Bulldogs prevail in 2OT
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The inbounds pass was in midair and the ball was headed toward the opposite free-throw line, some 65 feet away from Gonzaga’s basket. The Bulldogs trailed by two points with just a few seconds left and junior point guard Jeremy Pargo couldn’t help but think the worst.
“At that point I was like, ‘Oh, we gave up one,’ ” Pargo said. “And then I heard a whistle.”
That whistle came after true freshman Steven Gray hustled back, deflected the pass away from Santa Clara’s Jonathan Gunderson and then went to the sideline to retrieve the loose ball. As Gray turned to prepare to take a desperation shot, he was fouled inexplicably by Broncos senior point guard Brody Angley with 0.3 seconds left.
Gray coolly hit both free throws to send it to overtime. Fellow freshman Austin Daye took over from there, scoring 13 of his season-high 22 points in two extra sessions as the Bulldogs outlasted Santa Clara 87-82 before a packed house of 4,500 Saturday at the Leavey Center. The victory keeps Gonzaga (17-5, 6-0 WCC) atop the conference standings heading into Monday’s showdown with Saint Mary’s (18-3, 5-1). Santa Clara dropped to 11-10, 3-3.
“I saw the ball bouncing by the sideline and I’m thinking get it, get one dribble and throw something up at the rim,” said Gray, who had made 90 percent of his free throws this season before toeing the line late in regulation. “You practice those situations all the time, just messing around, ‘Oh, these two free throws are to send it into overtime.’ But this time if you miss, you don’t get a re-do.”
By making the two free throws, Gonzaga got a re-do of sorts. Prior to that, the Bulldogs had trailed most of the second half, including a couple of times by seven points. They scratched back within 63-61 when Daye buried a 3-pointer with 1:30 left. Angley, who scored a career-high 28 points, missed a lean-in jumper but Ben Dowdell retrieved the ball near midcourt. He was fouled with 18.9 seconds left, but the 62 percent free-throw shooter missed both.
It appeared the Bulldogs’ chances had run out when Pargo’s shot was rejected by center John Bryant and went out of bounds, giving Santa Clara possession with 3.2 seconds left. Gonzaga covered the three Broncos closest to the baseline, forcing a long pass that Gray got his hand on.
“I knew there was 3 seconds left,” Angley said. “I probably should have just let him try to chuck it up instead of trying to beat him to (the loose ball). I ended up running into him and committing the foul.”
As Gonzaga left its huddle prior to the first overtime, Gray had a message for Daye.
“I told him, ‘One freshman gets us here and the other takes us home,’ ” Gray said.
Daye’s 3-point play gave GU the lead at 68-66 in the first overtime. The Zags led by four, but couldn’t hang on as Angley drove around Daye for a layup and then fed Andrew Zimmerman for another layup that tied it at 72 with 2 seconds left, forcing the second overtime.
Daye got the ball on the wing on Gonzaga’s first possession, and hit a 3-pointer. Same thing happened on the next play. Daye then scored on a nifty drive to the basket and GU led 80-74.
Angley’s 3-pointer pulled Santa Clara within 82-80 with 24 seconds left, but Abdullahi Kuso, Matt Bouldin and Pargo made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the win.
“We kind of stole one from the jaws of defeat in regulation, but then we kind of had it won in the first overtime and didn’t finish it off,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “This has turned out to be a pretty resilient group. Nobody can put us away.”How about those two true freshmen making big play after big play down the stretch?”
Daye had four of his five rebounds and two blocked shots in the two overtime periods. Gray finished with 16 points, equaling his season high. Josh Heytvelt added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Gonzaga 87, Santa Clara 82 (2OT)
| Gonzaga | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| (17-5, 6-0) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Pendergraft | 23 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Heytvelt | 32 | 4-7 | 6-8 | 3-7 | 1 | 3 | |
Pargo
46
4-10
5-5
0-3
7
4
13
Bouldin
44
3-8
3-4
0-2
3
3
11
Gray
44
4-6
5-5
1-2
2
3
16
Daye
25
7-11
5-5
0-5
1
4
22
Downs
16
0-0
0-0
0-1
0
0
0
Kuso
17
1-2
4-6
1-3
0
4
6
Foster
1
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Brown
2
0-1
0-0
0-0
0
1
0
Totals
250
25-50
28-33
5-24
14
24
87
Percentages: FG .500, FT .848. 3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Daye 3-4, Gray 3-5, Bouldin 2-5, Pendergraft 1-3, Brown 0-1, Heytvelt 0-2, Pargo 0-3). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 (Daye 3). Turnovers: 20 (Heytvelt 4, Gray 4, Pargo 3, Bouldin 3, Daye 3, Downs 3). Steals: 9 (Bouldin 2, Gray 2, Downs 2, Pendergraft, Pargo, Daye). Technical Fouls: None.
| Santa Clara | FG | FT | Reb | ||||
| (11-10, 3-3) | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Dowdell | 38 | 1-4 | 2-4 | 3-6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Henke | 44 | 3-5 | 1-3 | 3-8 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Bryant | 37 | 5-8 | 12-13 | 1-6 | 2 | 5 | 22 |
| Angley | 48 | 10-19 | 4-4 | 0-6 | 6 | 5 | 28 |
| Gunderson | 41 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| Johnson | 13 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mbanugo | 12 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Latimer | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zimmerman | 13 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Totals | 250 | 26-50 | 20-26 | 9-32 | 13 | 28 | 82 |
Percentages: FG .520, FT .769. 3-Point Goals: 10-26, .385 (Gunderson 5-9, Angley 4-12, Henke 1-3, Johnson 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Bryant, Mbanugo). Turnovers: 19 (Dowdell 5, Henke 4, Bryant 3, Angley 3, Gunderson 2, Mbanugo, TEAM). Steals: 5 (Dowdell, Henke, Bryant, Angley, Gunderson). Technical Fouls: None.
Halftime—Santa Clara 27, Gonzaga 25. Regulation—Gonzaga 63, Santa Clara 63. First Overtime—Gonzaga 72, Santa Clara 72. A—4,500.