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Santa Clara (18-7) At Gonzaga (18-8)
GAME NOTES: Riding the nation's longest home winning streak, the Gonzaga Bulldogs try to put their off-the-court issues aside tonight as they contend with the Santa Clara Broncos in a West Coast Conference event from the McCarthey Center. On Saturday the Zags, who are without Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis due to their recent arrests on drug charges, posted their 50th consecutive win at home as they defeated the Saint Mary's Gaels by a score of 60-49. The win was the sixth in the last seven outings for Gonzaga, which enters the week tied for first place in the WCC with Santa Clara with a record of 8-2. Speaking of the Broncos, they picked up their fourth win in a row and the seventh in the last eight outings with a 76-53 victory over the University or Portland on Saturday. Oddly enough, Santa Clara is 4-2 at home in conference games, but has yet to be beaten by a West Coast Conference foe on the road in four chances. Gonzaga won the first meeting of the season between these two programs last month, posting a 77-69 victory on the road at the Leavey Center. With the win the Zags moved to 35-29 in the all-time series versus the Broncos.
The Broncos shot 55.3 percent from the field on Saturday night, connecting on 8-of-15 beyond the arc, in the victory over Portland at the Chiles Center. John Bryant tallied a team-high 15 points and added five boards, followed by Danny Pariseau who checked in with 14 points and five assists. Brody Angley was responsible for another 11 points in just 17 minutes of action, while Sean Denison put aside his own offensive interests to produce six points, six assists and five rebounds. For a team that is fighting to stay ahead of the rest of the pack in the West Coast Conference, it is surprising to find that Denison is the only double-digit scorer for the group with his 10.7 ppg. He's shooting 60.7 percent from the field, which is better than his 55.2 percent effort at the stripe, and is clearing almost six and a half rebounds per game. The success for the Broncos has come from the defense, one that has limited opponents to just 61.2 ppg on 39.4 percent shooting from the field.
Avenging an earlier loss to the Gaels this season on the road in Moraga, Gonzaga took care of business on Saturday in an 11-point win at home without the services of Heytvelt who began his indefinite suspension. The Zags came out slow in the first half though, shooting just 34.5 percent from the field, but in the second half the squad opened up the offense at 60 percent to take the double-digit win. Matt Bouldin and Derek Raivio both tallied 12 points, followed by Jeremy Pargo with 11, to go along with five rebounds and five assists. The loss of Heytvelt means the squad is going to have to replace his 15.5 ppg and team-best 7.7 rpg and at some point it is going to catch up with the Bulldogs. Raivio, a 42.6 percent shooter beyond the arc, is responsible for a team-high 18.1 ppg, with Pargo coming in with 12.3 ppg and a team-high 125 assists. Without Heytvelt in the middle chances are Santa Clara is going to do better than the 39.6 percent from the field that opponents have managed against the Zags so far this season.
Heytvelt picked the wrong time to put his team in this position, then again there's never a good time for a primary player to get suspended from his squad. Nevertheless, this might prove to be the perfect opportunity for the Broncos to take advantage and finally end Gonzaga's incredible home win streak.
Predicted OutcomeSanta Clara 72, Gonzaga 66Copyright 2007 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
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