Gonzaga men piece together strong start and finish to top Santa Clara 77-63

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Gonzaga coach Mark Few calls it a “cumulative effect,” and it was on display when his team needed it most against Santa Clara.

Gonzaga’s size, depth and balance wore down the Broncos as the Zags rallied for a 77-63 victory in front of a packed house of 4,700 Thursday at the Leavey Center. GU (23-1, 11-0 WCC) holds a two-game lead over second-place Saint Mary’s.

The Zags used the scoring of Kyle Wiltjer (22 points) – the last two prompting a postgame apology from the junior forward – wing Byron Wesley (17) and guard Gary Bell Jr. (16) and a big defensive assist from Eric McClellan to defeat the Broncos (11-13, 5-7) for the 10th straight time.

“What this team has done all year, it’s kind of a cumulative effect we seem to have,” said Few, following Gonzaga’s 16th straight win. “Sometimes we have it early in the game with the offense being efficient and our defense tightening the screws. Other times, like tonight, it took a while to settle in.”

Gonzaga’s defense settled down early in the second half, just as Santa Clara was attempting to build on a small lead. The Zags made a season-high 69 percent from the field, which would imply an easy victory. That wasn’t the case. In fact, Gonzaga was shooting 72 percent and trailed 46-42 3 minutes into the second half.

At that point, McClellan began to put a defensive clamp on SCU’s Jared Brownridge, who had scored 13 first-half points. Brownridge didn’t score for the next 9:30 and the Zags took full advantage, building a 60-50 lead.

“He got used to me guarding him, what I was doing,” Bell said. “Eric played him tight and we have to change it up. I was a little tired. I’m glad we have guys that come in and give me a break.”

Wiltjer, who didn’t attempt a shot in the first 15 minutes, flipped in a 5-footer to start a 20-4 spurt. Kevin Pangos, who didn’t attempt a shot in the first 25:30, made a 3 and then fed Wesley for a layup. Domantas Sabonis, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds, scored from close range and Wiltjer added four more points to cap the run.

“When you’re a scorer, it kind of sucks when you’re not scoring,” Wiltjer said. “I was trying to do other things, like rebound. It kind of shows how deep we are when Kevin and I didn’t take a lot of shots in the first half but we were able to keep playing.”

GU held a 42-22 edge in point paints and a 32-22 rebounding advantage.

Wiltjer dunked as the last seconds ran off the clock, prompting an on-court lecture from Few.

“I let my emotions get the best of me,” Wiltjer said. “Someone said something on the sideline when I got fouled (with 14 seconds left), but I don’t want to make any excuses. I want everyone to know I’m sorry.”

Gonzaga’s offense couldn’t look much better for the first 8 minutes or much worse for the last 12 of the first half. The Bulldogs had another red-hot start, much like they did against BYU, Portland and San Diego at the outset of the WCC season, only to the see the opponent rally.

Gonzaga made nine of its first 11 shots, including three straight 3-pointers by Bell, to move in front 23-12. The Broncos responded with a 15-2 run, initiated by Colville High product Matt Hubbard’s seven straight points. In roughly a 7-minute span, the Zags made one field goal and turned it over five times.

The turnover bug continued – Gonzaga finished the half with 10 to SCU’s 1 – as the Broncos took a 36-34 lead. Few noted that all 10 turnovers were unforced.

“That’s what coach Few talked to us about,” said Wesley, who also had seven rebounds and three assists. “We were turning it over way too much. That’s unlike us. We were taking good shots. We knew if we made them take tough shots we’d be fine.”

Pepperdine 80, BYU 74: Stacy Davis had 22 points, Lamond Murray Jr. added a career-high 18 and the Waves swept the season series with the Cougars at Malibu, California.

Davis had 17 second-half points, Murray 14 and Jett Raines scored all of his 14 after the break. The Waves trailed by 16 late in the first half.

Portland 69, San Francisco 57: Alec Wintering and Kevin Bailey scored 20 points apiece to lead the Pilots past the Dons in San Francisco.

Loyola Marymount 70, San Diego 61: Marin Mornar scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lions past the Toreros in Los Angeles.