SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Freshman Sash Gavalyugov scored 21 points off the bench and Santa Clara beat Seattle 84-72 on Wednesday night to extend its ninth straight win.
The Broncos (22-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) are off to their best start since the 1969-70 season, when they also went 22-5. The nine-game winning streak is Santa Clara’s longest winning streak since the 1994-95 season.
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Santa Clara is seeking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years, tying the conference record for most wins in a season. The Broncos also won 13 conference games in 1967-68 and 1968-69 before winning the league title and advancing to the Elite Eight.
Junseok Yeo and Brayden Maldonado each scored 17 points for Seattle (15-11, 4-9).
Santa Clara, ranked first in the WCC standings and having played one more game than Gonzaga (12-1), went on a 15-0 run on Allen Graves’ 3-pointer to take a 17-5 lead. Graves finished with 15 points.
Seattle pulled within 25-24 on a John Christofilis 3-pointer with 5:49 left in the first half, but the Redhawks trailed 33-29 at halftime.
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Santa Clara led 57-46 on a layup by Brenton Knapper with 8:23 left in the game. With 2 minutes and 54 seconds left, Maldonado’s three-pointer and Young’s two free throws tied the Redhawks at 76-70, but the Sonics failed to get closer.
Next step
Santa Clara will host No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday.
Seattle hosts Oregon State on Sunday.
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