Josh Perkins leads balanced Gonzaga to 75-60 victory over Santa Clara
SANTA CLARA, California – Josh Perkins scored 17 points to lead a balanced offensive attack as No. 13 Gonzaga bounced back to defeat Santa Clara 75-60 on Saturday at the Leavey Center.
Four players finished in double figures scoring for Gonzaga (17-4, 7-1 WCC), including Rui Hachimura (16), Zach Norvell Jr. (16) and Killian Tillie (12). It is the ninth straight game Hachimura has scored at least 10 points for the Bulldogs.
Gonzaga came out of the gate slow against the Broncos (7-13, 4-4) after dropping its first WCC game of the season at home Thursday against Saint Mary’s.
The second half proved to be a much different story.
The Zags shot over 60 percent in the half, while shooting 51 percent overall from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range. Gonzaga also dished out 18 assists and pulled down 37 rebounds.
Johnathan Williams led the Bulldogs with eight boards, while Norvell had seven rebounds and seven assists.
KJ Feagin led all scorers with 21 points for Santa Clara.
Gonzaga will next travel to Portland for an 8 p.m. contest Thursday against the Pilots (ESPNU).
Second half
Final – Gonzaga 75, Santa Clara 60: Bulldogs come to life in the second half to earn bounce-back win over Santa Clara. Balanced scoring for the Zags as four players finish in double figures.
Feagin leads all scorers with 21 points, but but doesn’t get much help from his teammates.
3:19 – Gonzaga 75, Santa Clara 54: A pair of Feagin free throws breaks a nearly four-minute long scoreless streak for Santa Clara.
Game starting to slow with fouls being called on most possessions. Zags though having little trouble with the slowed down pace and are converting at the free-throw line.
Perkins up to 17 points for the Bulldogs, while Hachimura has 16. Rui also up to four fouls to join Melson.
Another block by Tillie leads to a Norvell breakaway and a huge left-handed slam. The nail in the coffin for this one most likely.
7:16 – Gonzaga 66, Santa Clara 46: Bulldogs making a living in the paint this half, as everything seems to be going in for Tillie, Williams and Rui.
Hachimura up to 14 points, while Williams is one point from being the fifth Zags player to reach double figures. He’s also grabbed eight rebounds.
Feagin carrying Santa Clara in this one with a game-high 17 points.
Bulldogs back in control in rebounds (30-19) and assists (16-7). Bulldogs have really put their foot on the gas over the past five minutes.
11:49 – Gonzaga 54, Santa Clara 44: Nifty behind the back move and left-handed finish for Tillie gets him into double figures. The sophomore now up to 10 points.
Melson picks up his third and fourth fouls within 15 seconds as he heads back to the bench. The senior from Portland has scored two points in very limited playing time so far today.
Norvell buries another triple for the Bulldogs to become the fourth Gonzaga player to hit double figures with 12 points. Balanced scoring so far from the visitors.
15:46 – Gonzaga 45, Santa Clara 36: Lots of slipping and sliding to start the half on both ends of the court as both Melson and Feagin turn the ball over from falling.
Nice start to the second from both Tillie and Williams, as the Gonzaga bigs are making it look easy in the paint. Tillie up to eight points, while Williams has grabbed seven rebounds.
Norvell Jr. also having a nice second half, as he’s scored five quick points to bring his game total to seven. Norvell has also dished out a game-high five assists. Santa Clara has five assists as a team.
First half
Halftime – Gonzaga 36, Santa Clara 29: Perkins the first into double figures for Gonzaga as he leads the team with 13 points at the break. He’s also hit 3 of 4 from deep.
Hachimura also into double figures for the ninth straight game. He’s at 10 points.
Sloppy middle 10 minutes keeping this one close, along with a nice shooting half from Santa Clara. Feagin leads the Broncos with 12 points.
Zags shoot 45 percent from the floor and 38 percent from deep in the half. They also have turned the ball over five times, but have pulled down 19 rebounds to Santa Clara’s 16.
Bulldogs also played most of the half without Melson, who got into early foul trouble.
3:38 – Gonzaga 29, Santa Clara 23: Hachimura with a pair of huge dunks gives the Zags a much-needed spark on the offensive end. He’s up to eight points to join Perkins.
Zags getting it going on defense too, as displayed by a massive Tillie dunk to force a shot-clock violation right before the media timeout.
Much better looking four-minute stretch there for Gonzaga, which is still missing that next gear to pull away from the Broncos.
Santa Clara’s KJ Feagin the first player into double figures with 10 points.
7:31 – Gonzaga 21, Santa Clara 19: Two quick fouls on Gonzaga’s Silas Melson – both of which came guarding on the perimeter – send him to the bench for likely the rest of the half.
Shot selections has been less than ideal for the Zags so far, still looking out of sorts from the loss to Saint Mary’s.
Perkins having a nice half so far after a shaky game on Thursday. He’s up to eight points, the last two coming on a powerful take to the basket in traffic.
10:37 – Gonzaga 19, Santa Clara 13: Perkins hits his second triple of the night as the Bulldogs are shooting at a 40-percent clip from the field.
Rui Hachimura picks up right where he left off in Saturday’s loss, scoring four quick points off the bench. Tillie also up to six points after Zach Norvell Jr. found the big sophomore under the basked for a wide-open slam.
Hauser up to seven for the Broncos, who are shooting 50 percent from the floor, but being outrebounded 11-5.
15:08 – Gonzaga 10, Santa Clara 5: Gonzaga rebounding really well in the opening minutes as a few offensive boards lead to second-chance points.
Josh Perkins knocks down the first 3-pointer of the night for the Bulldogs, which have really emphasized getting the ball inside to Killian Tillie (4 points) and Johnathan Williams.
Matt Hauser has all five of Santa Clara’s points.