Gonzaga forward Drew Timme continues hot streak with 32 points in rout over Santa Clara
WCC after dark or WCC after lunch. Home court or road game. Ample preparation time or quick turnaround.
It doesn’t seem to matter to Gonzaga scoring machine Drew Timme.
About the only thing as ridiculous as the Zags’ video game-like numbers on offense recently is Timme’s off-the-charts shooting percentages.
The junior forward, who missed one shot while dropping 30 points on BYU in a game that tipped at 8:10 p.m. Thursday, poured in 32 points in Gonzaga’s 115-83 road blowout over Santa Clara on Saturday afternoon.
Timme’s consecutive 30-point games were fueled by a stretch with 20 straight made shots inside the arc, including his 13-of-13 performance against BYU. The streak came to an end when his shot from the free-throw line rimmed off with 5:40 left in the first half.
Timme shrugged it off and scored on Gonzaga’s next two possessions.
“It’s amazing how easy he scores it,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “He had a lot of traffic in there. I didn’t realize the other night (against BYU) that the only shot he missed was that contested 3. That’s crazy, especially when he’s the first guy in the scouting report, right?”
Even crazier: Timme is 27 of 32 from the field (83.4%) in the past two games. Two of those five misses were 3-point attempts. He’s 34 of 43 (79% ) in the past three games as GU has scored at least 110 points in each contest, a program first.
“It’s crazy because there’s been so many great players and teams that have come through here,” Timme said. “It’s just coach (Few). He pushes us to get as many possessions as we can, just playing up and down. … I’m not surprised, honestly. Coach has brought in a lot of talent. We’re clicking now and all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together.”
Timme has three 30-point games this season. He torched then-No. 5 Texas for a career-high 37 points in a November win. He scored 30 points against Oklahoma in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
The 6-foot-10, 235-pound Timme worked over interior defenders Parker Braun, a 6-10, 215-pound transfer from Missouri, and super senior Josip Vrankic, a 6-9 three-time All-West Coast Conference selection who was in early foul trouble. It was the same result when the Broncos brought in 6-9 freshman Jacob Holt off the bench.
Timme tapped deep into his well of post moves, scoring on floaters, jump hooks, layups, spin moves, a finish with his left hand, a dunk in transition and a putback dunk.
There wasn’t much drama after Gonzaga took command early, but the Broncos did close within 71-54 with 15:15 remaining. Timme buried his fourth 3-pointer of the season 15 seconds later and the Zags eventually led by as many as 38 points.
“He goes out and does what he does every night,” GU guard Rasir Bolton said of Timme. “We love it. Get him the ball and make sure he keeps doing what he’s doing. He plays his tail off on both ends.”
Timme was a factor at both ends of the court. Santa Clara committed 18 fouls, seven trying to defend Timme, who finished with eight rebounds, one block and one assist in 26 minutes.
The Broncos possess one of the conference’s better offenses at 76.9 points and 49.1% shooting, but Braun and Vrankic combined for just 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Gonzaga owned the paint scoring 62-36.
“They’re a really good shooting team,” Timme said. “We wanted to see if they could hit some tough 2s and even midranges. They did for some stretches, but on the whole it wasn’t enough.”