Santa Clara looks to avenge blowout loss to No. 13 Gonzaga (Jan 20, 2018)
Santa Clara seems to have some of its West Coast Conference foes figured out.
The Broncos are 4-0 in conference play against teams not named Gonzaga, Saint Mary's or BYU.
But they have lost to those three teams by an average of almost 36 points.
Santa Clara (7-12, 4-3 WCC) hosts the No. 13 Bulldogs on Saturday, three weeks after being pummeled 101-52 in Spokane, Wash.
In their four conference wins, the Broncos have limited their opponents to 61 points a game. In the three losses, that number jumps to almost 89.
On Thursday in San Francisco, Santa Clara held the Dons to 5-for-21 shooting from deep in a 65-62 win.
"I thought our guys played outstanding basketball against a very good San Francisco team on the road," coach Herb Sendek told the team's website. "Our guys executed on offense, minus not taking care of the basketball. Defensively, in the first half I thought we were as good as we've been all year. Coach (Jason) Ludwig did a really good job with the scout and the guys were locked in and focused. That was a really good team, road win."
Sendek wasn't happy with his team's 18 turnovers -- the Broncos had just 15 combined in wins over Pepperdine and Portland -- something that could be a problem against a Bulldogs team that will be angry after being upset at home by first-place Saint Mary's.
Gonzaga shot 54.5 percent and forced 21 Santa Clara turnovers in the Dec. 30 rout.
The Zags (16-4, 6-1) blew a nine-point lead in the second half of their Thursday showdown with the Gaels mostly because they could do little to stop All-America candidate Jock Landale.
The 6-foot-11 Australian made 12 of 15 shots and scored a game-high 26 points, including Saint Mary's final four to lead his team to a 74-71 win.
"We tried doubling him, fronting," Bulldogs coach Mark Few told the (Spokane) Spokesman-Review, "everything you could possibly do on numerous occasions."
Gonzaga had opportunities to put the game away but they took some ill-advised shots and were mostly cold from long-range (6-for-22).
"They executed their plays to a T down the stretch," Zags guard Silas Melson said. "We didn't make our possessions count when it mattered. In a low possession game like this, that will bite you."
On the bright side, Rui Hachimura continued his ascent.
The 6-8 sophomore from Japan scored in double figures for the eighth straight game, finishing with a career-high 23 points.
"Rui did a lot of good things," Few said. "He did a good job of attacking downhill, and he finished his shots around the basket."
Few will look for a bounce-back game from point guard Josh Perkins, who had seven assists but was just 1-for-9 from the field.
"There are things we can fix," Perkins said. "When we were up nine, we should have grown the lead, but we didn't. But we'll be ready to go.
"We'll focus on Santa Clara. I think we'll play really hard on Saturday."
Perkins made four 3-pointers and dished out eight assists when the Zags beat the Broncos last month.
