Santa Clara faced off against Gonzaga in a massive game for huge implications in the West Coast Conference. With the Broncos coming in 4-2, coming off a loss to LMU, it would be interesting to see how they would match up against another struggling team, Gonzaga, who entered 5-1, but came off a loss against Oregon State.
Both teams had a lot on their shoulders, and needed a big win to keep themselves afloat.
Last season, Santa Clara was one of Gonzaga's three losses in conference play last season, when they beat them at home in a thriller. The game was starting to seem like a bit of a rivalry, and it was a huge indicator of each teams' season.
Neither team could pull away in the first half, and both teams seemed somewhat level. Not only that, but they both were great on the offensive end, and poor defensively. At the end of the first half, Ryan Nembhard hit a jumper to take the lead 45-44, but both teams seemed level.
The second half seemed to go a bit more towards the Broncos early, as they brought the lead all the way up to seven early in the half. Both teams did stay solid though and the Zags did a great job keeping themselves in the game.
A massive three pointer by Cameron Tongue brought the lead up to 10 late in the game, and Gonzaga needed a big run to stay alive. Christoph Tilly even hit a layup to increase the lead to 13 later!
Regardless, the Zags stayed composed.
Nolan Hickman hit three late threes to put themselves in a position to win, but were not able to when it was all said and done.
Santa Clara ended up with the win, 103-99, pulling off another massive upset.
Tyeree Bryan led things for the Broncos, finishing with a stellar 35 points. Adama Bal was great too, putting up 20 points. Christoph Tilly added 17.
For the Zags, Nolan Hickman was great, putting up 24. Graham Ike was solid too, finishing with 21. Ryan Nembhard was incredible, and ended up with 16 points and 15 assists.