SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Graham Ek scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help No. 8 Gonzaga beat Santa Clara 89-77 on Thursday night.
Ike hit 13 of 17 shots and 7 of 8 from the free throw line to help the Bulldogs (17-1, 5-0 West Coast Conference) shake off a first-half slump and win their 10th straight since being eliminated by No. 2 Michigan in late November.
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Emmanuel Innocenti scored 13 points and Braden Huff scored 12 points for the Zags, who shot 58 percent from the field to Santa Clara’s 43 percent. Ike was one point shy of his career high.
Allen Graves came off the bench to add 18 points and nine rebounds for the Broncos (13-5, 4-1). Santa Clara defeated Gonzaga in Spokane last year, but the Zags lead the series 73-32.
Santa Clara leads the WCC in scoring in league play with 93.5 points per game.
Ike scored 13 points and Gonzaga led 17-9, but Santa Clara closed the gap to 23-21 on Bucky Oboye’s steal and layup.
Brenton Knapper’s basket gave Santa Clara a 30-29 lead late in the first half, and the Mustangs completed an 11-0 run to take a 37-29 lead. But the Bulldogs scored the next eight points, and Ike’s free throw tied the game at 37 at halftime.
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Santa Clara led 45-44 and Ike scored the next 12 points for Gonzaga to put the Zags up 56-51. Gonzaga then scored 17 consecutive points to help the team lead 76-55 with 9 minutes left in the game.
Next
Santa Clara hosts Loyola Marymount on Saturday.
Gonzaga plays next Thursday at Washington State.
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