SPOKANE, Wash. – Santa Clara men's basketball sophomore guard Carlos Stewart notched his eighth 20-point game of the season with a game-high 22 points, but it ultimately wasn't enough to help the Broncos dig their way out of a big halftime deficit as they fell to No. 12 Gonzaga, 88-70 on Thursday evening at the McCarthy Athletic Center.
Stewart was 9-for-15 from the floor to lead all scorers, and also knocked down three triples. The Baton Rouge product also had three assists and a trio of steals on the night. Freshman center Christoph Tilly made the most of 16 minutes of work, finishing with a career-high 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting with four rebounds before fouling out with two minutes left in regulation.
Usual double-figure scorers Brandin Podziemski and Keshawn Justice added to their season totals with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Unfortunately the scoring totals couldn't keep up with the nation's top scoring offense as the Zags leaned on a balanced scoring attack led by Anton Watson's 18 points - one of four Bulldogs to finish with at least 12 points. Gonzaga shot a blistering 59.3 percent for the night and closed the door on any hopes of a comeback by hitting 17-of-27 (63 percent) in the second half.
The Broncos were held to 40 percent shooting, but saw an improved mark of 50 percent (15-for-30) in the final 20 minutes. Podziemski scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half while Tilly knocked down 4-of-7 for nine points.
Gonzaga (19-4, 8-1) quickly grabbed control to start the night by building a 10-point advantage heading into the under-12 timeout and stretched the lead to as much as 19 at 43-24 at the half. Stewart did all he could on the offensive end, scoring nine of SCU's final 10 points in the period.
The second half mostly saw a back-and-forth affair with both teams shooting efficiently. Stewart continued his torrid scoring spree by scoring seven more points inside the first four minutes, capped by a deep trey that used every part of the rim to fall for his 20th points on the night. The Broncos would go on to win the second half, 46-45, but it wasn't enough to erase the big deficit.
Santa Clara drops to 4-5 in league play and is 16-8 overall as they gear up for another road trip on Saturday. The Broncos will take on rival USF on the Hilltop at 7 p.m. PT on ESPNU.
