Santa Clara is enjoying a memorable season, but it can boost its success to another level when it hosts No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday night in a battle for first place in the West Coast Conference.
The Broncos have won nine straight games since losing 89-77 to the Bulldogs on Jan. 8 in Spokane, Wash. This contest also marks the last regular-season battle between programs that have been in the same conference for the past 46 seasons and first met in 1959.
“We’ll keep it straightforward,” Santa Clara guard Sash Gavalyugov said. “It’s our last game against Gonzaga in the WCC, so we look to beat them for a goodbye. We look to be undefeated for the rest of the season.”
The Broncos (22-5, 13-1 WCC) stand a half-game ahead of the Bulldogs (24-2, 12-1) with Saint Mary’s (22-4, 11-2) looming close behind in third place.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few feels Santa Clara shouldn’t have any trouble being part of March Madness despite the school last qualifying in 1996.
“They’re an NCAA Tournament team,” Few said. “They pass the eye test.”
The Steve Nash-era Broncos went to the tournament three times in the 1990s and went 2-3, including the still-talked about upset of No. 2 seed Arizona in 1993.
Santa Clara is 13-0 at home entering the clash with Gonzaga, and coach Herb Sendek is doing his best to downplay the hype.
“It’s the next game on our schedule,” Sendek said after the Broncos’ 84-72 home win over Seattle University on Wednesday. “We don’t look at the name on the jersey or the tip time or the weather or whether it’s a holiday or any other thing that can enter someone’s mind.
“When it’s time to play, our conference schedule demands the best of us.”
Gavalyugov, a freshman, made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points against Seattle. He had scored in single digits seven straight times since his explosive 37-point outing against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 10.
One game ahead of his career-best outing, he had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting against Gonzaga. Bulldogs star Graham Ike scored 34 points on 13-of-17 shooting and collected 11 rebounds in the Gonzaga win.
“We guarded them really, really good and rebounded the ball well,” Few said of the contest that was tied at halftime and saw the Bulldogs lead by as many as 23 in the second half.
Ike has scored 30 or more in three of his past six appearances and has made 21 of 28 field-goal attempts over the past two games. He matched his career best of 35 points while making 13 of 18 shots in an 81-61 rout of Oregon State on Feb. 7, and he followed up with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in an 83-53 home shellacking of Washington State on Tuesday.
Freshman Davis Fogle added 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting off the bench vs. the Cougars and was lauded by Few for his defense. Fogle had a season-high three blocked shots and matched his high of three steals in 23 minutes.
“I think on the defensive end, the game’s slowed down a lot,” Fogle said. “… Still working on it every day in practice and taking all the advice I can from coaches.”
Despite the Broncos splitting the regular-season series with the Bulldogs the past two campaigns, this is another one of those WCC rivalries long owned by Gonzaga.
The Bulldogs had won 26 straight matchups and 35 of 36 prior to the recent splits.
Gonzaga has won 22 of the past 24 meetings at Santa Clara. The Broncos won in 2011 and 2024.
Gonzaga will move into the rebuilt Pac-12 next season.
