San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Timme, Nembhard help Bulldogs rout Broncos
Santa Clara had the WCC’s leading scorer in Jalen Williams, but No. 2 Gonzaga had too much firepower for the Broncos.
Drew Timme scored 32 points and Andrew Nembhard had 19 as the Bulldogs routed the Broncos 115-83 at the Leavey Center on Saturday for their 24th consecutive conference victory.
The Bulldogs (14-2, 3-0 WCC), who lead the nation in both scoring and field-goal percentage, eclipsed the century mark for the third consecutive game and shot 58.7% from the field (44-for-75).
Timme, a consensus preseason All-American, was 14-for-18 shooting, added eight rebounds, and had his way inside. The 6-foot-10 junior came out of the game with 8:48 remaining. Seven-foot freshman Chet Holmgren, expected to be a top pick in this year’s NBA draft, had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
“It’s amazing how easy he scores it,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of Timme. “He had a lot of traffic in there today. He’s unbelievable. He’s been an elite scorer in all of college basketball the last two years. And guys are doing a good job finding him.”
Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek agreed.
“I think they’re a phenomenal offensive team,” Sendek said. “They execute, and, obviously, Timme right now is just at a whole other level with his efficiency and productivity.”
Williams had 17 points to lead Santa Clara (11-6, 1-1), just off his 19 points a game average, but connected on just 6 of 16 shots.
The Broncos entered the day ranked 15th nationally in field goal percentage (49.1), but they were held to 39.7% shooting — hitting just 8 of 26 shots from beyond the 3-point arc — as the Bulldogs did not allow anything easy inside.
A 27-5 first-half run by Gonzaga broke the game open. Timme was set up for good looks inside, Rasir Bolton hit two 3-pointers and the Bulldogs also scored in transition to jump out to a 33-11 lead by the midpoint of the first half.
Timme didn’t mind exiting the game early and missing out on a chance to eclipse his career high of 37 points.
“My favorite thing is taking care of business and … watching all my other bros get some buckets and stuff,” Timme said. “That’s the best for me.”
Timme had 21 points on 10for-12 shooting by halftime, helping the Bulldogs to a 60-41 lead.
A bright spot for Santa Clara: senior Keshawn Justice, who finished with 13 points, reached the 1,000-point mark for his career with the first of back-toback 3-pointers in the first half. He’s the 36th Bronco to reach that number.
“I’m really happy for him,” Sendek said. “He’s had an outstanding career, a total team guy. He’s a tremendous person with a great family. He’s just been really good for us.”