Photogallery Gonzaga Beats Santa Clara 81-69

Get a full gallery of the action on the court and in the arena.

All it took was a quick glance around the McCarthey Athletic Center to realize the magnitude of the moment. It wasn’t a top-25 matchup that fans had circled on their calendars months in advance. Students didn’t camp out in tents waiting to boo and harass Saint Mary’s or BYU. Heck, the game wasn’t even broadcasted on national television.

But for this night, all the stars, past and potentially future, came out for this special senior night. And the Zags made sure they didn’t disappoint.

Fueled by Drew Timme’s 23 points, Gonzaga held off Santa Clara, 81-69, Saturday night in the final home game of the season. Chet Holmgren added 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while Rasir Bolton finished with 18 points and the highest plus-minus (+21) on the night for the Zags.

For the Zags (23-2, 12-0 WCC), the win secured the sixth consecutive outright WCC regular season title and their 21st overall with Mark Few at the helm. It’s the 10th straight year they’ve at least had a share of the title, which includes a split with Saint Mary’s in the 2015-16 campaign. But with an outright clinch, the Bulldogs will enter the conference tournament as the top seed, where they boast a 61-16 record all-time.

“It means probably even more this year,” Few said on winning another regular season title. “On the one hand, we’re saying this is the best the league’s ever been in 32 years, or at least since I’ve been here.”

The loss puts Santa Clara (18-10, 8-5 WCC) into a tied for third place with San Francisco in the WCC standings with two games remaining on the schedule. Despite the lack of national recognition, the 2021-22 season has seen the Broncos emerge as one of the surprise teams from the conference even if the big dance is out of reach at this point. Signature wins over BYU and Saint Mary’s are a sign of good things to come for Herb Sendek’s crew in the future, especially if they can pull off a deep run in the conference tournament.

Here's how Gonzaga got the job done:

NOTHING EASY

The blueprint to slowing down the Zags’ high-powered offense has been to simply not let them touch the ball. Slowing the game down á la Saint Mary’s style is the closest thing to this team’s Kryptonite, but far from full proof. Playing 40 minutes of mistake-free basketball is too tall of an order to ask for any team, WCC or otherwise.

Instead, the Broncos defense decided to take away everything within 15 feet of the basket.

“They were kind of daring us from the 3-line, especially early, and we took a lot of them,” Few said. “We made every shot when we played them the first time, and tonight we didn’t.”

From the opening tip, Santa Clara’s steady defense dared the Zags to beat them from deep. Rasir Bolton and Andrew Nembhard quickly capitalized with two 3-pointers early on, before Drew Timme knocked down one from the right wing. Still, the Broncos were content on giving up open looks if it meant locking down the paint.

And their patience began to pay off midway through the first half. Gonzaga’s one-dimensional offense began to sputter, as the Broncos took away any driving lanes and post up opportunities with all five defenders near the paint. Possession after possession, the Bulldogs iso-ball offense was forced to settle for uncharacteristic jumpers just to avoid turning the ball over.

Through 13 minutes of play, the trigger-happy Zags had attempted 17 3-pointers with only eight points in the paint.

With no easy offense, it was up to the defense to spark a run. Santa Clara’s Karlos Stewart had what appeared to be an easy layup erased by Holmgren at the last moment, before Timme finished the sequence off with a coast-to-coast layup. A few plays later, a great individual effort from Julian Strawther led to a wide-open dunk from Holmgren, who found himself 15 feet away from the closest defender on the fastbreak.

The quick burst to close the half gave Gonzaga a 41-31 lead headed into the locker room.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

It was a gruesome first half by all accounts, especially after being held to under 40% shooting from the floor, but there was still 20 minutes left to put the Broncos away for good.

Timme kicked the second half off with back-to-back and-one finishes in traffic to spark some energy into The Kennel crowd. A couple of 3-pointers from Strawther and Nembhard made it an 9-point ballgame, but a pair of baskets from Santa Clara halted any sort of momentum. Then, Holmgren gave the Zags another defensive boost, as he rejected Josip Vrankic at the rim, before Nembhard passed it up to Bolton for an and-one layup through Jaden Bediako.

But the Broncos kept knocking on the doorstep. Jacob Holt’s block on Timme down low led to an easy fastbreak layup from Vrankic, followed by a 3-pointer from P.J. Pipes in transition to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to six with under 10 minutes to play. Pipes would finish with a game-high 27 points on an efficient 10-for-12 shooting night.

“Pipes was playing really, really well,” Few said. “He hit a lot of tough shots.”

This was Gonzaga’s senior night, after all, so it only made sense that the veterans stepped up when it mattered most. Bolton connected on his third triple of the night to push the lead back to 10 points. As both sides traded blows, Nembhard delivered a huge blow late after making Jalen Williams pay by going under a Timme screen, as he knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

“Andrew’s carrying a heavy load right now and delivering big time,” Few said. “[Rasir] hits some big shots when we needed him to.”

The transfer from Florida, who is now in contention for the nation’s top point guard award, gave the knockout punch with a catch-and-shoot triple courtesy of Holmgren. The lead now up to 16 with just over 2 minutes to play, the Bulldogs had clinched the WCC regular season title once again.

“We battled through, made the right plays, and took care of business down the stretch,” Timme said. “We get to enjoy tonight.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Next up, the Zags travel to San Francisco to take on a Dons team that’s clinging to their NCAA Tournament hopes. ESPN’s latest bracketology has them as a “Last Four Byes” team following a crushing loss to Saint Mary’s on Thursday. Currently an 11-seed in the west region, USF will close the regular season out against Pacific, Gonzaga and San Diego before postseason play.