‘Took a Village’: Gonzaga Beats Santa Clara 94-86 to Reclaim First Place in WCC

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Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Tyon Grant-Foster (7) dunks against the Santa Clara Broncos during the second half at Leavey Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images [/caption]

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Things haven’t been as smooth offensively for the Gonzaga Bulldogs (25-2, 13-1) since Braden Huff went down with a knee injury a month ago. The operation has gone stagnant more frequently, which has led to declining defensive play, fewer of the team’s three-point attempts have been falling, and outside of the Zags’ leading scorer, Graham Ike, there has been a lack of consistent production from everyone else. The overall drop-off has led to much tighter wins, not including a devastating loss to Portland last Thursday.

But in GU’s biggest game of the season on the road against Santa Clara (22-6, 13-2), several members of the supporting cast stepped up to the challenge to overcome the Broncos 94-86, snapping their nine-game winning streak and handing them their first home loss of the season to reclaim first place in the WCC.

“Took a village, and that’s what we got,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. “…Just a heck of a win, took all we had. Extremely resilient, probably deeper than we had to dig all year.”

Ike was extremely effective once again, logging his 14th double-double of the year, including a season-high 15 rebounds to go along with 21 points. In fact, the 6-9 forward nearly achieved the feat in the first half alone, coming a rebound short after playing all of the game’s first 20 minutes. He likely would have played the entirety of the contest if not for picking up his fourth foul with 6:23 to go. For being the true focal point of defensive gameplans with Huff out, and constantly getting doubled, Ike’s ability to still produce at an elite level can’t be overshadowed.

“None of us can take 21 and 15 for granted, and the 30s…” Few said. “I think it’s time he [Ike] starts seeing his name pop up on first team All-American or second team All-American teams.”

“I know we’re all obsessed and infatuated with these freshmen, but I mean, he’s literally been delivering night in and night out at the highest level, and I think he needs to start garnering some attention, at least nationally.”

However, Ike was held to just four points in the second half, so Gonzaga needed others to help seal the deal in the Leavey Center. Positions varied from the main contributors, but the mentality was all the same – get downhill. 66 of the Bulldogs’ points were scored in the paint, and it didn’t matter how they managed to get near the basket; if they could, the shot would likely go in.

Few’s message to his team has been that every dog will have its day, but the team has been waiting on some guys to break out of their slumps.

One of those players is Adam Miller, who scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half. The transfer from ASU personally hasn’t had the season he would’ve hoped, particularly with his three-point shooting, but the coaching staff has continued to push Miller into not shying away from shots, and it resulted in his biggest scoring night of the season.

“I’ve just been talking to him lately, we just need him to be more aggressive, more aggressive, more assertive. Picking his spots a little bit more,” Few shared. “I think he’s done a really good job of not forcing things.”

His initiative in the final 20 minutes led to four trips to the charity stripe, where he converted seven of his eight tries. He also drained a three and flushed a rare dunk in the period.

Early on, the mode of attack was second-chance buckets, by means of tip-ins or putback layups. This was where 6-5 forward Emmanuel Innocenti stepped up, who also scored a season-high in points with 16, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor while grabbing six rebounds. Usually sitting in the corner on offense and being the point-of-attack defender on the other end, Innocenti was often around the action in this one, cutting towards the cup and delivering timely scores.

Then, Tyon Grant-Foster got involved, fearlessly driving down the lane to finish possessions or get to the free-throw line, as he took 11 free throws in the contest. His 20 points scored were his highest since Nov. 24 vs Alabama in the Player’s Era Tournament. Grant-Foster’s efficiency has a nature of being up-and-down, but the final-year guard remains confident, and if he is on, he is a handful, one that SCU experienced tonight. His alley-oop in transition that Miller tossed him was an exclamation point on a big performance.

Also getting in his bag off the dribble was freshman Davis Fogle, who had a strong stretch in the second half where he finished a couple of layups through contact. Mario Saint-Supéry added eight points, five assists, and four rebounds off the bench.

With the Zags once again struggling from beyond the arc (3-for-18), it was significant that they played at such a high level on their attempts from two while also playing with a smaller rotation than they’ve grown accustomed to. Losing minutes over the last few games, Steele Venters didn’t check into the victory at all. Also not playing as much recently has been Jalen Warley, but his situation is due to a bruised thigh that has lately left him not even practicing, and the forward played just 13 minutes tonight. Point guard Braeden Smith started the game, but after defensive lapses caused him to get pulled four minutes into action, Smith only logged three more minutes from then on.

It wasn’t a comfortable win by any stretch of the imagination, as the Broncos went up early by as much as eight points, with Christian Hammond and Elijah Maji giving GU trouble on numerous instances throughout the game. Few said after the game that he believes Santa Clara is a tournament team and can even win a game or two in March.

There’s a good chance the WCC sends three teams to the NCAA tournament, including the two teams who played each other tonight and Saint Mary’s, and it's extremely likely that some combination of those three will decide the conference winner in a few weeks. But if Gonzaga gets play like this from its auxiliary pieces, it will be a tough team to take down, no matter who is on the other side.