No. 8 Gonzaga, Santa Clara meet in nationally televised matchup of WCC unbeatens: ‘I’m sure the guys will be fired up’
Gonzaga’s next challenge in the West Coast Conference comes from a team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that’s relied on a distinct playing style to record multiple wins over Mark Few’s team the last two seasons.
Nope, not Saint Mary’s. Guess again.
Up until 2024-25, the Gaels were indeed the only team that could meet the criteria items listed above. Outside of Randy Bennett’s program, nobody in the current WCC had won more than a single game against GU over the last decade, let alone handed the Zags setbacks in consecutive years.
Then Santa Clara broke through, springing a 77-76 upset of Gonzaga two seasons ago at the Leavey Center. The Broncos, who’d gone 12 seasons without a win over the Zags, came up with another signature result against GU 373 days later, using 3-point shooting and rebounding to topple Few’s program 103-99 last season at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Few and his coaching staff are watching film to get a better feel for Santa Clara’s personnel, but not unlike their matchups with Saint Mary’s, the eighth-ranked Zags (16-1, 4-0) hardly need a study guide to understand what the Broncos (13-4, 4-0) will try to do when they visit the Kennel for Thursday’s late-night, nationally televised game (8:30 p.m., ESPN2).
“I watched them blast Xavier at the start of the year then followed their scores,” Few said. “(Coach) Herb (Sendek), they do a great job. They do a great job evaluating guys, they do a great job developing guys, put them in the system. They’ve really raised the profile of that program recently and obviously put it on us last year in here, so I’m sure the guys will be fired up.”
It’s only the first week of January and there’s already plenty on the line for Gonzaga and Santa Clara, which represent two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the WCC, with Saint Mary’s unsurprisingly being the other.
The Broncos have won three of their four WCC games in convincing fashion – a stretch that includes a 102-64 win over Oregon State, 82-63 win over Pepperdine and 98-70 win over San Diego.
The Zags overcame inconsistency at both ends of the floor against San Diego, Seattle U and Loyola Marymount to pocket three wins last week, and will try to build off the final 34 minutes of Sunday’s win over the Lions – a stretch in which GU limited its opponent to 33 total points and 13 of 51 (25%) from the field.
“Coach came in the locker room talking about ‘we’re back,’ ” guard Adam Miller said.
Back to November, they hope.
During the opening stretch of the nonconference schedule, Few’s team won seven straight games by an average margin of 32.8 points before facing Michigan in the championship of the Players Era Festival. The Zags scored anywhere from 77 to 122 points in those games, but, equally important, routinely held opponents below 70 as part of their renewed focus to the defensive end.
That portion of the nonleague calendar also coincided with multiple games against teams that mirror Santa Clara in their offensive approach. The Broncos rank No. 19 nationally taking 30.3 3-pointers per game. Gonzaga’s already faced teams that rank No. 1 (Alabama, 36.6), No. 9 (North Florida, 32.5), No. 24 (Creighton, 29.8) and No. 25 (Oklahoma, 29.5) in that category.
Santa Clara put up 38 3s – and made 18 – during last year’s game in Spokane, spurred by wing Tyeree Bryan, who knocked down seven shots from behind the arc en route to a career-high 35 points. Miller, who transferred from Arizona State to Gonzaga this offseason, scored 16 points when the Sun Devils beat Santa Clara 81-74 last season. No shocker, the Broncos attempted 33 shots from distance in that game.
“I know they shoot 3s, they run their stuff. This stuff goes by so fast,” said Miller, trying to recall last year’s encounter with Santa Clara. “I remember I had a good game. We’ll see, we’re going to know what they’re going to do. We’re going to prepare.”
Teams that stretch the floor often sacrifice other things to gain an advantage on the perimeter. You won’t find Alabama, Creighton or Oklahoma in the top 30 of any offensive rebounding columns, but Santa Clara has managed to clean up a good percentage of its misses, sitting No. 18 nationally at 14.1 offensive boards per game.
The Broncos have won the rebounding column in three of their last four games against Gonzaga, but Few’s team is guarding the 3-point line and rebounding at a significantly higher level than it was last year, ranking No. 29 in 3-point defense (29.0%) and 12 in rebound margin (plus-11).
The Broncos haven’t overhauled their approach, but had to fill multiple spots in their starting lineup after three starters graduated and two others, Bryan and Christoph Tilly, respectively transferred to Texas Tech and Ohio State.
Christian Hammond, a sophomore guard who redshirted last season, is an early All-WCC candidate who’s averaging a team-high 17 points and shooting 41.4% from the 3-point line. Versatile wing Elijah Mahi is averaging 14.9 ppg and coming off a game in which he had seven points, seven rebounds and nine assists. Point guard Jake Ensminger, a part-time starter for Santa Clara last season, is averaging 7.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 3.7 apg.
The Broncos made a highly scrutinized offseason addition by bringing in Thierry Darlan, the first player in NCAA history to join a college team after playing games in the NBA G League. A Senegal native who appeared in 58 games over two seasons for G League Ignite and the Delaware Blue Coats, Darlan primarily plays off Sendek’s bench, but he’s scored 14 points in three of the team’s four WCC games.
