Santa Clara came into this key West Coast Conference matchup as hot as ever, winning five of their last six games. In the 109-79 demolishing of Washington State, the Broncos hit 23 three-pointers which is the most ever in West Coast Conference history and ties the NCAA Division-I record for a team on the road.
The Broncos were No. 7 in the nation in three-pointers made per game at 10.7 and No. 28th in the nation in three-point percentage at 37.6 percent before they hosted the Zags at the Leavey Center on Senior Night.
Santa Clara guard Adama Bal (11 points on 2-for-5 three-point shooting, four assists, four turnovers) wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to play Gonzaga for possibly the final time in his illustrious career and with his senior backcourt partners in Carlos Stewart (14 points on 2-for-4 three-point shooting, three turnovers) and the phenomenal Tyeree Bryan (18 points on 4-for-6 three-pointers, five rebounds) who seems to play his best against the Zags.
This Santa Clara group started this matchup a perfect 8-8 from deep by the 8:28 mark of the first half but ended up 11-for-25 from deep (still an extremely efficient 44 percent) by the time the clock hit double zeroes.
What seemed to make the switch in the entire amount of energy for the Zags was when the first official Ismaila Diagne sighting this entire season came into fruition. Very unexpected, not going to sway from the truth but it ended up being the smartest move all game.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few gave the freshman meaningful minutes and the true seven-footer took full advantage while finishing with nine points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds and a block in 18 minutes.
Previously, he dealt with a sprained MCL injury before the Battle 4 Atlantis. When healthy, Diagne’s length and reach can bring a new dynamic to this frontcourt that isn’t available from Graham Ike, Braden Huff, or Ben Gregg. He’s both a long lob threat and rim protector, seemingly disrupting majority of Santa Clara’s looks at the rim when he was on the floor.
“He’s been just such a positive force on this team. He’s just such an incredibly positive person, he’s just so upbeat and such an inspiration to our guys. I told him afterward, he deserved that.” – Gonzaga coach Mark Few via Theo Lawson of Spokesman Review
To be clear, Gonzaga senior Ike will still get the starting nod on Saturday against Saturday at the Chase Center. He was clearly the best player on the floor, finishing with 24 points on 11-for-13 field goals and seven rebounds.
Double-checked the stats to make sure and wow, Ike really had four steals and two blocks. His screams and chatter to himself after any defensive stop can excite anyone watching.
Ike had two personal fouls in the first half as well as did Huff before Few decided to pull something out of his back pocket and surprise Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek with Diagne in the rotation. It paid off and having that security blanket just even further proves how deep Few’s frontcourt can be.
Gonzaga now has the opportunity to wrap up the No. 2 seed for the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. All it takes is a win over San Francisco in the house that Steph Curry built that is the Chase Center. Saturday at 8 PM PT on ESPN.
Some other personal side notes while being in attendance in the Silicon Valley:
It was an honor to be in the gym when Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard became the West Coast Conference’s new single-season assist leader at 285 and counting. His teammates seemed to acknowledge the greatness that the senior brings every time he steps on the court.
Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy was in the house, sitting close by. As the NBA Draft draws closer, he had to be taking a look at Nembhard and Bal as potential options to join the Bay’s team.
Gonzaga sophomore guard Emmanuel Innocenti wasn’t available against Santa Clara due to an unknown illness. A long break until the next game will hopefully get him right and healthy.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho
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