Gonzaga takes No. 1 ranking home to take on Santa Clara (Feb 04, 2017)
Gonzaga's fans have the opportunity to welcome the top-ranked team in the nation for the first time in program history Saturday night when the Bulldogs host Santa Clara at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.
The previous time Gonzaga earned the No. 1 ranking was following the last week of the 2012-13 regular season.
Gonzaga has already established a few firsts this season, including its 23-game winning streak to start the season. The winning stretch is the longest in program history and the longest in the nation.
The Bulldogs, also 11-0 in the West Coast Conference, won at BYU 85-75 on Thursday night in their first game as the top-ranked team.
"(The No. 1 ranking) is definitely an honor," said junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss, Gonzaga's leading scorer who tallied 33 points against BYU. "Somebody has to be ranked No. 1, so as a competitor, why not it be you? It's not like we don't appreciate it or think it's cool to be ranked No. 1. But we just understand we can't rest our hat on that and we have to keep getting better each week."
Santa Clara (13-11, 7-4) has won three of its last four games after losing to Gonzaga 88-57 at home on Jan. 19. The Broncos, led by guard Jared Brownridge's 18.5 points a game, are coming off a 60-45 win at Portland on Thursday.
First-year coach Herb Sendek, formerly of North Carolina State and Arizona State, has coached his team to three consecutive road wins. The Broncos are in the midst of a four-game road stretch.
Contending with Gonzaga's size is a primary concern for Sendek, whose team was out-rebounded 42-23 in the first meeting. The Bulldogs owned the paint, outscoring the Broncos 47-16 there.
Expect Sendek to attempt to minimize the opportunities for Gonzaga to gain possessions, avoid more possibilities of being exploited inside.
"We have to do a better job of guarding the ball," Sendek said. "We have to do a better job of shrinking the floor and we have to have more discipline."
The Broncos have made significant strides, now tied for third in the WCC. They lost by 30 points to BYU in the conference opener in late December before soundly beating the Cougars 76-68 on Jan. 26.
Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points in the first game, has achieved 123 career wins. That's one victory ahead of his former teammates Kyle Dranginis and Kevin Pangos.
Karnowski's career record is 123-13. Pangos finished 122-20, Dranginis 122-21.
"I've been here forever, I've been here a long time," the 7-foot-1 fifth-year senior said. "I'm happy that when I'm here we keep winning, it's all about that."
Karnowski combined with power forward reserve Zach Collins for 35 points in 37 minutes against Santa Clara two weeks ago. They made 10 of 13 shots and 15 of 17 free throws.
Another Gonzaga forward, freshman Killian Tillie, has returned from an ankle sprain. He played 12 minutes against BYU after missing the previous two games.
Santa Clara counters in the paint with 6-foot-10 post player Emmanuel Ndumanya, who led the Broncos with 10 rebounds against Portland on Thursday. Santa Clara's leading rebounder is a 6-foot-2 guard, Matt Hauser, who is averaging 6.8 rebounds a game.
He suffered a broken nose in the game against Portland and is expected to play against Gonzaga.
