Unexpected spark from freshman Ismaila Diagne helps lift Gonzaga to 95-76 win over Santa Clara
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara’s eighth 3-pointer rattled into the basket with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. Graham Ike’s second foul came just two minutes later and Braden Huff’s third arrived moments after that.
In the closest thing Gonzaga’s had to a must-win scenario this year, a nightmare script was beginning to unfold for the Zags, who faced an eight-point deficit at the Leavey Center when deep reserve Ismaila Diagne strutted to the scorers table.
Diagne, a freshman center averaging 5.7 minutes, 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds – virtually all of the floor time and production coming in garbage time of GU’s blowout wins – hadn’t played meaningful first-half minutes for the Zags all season before his name was called in a pressure game with legitimate WCC and NCAA Tournament implications.
Within 40 seconds, there was a Diagne dunk, followed by a Diagne block. Diagne dove for loose balls, contested Santa Clara layups, hauled down offensive boards and forced turnovers.
The 18-year-old’s emergence was arguably the most important – and easily most unexpected – development of Gonzaga’s 95-76 come-from-behind win over Santa Clara in front of an announced sellout crowd of 4,200 fans at the Leavey Center.
As for what it means big picture?
The result gives Gonzaga (22-8, 13-4) a two-game cushion on Santa Clara (19-11, 11-6) in the West Coast Conference standings, now guaranteeing the Zags won’t finish any worse than third place. It was GU’s first Quad 1 win since a mid-November victory over San Diego State at the Viejas Center, snapping a six-game skid in such scenarios.
Diagne finished with career-high totals virtually across the board, scoring nine points on 4 of 4 shooting go with four rebounds, one block and one steal in 18 minutes, doubling his career-high in the final category.
“He just turned 18 a little while ago and his attitude has been great every day,” point guard Ryan Nembhard said. “He probably has the most energy in the gym every single day and man he was ready tonight when his number was called. He didn’t know he was going to play, guys got in foul trouble and he was big time. Defensively, he anchored our defense, walled up, got blocks. He made shots difficult and that just adds another dimension to our team.”
The native of Senegal, who played for youth and professional teams at Spanish club Real Madrid before arriving in Spokane this summer, admitted to slight nerves before replacing Huff late in the first half. Those were all but gone by the time he received an interior pass from Nolan Hickman and punched in a left-handed dunk, then ran down the floor to turn away Carlos Stewart’s layup at the rim.
“A little bit, when I got in,” said Diagne, who was a game-high plus-24 in his 18 minutes. “But then I was like, OK, it’s my time, I’m going to have to take it. So stay ready every time.”
The 7-footer gave the Zags a boost when they needed it, but GU’s comeback wouldn’t have been possible without the offensive spark of Khalif Battle, distribution of Ryan Nembhard, rebounding of Michael Ajayi or low-post presence of Ike.
After trailing for 17 minutes, 54 seconds in the first half, Battle gave the Zags their first lead on an aggressive take to the basket, drawing a foul and completing a three-point play at the free throw line to make it 44-42.
Gonzaga never squandered the lead after that, extending it to a game-high 23 points with 2 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the second half. The Zags’ spurt coincided with a cold stretch from the Broncos, who’d made a WCC record 23 3-pointers in a 30-point win at Washington State on Saturday.
Santa Clara made its first eight 3-point attempts, fueled by another flurry from Tyeree Bryan, who had a career-high 35 points in the Broncos’ 103-99 upset of Gonzaga last month and delivered three early triples in Tuesday’s game. The Broncos missed their next 10 attempts, finishing 11 of 25 from distance.
Gonzaga’s defensive options were limited after sophomore guard Emmanuel Innocenti learned at roughly 5 p.m. Tuesday he couldn’t play due to illness.
“It’s a great win, that’s just a great win,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We withstood every kind of adversity you could possibly think of, then them making their first eight 3’s and most of them were heavily contested. … It’s crazy, crazy stuff. What a win.”
Nembhard broke one record and tied another one on Tuesday, becoming the WCC’s career single-season assists leader on a first-half lob to Ajayi, giving the senior point guard 285th assist of the year. Nembhard had 12 points and matched his career-high with 15 assists, finishing one shy of Blake Stepp’s single-game program record.
“It isn’t hard for me (to appreciate him),” Few said. “I get in bed every night and thank the lord that he’s our point guard and can sleep a lot better when you’ve got a point guard like that who can just manage the game. He’s been incredible, he’s had an incredible year. Absolutely incredible year, in my opinion hasn’t got enough national attention for it.”
Battle scored 21 points on 8 of 15 from the field, 2 of 4 from the 3-point line and 3 of 3 from the free throw line. Even with the foul trouble, Ike still managed to score a game-high 24 points, making 11 of 13 shots from the field while pulling down seven rebounds. Ajayi had six points and eight rebounds.
The Zags can clinch the No. 2 seed and avoid a double bye at the WCC Tournament with a win over San Francisco (22-7, 12-4) on Saturday at the Chase Center.