The Gonzaga Bulldogs came out of Thursday night’s game against the Santa Clara Broncos with another win (89-75). This led the Bulldogs to continue what is now a 23-game winning streak this season. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the country and won their 50th straight home game, making it the longest streak in their schools’ history after beating Santa Clara. After their win against Santa Clara, the Bulldogs now have a record of 23-0, leaving the Broncos with a record of 10-7.
The Broncos started their season 6-0 but soon after struggled after facing obstacles due to COVID-19. After COVID cases started to rise among the Broncos team and in Santa Clara County, their season was temporarily shut down. This forced the Broncos to practice in the Phoenix area. The Broncos were given minimal practice time. Some might say this caused them to fall behind and not get the practice they needed to keep their winning streak alive when their season resumed.
On Thursday night, the Bulldogs started slowly when it came to putting points on the board. The Broncos 6 points up before allowing the Bulldogs to score. In the first half, Freshman Benn Gregg made his college debut. Despite not finishing his senior year of high school, Gregg still made it onto the Bulldogs team. During the first half, it was a close game, both teams going back and forth scoring. Something that both teams struggled with during this game was the number of turnovers they allowed. The Broncos, 12 turnovers, and the Bulldogs, 16. Despite a large number of turnovers, the Bulldogs were still able to end with a win. The score at first half was 38-40, the Bulldogs only up by 2 points.
Although the Broncos could not come back from what was at one point an 11-point lead, they still had a great game offensively. Two players that ended the game in double digits were junior forward Guglielmo Caruso and sophomore guard Jalen Williams. Caruso ended the game with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist. He went 8-15 from the field goal, 2-4 from the 3-point line, and 1-2 from the free throw line. As for Williams, he ended the game with 18 points and 4 rebounds. Williams went 7-10 from the field goal and 4-6 from the 3-point line. Both Caruso and Williams helped to lead the Broncos in a 10-point lead in the first half. Just before the end of the first half, the Bulldogs were able to come back and get the lead.
In the second half, the Bulldogs held the majority of the lead. Senior Corey Krispert was their leading scorer for Thursday night’s game and a large contributor to the Bulldogs’ win. In just the first half, he had 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. By the end of the game, Krispert had 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals. He went 10-17 from the field goal, 3-8 from the three point line, and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
Another leading scorer in Thursday night’s game was sophomore Drew Timmie. Timmie was only able to score 2 points in the first half and then had to sit due to some foul trouble. In the second half, Timmie was able to show off his skills and ended his night with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist. Timmie went 7-9 from the field goal, 0-1 from the three point line, and 4-5 from the free throw line.
Freshman guard Jalen Suggs had a great game Thursday night, almost ending with a triple double. Suggs is ranked 4th in the west coast conference. Only two assists away from a triple double Suggs had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. Late in the second half, Suggs had a flagrant 1 called on him after trying to score through contact on a layup, but that did not stop him. By the end of the game, Suggs had gone 4-10 from the field goal and 5-7 from the free throw line.
Despite losing, the Bronco’s carried respect in Thursday night’s game against the Bulldogs. The Broncos gave the Bulldogs a run for their money and made them work for this win. Making 46.3% of their shots from the field goal and 58.8% of shots from the free throw line, the Broncos giving it their all. The Bulldogs made 51.6% of shots from the field goal and 76.2% of shots from the free throw line. Free throws were huge for the Bulldogs in this game, and they made over 75% of them.
The Bulldogs continue to flourish and are on their 27th straight win, the NCAA’s longest active streak. Thursday night’s win also made it the Bulldogs’ 20th straight win by double digits as Associated Presses No.1 team. The Bulldogs hope to continue their winning streak Saturday at 10:00 pm when they host the Loyola Marymount Lions.
