Good morning. Gonzaga got a scare and a win last night, holding off Santa Clara 73-62 at the Leavey Center. It was an inside job with Robert Sacre and Sam Dower combining for 38 points and Elias Harris and Guy Landry Edi combining for 12 points and eight boards.

The links: My game story, San Jose Mercury News and A.P. Elsewhere, San Francisco, which entertains GU tomorrow, couldn't complete its comeback against BYU and Billy Grier's USD squad earned its sixth WCC win, defeating Portland in overtime. Saint Mary's isn't healthy for its matchup with Murray State.

Read on for my day-after post.

My computer isn't cooperating so I'll put up a quick post with my unedited game story below.

Check back tomorrow for a day-after post.

Gonzaga is en route to the Bay Area where it will face Santa Clara, picked fifth in the WCC preseason poll, on Thursday and San Francisco on Saturday.

Santa Clara has suffered through a rocky season with key injuries, suspensions, etc. I checked in with Broncos coach Kerry Keating and he didn't sugarcoat what has become his toughest season in his five at SCU. He also sees the potential for a quick turnaround.

More from Keating on the Broncos' season here in an article that will run in Thursday's S-R. 

Good morning. NFL playoffs coming up, so let’s get right to the day-after Santa Clara post.

Gonzaga won its eighth straight game, routing the Broncos 82-60, last night. Here’s my game story, John Blanchette’s column on Marquise Carter and Jesse Tinsley’s photos. More from A.P., Tacoma News Tribune and Contra Costa Times.

Much more below.

Gonzaga spotted Santa Clara a 10-0 lead before rolling to an 82-60 win Saturday at the MAC. Sam Dower had 17 points, Gary Bell Jr added 15, Elias Harris 12 and Kevin Pangos 10 as the Bulldogs (13-2, 3-0) connected on 54.5 percent of their shots.

Raymond Cowels paced Santa Clara (8-7, 0-2 WCC) with 13 points, but the Broncos made just 38.3 percent from the field.

You can read my unedited game story below. I'll have a day-after post up in the morning.

About to shut down the computer at the media room in the McCarthey Athletic Center, but before I do here's my game story and Dan Pelle's photo gallery from Gonzaga's 85-76 victory over Santa Clara.

I'll be back in the morning with a day-after post.

Junior guard Marquise Carter scored 13 of his career-high 20 points in the second half and David Stockton provided a couple of momentum-turning plays as Gonzaga defeated Santa Clara 85-76 on Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The victory keeps Gonzaga (18-9, 8-3 WCC) in a second-place tie with San Francisco, which defeated Portland 82-73 at the Chiles Center. The Dons visit GU on Saturday.

Kevin Foster made 5 of 5 3s en route to 18 first-half points, but he cooled off in the second half. He finished 8 of 22 from the field and scored 27 points. Santa Clara dropped to 16-12, 6-5.

Carter also had five assists. Elias Harris, after a scoreless first half, contributed 10 points and fix of his seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Steven Gray added 14 points.

More in about two hours.

Back with the game story from Gonzaga's 85-71 loss to Santa Clara on Thursday. The unedited version is below.

I'll be back in the morning with a day-after post.

Kevin Foster hit four 3-pointers in the last 5:12 and finished with 36 points as Santa Clara upset Gonzaga 85-71 on Thursday at the Leavey Center.

The Broncos (11-9, 2-2) hadn’t beaten GU on their home floor since Feb., 2001. The victory ended GU’s nine-game winning streak in the series.

Foster made 11 of 20 shots, 6 of 14 3s and 8 of 10 free throws en route to his career high. Steven Gray led GU with 17 points (he made 3 of 9 FGs) and Robert Sacre had 16.

More in about two hours.

Let’s see. The Cougar men’s basketball team will be taking the long flight to Hawaii today, where it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 degrees when they disembark. Here in Eastern Washington, more snow fell over night, which will mean more shoveling and more slogging through to get the Christmas shopping done. Read on.

We’ve put together a report out of the Cougars’ come-from-behind 85-79 win at Santa Clara tonight in the first contest on a 14-day, six-game road trip. Read on for more.

Foul trouble. Turnovers. Average shooting. It all adds up to Santa Clara building a 35-29 lead at halftime. The Broncos have hit the offensive glass hard, with a 7-2 lead in second-chance points. But the biggest Santa Clara edge in the first half? The Broncos hit 12 of 12 free throw attempts. The Cougars have just three attempts and have hit one. DeAngelo Casto has three fouls, Klay Thompson two, both coming in the first 3 minutes. He did play the final 10:46, though, without picking up a third. He leads WSU with seven points. Kevin Foster has 14 for the Broncos, who have a 20-16 edge on the glass. More at the end of the game.

We’re going to be monitoring the Washington State game tonight from Spokane and, like a lot of you, I’ll be listening to Bud Nameck and following gametracker. Then I’ll be putting together a writeup for tomorrow’s paper. We have some thoughts, so read on.

Washington State’s basketball team left a snowy Eastern Washington today, headed for California and a date with Santa Clara tomorrow night in the Bay Area. Lucky sons of guns. After facing the Broncos, it’s off to Hawaii and the Diamond Head Classic in the islands. Lucky sons of guns. To get you Cougar fans ready, we have a story on the unsung hero in WSU’s 7-1 start. Read on.

Back with the day-after post from Gonzaga’s 88-51 trampling of Santa Clara.

Same drill as always. First, the links: S-R gamer, John Blanchette’s column on GU’s decade of WCC rule, photos, A.P., WCC recaps can be found here, and here’s an Oregonian article on San Francisco, GU’s opponent Saturday, losing at Portland (Dior Lowhorn scores seven points in the first three minutes, then shutout the rest of the way?) While we’re at it, here’s an S-I article on foreign players making an impact at U.S. schools (much of it centers on GU’s Elias Harris).

Read on for more.

Back with the expanded game story from Gonzaga’s 88-51 drubbing of Santa Clara on Thursday. The unedited version is below. Check back tomorrow morning for a day-after post.

Gonzaga sputtered at both ends of the court, falling behind Santa Clara 38-33 at half.

The turnover-prone Bulldogs trailed by as many as 10, but closed within 36-33 on Steven Gray’s 3-pointer with 55.6 seconds left. Robert Smith made a tough 10-footer over Elias Harris with 27 seconds left to give SCU a 38-33 lead at the break.

Gonzaga had 12 turnovers in the first half, which essentially offset its 12-of-24 shooting (50 precent) from the field. GU only had 11 turnovers against Loyola Marymount and 10 versus Pepperdine during last week’s home stand.

The Bulldogs’ offense again relied on Matt Bouldin (12 points), Harris (10) and Gray (7). Outside of those three, the only other Zags to score were Will Foster and Robert Sacre, both with two points.

Santa Clara, which made 12 of 25 shots, was led by reserve forward Niyi Harrison’s nine points.

Check back just after the buzzer for another update.

I have about 10 minutes before I board my flight from SeaTac to Oakland on my way to Gonzaga’s game against Santa Clara tonight. Love those 8 p.m. starts!

On the S-R’s Four Corners page, there’s a couple of brief, Zag-related notes on Steven Gray and Matt Bouldin here and find a short preview of GU-SCU here. Sorry, my connection isn’t quick enough to surf the visiting media outlets for their previews. 

Gonzaga’s semifinal date with Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament turned into more of a tuneup.

The Bulldogs dominated from the outset, leading by 21 at half and by as many as 40 in the second half en route to a 94-59 victory over the Broncos on Sunday at the Orleans Arena.

Austin Daye poured in a career-high 28 points. Jeremy Pargo had 16 points, Micah Downs 13, Steven Gray 12 and Matt Bouldin 11 as the Bulldogs shot 56 percent from the field.

Game story in about two hours. 

Back with an expanded look at the Gonzaga-Santa Clara matchup in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament and more on John Bryant’s record-smashing performance against San Diego on Saturday.

More below. (You’ll note near the bottom of the unedited version below that Portland will face Saint Mary’s in the other semifinal. As I type this, the Pilots are up 54-24 with 10 minutes left).