No. 12 Gonzaga beats Santa Clara 88-70

SPOKANE, Wash. – (AP) — Drew Timme scored 15 points and surpassed 2,000 for his career and led No. 12 Gonzaga past Santa Clara 88-70 on Thursday night.

Timme, who also had 10 rebounds, became the third player in school history to reach the milestone with a dunk with 16:02 points remaining. He needs eight points to overtake Jim McPhee for second on Gonzaga’s career scorers list. Timme also needs to average 18.9 points over the next 10 games to surpass Frank Burgess for the top spot.

After losing their 75-game home win streak to Loyola Marymount, the Bulldogs (19-4, 8-1 West Coast Conference) relied on goals in the paint and efficient shooting to extend their home win streak to 15 against Santa Clara.

Rasir Bolton scored 16 points and Julian Strawther added 12 for Gonzaga. Malachi Smith scored his 1,500th point for the Zags.

Carlos Stewart had 22 points for Santa Clara (16-8, 4-5). Brandin Podziemski was kept at 14 points after scoring 38 against Pacific in the Broncos’ last game.

Santa Clara challenged early after Stewart’s 3-pointers opened the game – but that basket gave Santa Clara the only lead of the evening.

The Bulldogs beat the Broncos 28-4 in the paint and had an eight-rebound advantage in the first half. A 13-1 run midway through the first game gave Gonzaga a 16-point lead it wasn’t about to give up. Anton Watson scored 11 points to speed up the Zags in the first step and finished with 18.

Bolton’s 3-pointer corner kick in the second half gave the Zags a 22-point lead — the widest of the night.

Santa Clara: The Broncos have lost three straight and are fourth in the WCC with Pacific with eight regular-season games left. Santa Clara haven’t beaten Gonzaga in Spokane since 2007, and the Zags have won 49 of their last 51 meetings.

Gonzaga: The Zags have won three straight games ahead of a matchup Saturday with No. 18 Saint Mary’s. The Gaels lead in the WCC by a game, beating the Zags 67-57 the last time they played in Moraga but beating Gonzaga 2-8 in the last 10 games.

Santa Clara: In San Francisco.

Gonzaga: On the way to Saint Mary’s.