Drew Timme reaches 2,000 points: 3 takeaways from Gonzaga's win over Santa Clara
Drew Timme reached 2,000 points while helping No. 12 Gonzaga (19-4, 8-1 WCC) to an 88-70 win over Santa Clara (16-8, 4-5) on Thursday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Here are three takeaways from the Zags’ victory:
GONZAGA COMES OUT FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
It didn't take the Zags long to find a rhythm on both ends of the floor, as they jumped out to a 23-13 lead after roughly eight minutes of play.
Gonzaga made 10 of its first 15 field goal attempts, with Rasir Bolton and Anton Watson carrying most of the early scoring load.
Watson ended the first half with a team-high 11 points, capitalizing on Santa Clara’s added attention on Timme.
“I feel like it’s every game, they focus on Drew and it opens a lot for me,” Watson said. “It’s just my mentality, coming into the game was to be more aggressive and attack the rim.”
Bolton had 10 points ahead of halftime, as he scored on a mixture of drives to the basket and shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Zags went into halftime with a 43-24 lead, which marked their first double-digit advantage at the break since Jan. 14.
TIMME BECOMES THIRD ZAG TO SCORE 2,000 POINTS
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
With roughly 16 minutes remaining in the second half, Nolan Hickman grabbed a defensive rebound and threw a pass down the court to Timme, who finished a two-handed dunk to reach 2,000 points and extend Gonzaga’s lead to 54-26.
Timme is the third Zag to have 2,000 career points, joining Jim McPhee (2015) and Frank Burgess (2,196).
“It’s kind of crazy, to be honest,” Timme said. “I hit that number in high school and it’s pretty cool. It’s a lot of points. Like I’ve been saying all year, it’s super cool, but as long as we win that puts a smile on my face.
The All-American forward finished with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while also adding 11 rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal in 31 minutes.
Timme is eight points shy of second place on Gonzaga’s all-time scoring list.
BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI CAN’T GET GOING
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
After transferring from Illinois, Podziemski quickly blossomed into one of the most prolific scorers in the WCC.
However, that wasn’t the case on Thursday, when Podziemski finished with 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
The first half was especially challenging for Podziemski, who had four points and shot 1-for-7 before the intermission.
“We just tried to play him physical, not let him get easy 3s and he’s a really good rebounder, so just keeping him off the glass and not letting him get second chances and also knowing that he likes to pivot and pump fake around the paint,” Timme said.
The Zags also limited several other Broncos, including Keshawn Justice, who ended with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
