College basketball: No break for Santa Clara Broncos after ending 26-game losing streak to Gonzaga
Santa Clara had barely any time at all to savor its biggest victory in more than a decade. But the Broncos are not complaining.
The Broncos play host to archrival Saint Mary’s at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Leavey Center, two days after a sold-out crowd flooded the same court after SCU’s 77-76 upset of No. 23 Gonzaga on Thursday night.
It was the Broncos’ first win over their longtime West Coast Conference nemesis since 2011, snapping a 26-game losing streak. It was the first time in 32 meetings the Broncos beat a ranked Gonzaga team, and was their first victory over a ranked opponent since a 77-72 win over then-22nd ranked Saint Mary’s on Feb. 8, 2022.
SCU has had its share of struggles against the Gaels (three wins in the past 16 meetings) and might be an even tougher matchup this season, but toppling the Zags might just have been the start to a truly memorable weekend for the Broncos and their fans.
“I think it’s a special moment,” Broncos head coach Herb Sendek said after the Gonzaga win. “But like we talked about earlier in the week, the next game is less than 48 hours away. Such is the nature of a college basketball season. So, win or lose, any one game isn’t the destination. The next game comes quickly.”
The Broncos (12-6, 3-0 WCC) entered Thursday in a tie for first place with the Zags (11-5, 2-1 WCC) and the Gaels (12-6, 3-0 WCC), who kept pace by routing Portland 95-52. USF (13-4, 2-0 WCC) is also unbeaten in conference and just a half-game back after beating San Diego 83-63 on Thursday night.
But it was no ordinary night at Santa Clara, even before Adama-Alpha Bal beat his defender with an in-and-out dribble and finished off the glass inside to score the go-ahead points with 4.6 seconds remaining in a game that saw the Broncos score give points in the final 50 seconds after blowing a 13-point first half lead.
Among the 4,200 fans was Hall of Famer Steve Nash and his coach with the Broncos, Dick Davey, who among his many exploits at SCU includes guiding the last Broncos team to a 3-0 start conference play in 2003-04.
To stun No. 23 Gonzaga, which is danger of falling out of the Top 25 for the first time in 144 weeks, Bal dropped 17 points and four other Broncos reached double-digits. Bal and Johnny O’Neil (11 points, 5 rebounds) both transferred to Santa Clara this season — O’Neil from American University and Bal from Arizona — with the goal of unseating Gonzaga, the WCC powerhouse this century.
“Last year, I was watching the (Gonzaga-Santa Clara) game, and they lost at the very end,” Bal said. “When I came here, that was the first thing I remembered. You know, I was like, ‘This year is our year. We’re going to get them.’”
The Broncos overcame a 32-point effort from Gonzaga senior Anton Watson. They outlasted the Zags through 11 lead changes or ties in the last 12 minutes of the contest.
Under Mark Few, Gonzaga has reached the tournament in 23 of the past 24 seasons, including two national title game appearances. But Gonzaga might not be the team to beat in the WCC this season.
The NET rankings have both Saint Mary’s and San Francisco ahead of Gonzaga. Ken Pomeroy’s metrics still list Gonzaga as the WCC’s best, with Saint Mary’s and USF close behind.
That paints Saturday’s Santa Clara-Saint Mary’s matchup as just as tough as the Broncos’ emotional triumph over Gonzaga.
Saint Mary’s is also 12-6 and is ranked 46th in the nation by KenPom. Even after their upset win, Santa Clara is down at 109th.
The Gaels have a dangerous backcourt of Aidan Mahaney and Augustus Marciulionus — son of former Warrior Sarunas — who average a combined 25.4 points per game. Saint Mary’s has also started conference play undefeated, with wins over Portland, LMU and San Diego.
It’s still early in the season, but the winner of Sunday’s Saint Mary’s-Santa Clara matchup may join USF as co-favorites in the conference.
Bal and O’Neil came to Santa Clara to beat Gonzaga. But in a WCC with more parity this year, they’ll have to do more than that.