SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball had a potential major upset in sight, but top-ranked Gonzaga showed its offensive firepower in the second half to pull away for an 89-75 victory on Thursday.

Corey Kispert posted 25 points and Drew Timme scored 16 of his 18 in the second half when the Bulldogs (23-0, 14-0 West Coast Conference) shot 63 percent from the floor in claiming their 50th-straight home win and remain one of only two unbeaten teams (along with Baylor) in the nation.

Jalen Suggs nearly had a triple double for Gonzaga with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Guglielmo Caruso tallied a season-high 19 points, Giordan Williams scored a career-best 18 on 4-for-6 shooting behind the 3-point line and Josip Vrankic added 14 for the Broncos (10-7, 4-5) who were missing two regulars in starter Keshawn Justice (concussion protocol) and reserve DJ Mitchell (hamstring).

Joel Ayayi scored 11 and Aaron Cook added 10 for the Bulldogs who won for the 22nd-straight time against the Broncos.

Jalen Williams impacted both ends of the floor for the Broncos, who twice led by 10 points in the first half, with 11 points, three assists, four steals and a pair of blocks.

"I thought our team played really hard and really well," Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said. "Our effort and our attitudes were tremendous. We're really pleased with the contributions we got from everybody. Certainly, you have to give Gonzaga credit, they are a heck of a team."

Gonzaga, which entered the game with a plus-24 point scoring margin this season, led just 40-38 at the half and Kispert, who had 14 after intermission, increased the advantage to 52-43 on a layup with 16:41 remaining in the game.

The lead remained between five and 10 points for the next 10 minutes as Santa Clara would not go away.

A pair of free throws from Timme pushed the lead to 76-66 with 6:34 left. Gonzaga led by double digits for the final 6 minutes and the final margin was the largest advantage of the game.

Giordan Williams had 13 points in the first half, matching his season-high.

Vrankic had 11 of the team's 32 rebounds for his league-leading seventh double-double of the season.

NOTES
• In a series that began in 1946, Gonzaga leads, 65-30. The Bulldogs have won 30 of the last 32, including 22 straight, meetings. Santa Clara's last victory occurred on Jan. 20, 2011, when the Broncos downed the Bulldogs, 85-71, in Leavey Center.
• With 14 points, Josip Vrankic moved from 20th to 19th on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Travis Niesen (2002-06/1,380). Vrankic now has 1,383 points.
• Jalen Williams (11 points) had scored in double figures in five of the last six games.
• Giordan Williams started for the second straight game and played a career-high 27 minutes. He matched his career-high with four 3-pointers (also vs. UC Santa Cruz, Nov. 5, 2019) when he tallied his previous career-best of 16 points.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
The Broncos were scheduled to finish the regular season with a matchup against Portland on Saturday, but the Pilots announced a COVID-19 pause in activities on Thursday so that game has been canceled.

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