“We’ve played against a lot of great players, he rung us for 36,” Few said. “(WSU’s) Klay (Thompson) had a big game on us. White had 30, but it was a different 30, kind of around the basket more.”

--Foster slipped into that “zone” that every player seeks but few find. He is built much in the same mold as Bell, LMU’s Vernon Teel, Xavier’s Tu Holloway, K-State’s Jacob Pullen, in that he’s quick but also stout, which helps him absorb (create?) contact on drives, finish well and/or get to the foul line.

He went to the line nine times in the first half. He found his shot in the second half, making 9 of 14 attempts.

Steven Gray defended Foster early on with reasonable success, but he got in foul trouble. Manny Arop and Mathis Keita took turns on Foster and neither had much luck. At one point early in the second half, Gonzaga went to a box-and-one with Arop chasing Foster, who immediately hit a lean-in jumper from the free-throw line.

They tried that defense again late in the second half and Foster burned them for a 3-pointer and a 73-68 lead.

“Steven was in foul trouble almost the entire game,” Few said. “He’s the guy that would usually be on him, so now you have a true freshman (Keita) and Manny, who is learning that spot to guard a really good player. That’s always been Steven’s strength. He’s our best defender.”

--That’s three WCC road losses for GU in its last eight games (USF, LMU last year and Santa Clara last night), ironically none at what I would consider the toughest teams/places to play (Portland and Saint Mary’s). All three capped by opposing fans rushing the court. As Portland coach Eric Reveno tweeted after his team’s loss to San Francisco last night: Like any good league, WCC road wins are proving to be tough. It has to start with defense. Need to get stops, give up nothing easy.

Few had roughly the same sound bite after Gonzaga’s loss.

--The bench was one of the bright spots, but, like the starters, had problems at the defensive end. The Zags piled up a 26-4 edge in bench points. David Stockton was 3 of 3 (2 of 2 on 3s) and scored eight points and had a steal. Kelly Olynyk hit a big 3 and scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 19 minutes. Mathis Keita chipped in nine points and two assists in 23 minutes.

“They did a nice job at times, but they had some breakdowns at times too so we were trying to sub around those. … We’re a young team and we have to be able to plow through that type of adversity on the road.”

At one point in the first half, all three starting guards were on the bench, replaced by Stockton, Keita and Marquise Carter. Gonzaga’s bench players were 9 of 10 from the field.

--Maybe more so than any Gonzaga game I’ve covered, this game had absolutely no flow offensively, no rhythm for either team, thanks to whistle after whistle (49 combined fouls) and turnovers (34 combined). Not sure I’ve seen a first half like last night’s. After SCU led 7-0 at the outset, the Broncos’ biggest lead over the last 16 minutes was five points and it was tied twice. The biggest spurt by either team was just four points.

“That’s kind of how they play and we knew that coming in,” Few said of SCU’s aggressiveness. “That’s how a lot of our games down here have been. They were able to step up and make plays despite that. They consistently scored on their offensive end.”

They don’t put time of game in the official box score like they do in football, but this one seemed to last two and half hours. I know by the time interviews were done (SCU went first, bringing four players and coach Keating, followed by Mark Few and Steven Gray), it was close to 9 p.m.

STATS OF NOTE

--From the can’t-read-my-own-writing dept., Foster made four 3s in the last 5:52. In a brief recap posted at the conclusion of the game, I had 5:12.

--I mentioned in the game story that the Big Three was just 9 of 24 from the field. To clarify, Sacre was 4 of 8, while Harris and Sacre were 5 of 16.

--Harris was pretty much a non-factor with four fouls, just two field goals and three turnovers. He continues to show flashes of last year’s form for a half or a game, but not on a consistent basis.

--Santa Clara made 51 percent of its shots, the third WCC team in four games to hit at least half of their attempts.

--Both teams were outstanding at the free-throw line (they certainly had enough opportunities). Gonzaga was 27 of 31 (Sacre 8 of 8, Gray 10 of 11) for 87.1 percent. Entering the game, the Zags led the WCC at 75.2.

Santa Clara made 27 of 33 (81.8 percent). The Broncos were fifth in the WCC (71.2 percent) entering the game.

--Gray had six turnovers, Harris three. SCU’s Foster had five turnovers and point guard Evan Roquemore had four.

--SCU’s Niyi Harrison fouled out in seven minutes of playing time.

--Foster’s 36 points was the most by a WCC player this season and the sixth most by a Bronco in a home game.

QUOTES

Keating: “It was going to be emotional. We had a lot of students here, a good crowd, that’s what Gonzaga does for you. Hopefully we can build on it, we can’t settle.”

Few: “We’ve had teams every year that have pressed us and pushed us. We’ve lost games before.”

Keating: “To be able to rebound after getting our butts handed to us (by Saint Mary’s by 25 last week), albeit that was on the road to a really good team, and come back and play the team that’s been the best team and is still a really, really good team … it says lot about our team.”

SCU forward Marc Trasolini on Foster: “He just carried us on his shoulders.”

Few on Foster: “He hurt us on the drive early and late he hurt us with 3s. We just couldn’t get stops at all, basically the entire second half. They shot 54 percent and we had a bunch of silly turnovers. We weren’t efficient on the offensive end.”

SCU wing Troy Payne on Foster’s defense: “He got two huge steals (when) we were on our heels and two fast-break layups that got the fans back involved.”