Gonzaga Learns To Share Broncos Defeat Bulldogs To Earn Tie For Wcc Title

As one of the premier guards in the nation, Steve Nash has received considerable attention.

Gonzaga’s plan was to give him a great deal more on Saturday night. To hound him, to harass him as much as possible, and then hope that Santa Clara’s role players would fail to pick up the slack.

Good idea.

Until Bronco Marlon Garnett rained a torrent of 3-point baskets early in the second half in a spurt that was largely responsible for Santa Clara’s 77-71 West Coast Conference win in front of a sellout Martin Centre crowd of 4,100.

“We can live with 24 points out of Steve Nash, that’s not bad,” said GU coach Dan Fitzgerald. “But not 18 from Garnett, especially not 16 from him in the second half.”

The Santa Clara victory Saturday night cut the WCC title in half as both teams finished the regular season with 10-4 league records.

And the Broncos once again severed an impressive GU homecourt winning streak of 17 games. Last year, they cut short a 34-game win streak at the Martin Centre.

In fact, the only thing of the Bulldogs’ that didn’t get sliced were the nets - which would have been in tatters with a GU win.

For the most part, this was a game played up to the level of its importance, a game worthy of being a title duel.

And Nash, with his velvet touch and a jillion jukes, played with brilliance once again.

He needed 17 shots and eight free throws to get his 24 points, though, as GU’s Kyle Dixon attached himself to Nash like some form of parasitic leech.

It was left to Garnett, then, to ignite in the second half.

“We came into the locker room and coach (Dick Davey) told me I really needed to start getting some shots up,” Garnett said.

SCU netted its first five shots of the second half, three of them 3s, as the Broncos proved that sometimes the most crucial portion of the game is not the final few minutes.

“We killed ourselves in the first 5 minutes of the second half,” said Dixon, who finished with 20 points. “We were worried too much about Nash and that left the inside open and Garnett a little freer.”

After holding the Broncos to 29 points in the first half, GU was tagged for 48 after intermission.

“It’s our worst defensive effort of the year in the second half,” Fitzgerald said. “We weren’t disciplined defensively and we did a poor job on Garnett.”

Part of the problem was foul trouble on front-court players Paul Rogers and Scott Snider. Rogers played only 26 minutes and scored just seven points - 11 below his conference average.

Still, GU made a strong rally to tie it at 64 with 3:57 left in the game.

And in the final minute and a half, the Bulldogs twice had chances to trim the SCU lead to one or two points, but Rogers missed a pair of free throws and Dixon was whistled for a walk as the Broncos pulled away.

“You don’t want to share the championship with anybody, let alone lose your last game on your home court,” said GU forward Jon Kinloch.

“I’m elated with a co-championship, but I’d me more elated if we won the whole thing,” Fitzgerald said.

Davey was gracious, saying that the outcome was a function of good fortune and some lucky bounces.

“How lucky can you get?” he asked. “This was a great game; both teams played with a lot of passion for the game.”

GU will take the No. 2 seed into next weekend’s tournament and face No. 7 Saint Mary’s. SCU is the top seed by virtue of two wins over the Bulldogs, and will face No. 8 Pepperdine.

Santa Clara 77, Gonzaga 71

Santa Clara (19-7) - Nash 7-17 8-8 24, Garnett 5-7 4-4 18, Graves 0-6 4-6 4, Sedlock 3-5 0-0 7, Dunne 2-3 0-2 5, Pierce 2-3 0-0 4, Zurek 5-9 1-1 11, Anderson 2-5 0-2 4, Buchwaldt 0-2 0-0 0, Hofmann 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 17-23 77.

Gonzaga (19-7) - Dixon 7-14 3-6 20, Kinloch 4-13 0-0 9, Snider 1-2 9-9 11, Bond 0-0 2-2 2, Morgan 2-2 0-0 4, Rollins 5-9 5-6 16, Nemeth 0-0 2-2 2, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Leasure 0-0 0-0 0, Rogers 3-5 1-6 7. Totals 22-45 22-31 71.

Halftime-Gonzaga 32, Santa Clara 29. 3-Point goals-Santa Clara 8-19 (Nash 2-8, Garnett 4-5, Sedlock 1-2, Dunne 1-1, Zurek 0-2, Anderson 0-1), Gonzaga 5-12 (Dixon 3-4, Kinloch 1-6, Rollins 1-2). Fouled out-Graves. Rebounds-Santa Clara 30 (Graves 8), Gonzaga 30 (Snider 7). Assists-Santa Clara 10 (Nash 6), Gonzaga 5 (Dixon 2). Total fouls-Santa Clara 25, Gonzaga 21. A-4,100.

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