SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Graham Ike had 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds as No. 12 Gonzaga held off Santa Clara 94-86 on Saturday night.
Graham shot 7 of 12 and had four assists to help the Bulldogs move a half-game ahead of the Broncos for first place in the West Coast Conference. It’s Graham’s seventh consecutive game with 20 points, matching a similar streak he had in 2024.
Gonzaga (25-2, 13-1) has won 25 games or more in 19 consecutive seasons under coach Mark Few. Few was recently named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Adam Miller scored 20 points, Tyon Grant-Foster added 20. and Emmanuel Innocenti had 16 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs.
As good as Graham was, the Bulldogs had to do without their star forward for three minutes late in the second half while he was in foul trouble.
Christian Hammond scored 16 points for Santa Clara (22-6, 13-2).
The Broncos forced the Bulldogs into several hurried possessions that had the sold-out crowd at Leavey Center roaring early.
Gonzaga missed seven of its first 10 shots and trailed by eight before going on a 15-7 run midway through the first half. Ike later powered his way past two defenders in the key to score and give the Bulldogs their first lead at 31-29.
After Santa Clara regained the lead briefly, Ike ran past 7-foot-1 center Bukky Oboye for a thunderous one-hand dunk to help Gonzaga to a 44-39 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs made just 3 of 18 (17%) from behind the arc, but shot 56% (36 of 64) overall, scored 66 points in the paint and outrebounded Santa Clara 41-32.
Up next
Gonzaga: Plays Wednesday at San Francisco.
Santa Clara: Visits San Francisco next Saturday.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Read the full article here