PROVO, Utah – Santa Clara men's basketball had a gritty road effort but BYU was able to pull away in the final few minutes to earn its seventh-straight win on Thursday.
TJ Hawes tallied 28 points, including 18 in the second half, and Yoeli Childs (22 points/11 rebounds) and Jake Toolson (20 points/11 rebounds) each had double-doubles for the No. 23/NR Cougars (22-7, 11-3 West Coast Conference) who claimed an 85-75 victory despite being held to just 3 of 13 from behind the 3-point line.
Josip Vrankic posted 28 points and 11 rebounds, Tahj Eaddy scored 11, all in the second half, and Keshawn Justice added 10 points for the Broncos (18-10, 5-8) who dropped their fourth-straight contest.
After trailing by as many as 12 in the opening 20 minutes, the Broncos went on a 19-7 run to start the second half and took a 49-47 lead on Eaddy's 3-pointer with 13:25 left.
"Early on the ball wasn't going down for us," Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said. "As we got more comfortable, we made more shots."
There were three more lead changes and Vrankic knotted the game at 66-all with just more than 5 minutes remaining, but the Cougars scored the next six with Toolson getting an inside basket and Hawes hitting four free throws.
Vrankic's inside bucket cut the deficit to 74-69 with 2:35 left, but BYU tallied the next seven points on a pair of Hawes layups and a 3-pointer from Childs, the only one by the Cougars in the second half. They came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation (42.6 percent).
Santa Clara shot 46 percent from the field in the game, including 52 percent in the second half. The Broncos hit their first four 3-pointers of the final 20 minutes after connecting on only 1-for-9 in the first half.
The Cougars, who shot 48 percent from the floor, connected on 22 of 32 from the free-throw line with Hawes hitting all 12 attempts. He also had nine of the team's 12 assists.
Vrankic had 11 rebounds to post his fourth double-double of the season. He also drew seven of the 13 fouls whistled on BYU in the game and connected on 8 of 13 from the free-throw line.
"I thought Josip was outstanding tonight and even though we didn't come away with a win our team really tried to play the right way and did a lot of good things," Sendek said.
BYU raced out to 19-8 lead before Santa Clara found its footing.
Jaden Bediako's 3-point play and an inside basket from DJ Mitchell trimmed the deficit to 23-17 with 7 minutes on the clock.
But Childs and Hawes combined to score nine of the final 11 points of the first half for BYU, which led 40-30 heading into the locker room.
NOTES
• In a series that began in 1951, BYU leads 32-6. The Cougars have won the last four, but had their 14-game winning streak in the series snapped in 2016-17. BYU owns a 17-1 series lead since joining the WCC for the 2011-12 season. Prior to 2016-17, the last victory for Broncos was a 66-64 win in Provo, Utah, on Dec. 2, 1972, though the teams only met once (Dec. 30, 1986 in the Cable Car Classic) in a 38-year span. BYU owns a 16-2 record in Provo.
• BYU's three 3-point field goals were its fewest of the season. The Cougars twice made six, in road losses to Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. BYU entered the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation at 42.6 percent.
• BYU's seven turnovers were the fewest by an opponent this season. Five foes turned the ball over 10 times this year.
• Josip Vrankic (28 points/11 rebounds) recorded his 11th-career double-double.
• Tahj Eaddy (11 points) hit double figures in scoring for the fifth time in the last nine games.
• Jaden Bediako (nine points) had reached double figures in scoring in the last four contests.
• Guglielmo Caruso (right lower leg) missed his 12th game (in the last 13). He played five minutes in the loss to San Francisco (Feb. 20). That marked his first action since Dec. 29 against Alcorn State.
• Juan Ducasse (ankle) and Giordan Williams (ankle) each missed the last two games, but were available against BYU. Williams came off the bench and played six minutes, all in the opening half.
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