Gonzaga rolls past SCU, 88-51

A quick game story from GU’s rout of Santa Clara. Check back later for an expanded version.

By Jim Meehan

jimm@spokesman.com; (208) 765-7131

This one looked nothing like the first go-around.

Gonzaga dominated from start to finish, routing Santa Clara 88-51 Thursday in front of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center to clinch at least a share of the West Coast Conference men’s basketball championship and the top seed in conference tournament in Las Vegas . The Bulldogs needed a 26-6 finishing kick to rally past Santa Clara 71-64 last month.

Junior guard Steven Gray made his first four shots, three of those from beyond the 3-point arc, en route to 19 first-half points as No. 18 Gonzaga led 41-15 at intermission. Gray finished with 26 points, one short of his career high, and six rebounds.

Gonzaga (23-5, 11-2) has won 10 consecutive WCC titles, tied for the second longest streak in NCAA Division I history. The Bulldogs can claim an outright championship with a win over San Francisco on Saturday. The Dons upset GU last month in overtime.

Gray had 13 points as Gonzaga bolted in front 20-7 with the game just seven minutes old. The Bulldogs scored the last nine points of the second half to open up a 26-point bulge.

Gonzaga, which struggled with Santa Clara’s physical play in the first meeting, opened the second half with a 19-6 run to take a 60-21 lead.

Sophomore center Robert Sacre scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting as Gonzaga had a 50-20 edge in points in the paint. Elias Harris added nine points and Matt Bouldin offset a subpar shooting night with five assists, four rebounds and three assists. Bol Kong had 12 points, all in the second half, None of the starters played more than 27 minutes.

Marc Trasolini and Niyi Harrison each had 13 points for the Broncos (11-19, 3-10). Guard Robert Smith, who had 13 points in the January game, was 0 of 10 and didn’t score.

Gonzaga made 57.4 percent of its shots. Santa Clara was in the 20s most of the way before finishing at 34 percent.