Saturday. He also added nine rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes.

Podziemski, who played his first college season at Illinois, was recently named one of the top transfers in college basketball by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore is averaging 19.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game, all of which are team highs.

“The transfer kid (Brandin Podziemski) has been a revelation, so that’ll be quite a battle,” said Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.

Podziemski registered 17 points when the teams last played, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Zags, who saw Drew Timme and Nolan Hickman score 20 points each.

Aside from Podziemski, the Broncos have several other steady contributors, including guard Carlos Stewart and forward Keshawn Justice. Stewart and Justice are averaging 15.0 and 13.6 points per game, respectively, and are both shooting around 36% from the 3-point range.

“They’re a really, really good team, man,” Few said. “They’ve got size, they have the ability to really stretch the floor and shoot with (Keshawn) Justice. The point guard (Carlos Stewart) is playing terrific.

After playing the Broncos, Gonzaga will go on the road to play No. 18 Saint Mary’s in Moraga, California, on Saturday.