Gonzaga Fends Off San Diego’s Late Push, Extends Dominance in Final WCC Trip
In what marked the end of an era for Gonzaga basketball, the No. 7 Bulldogs held off a furious late rally to top San Diego 99-93 on Tuesday night, extending their winning streak against the Toreros to 20 games. It was a fittingly wild finish for Gonzaga’s final visit to San Diego as a member of the West Coast Conference.
The Bulldogs, now 14-1 overall and 2-0 in WCC play, are gearing up for a move to the restructured Pac-12 next season. While this was their last conference stop at San Diego, fans can expect the Zags to keep returning to Southern California thanks to future matchups with San Diego State.
But before looking ahead, Gonzaga had to take care of business-and it got a little too close for comfort down the stretch.
The Bulldogs came out firing and built a commanding lead behind a balanced offensive attack. A double-double performance-22 points and 14 boards-anchored the effort, while Tyon Grant-Foster added 18 points. Mario Saint-Supery and Braden Huff chipped in 14 apiece, and Graham Ike came just shy of a double-double himself with 11 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
This was Gonzaga’s seventh straight win since their lone loss of the season, a lopsided 101-61 defeat at the hands of then-No. 7 Michigan in the Players Era Festival title game in Las Vegas. Since then, the Zags have looked more focused, more fluid, and more dangerous.
Still, San Diego refused to go quietly.
The Toreros, now 6-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play, got 21 points from Ty-Laur Johnson, who was a sparkplug all night despite a costly technical foul that helped swing momentum in Gonzaga’s favor. Juanse Gorosito added 16, Darrae Goodwin had 15, Adrian McIntyre scored 12, and Toneari Lane rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10.
The game tilted heavily in Gonzaga’s direction midway through the second half. Leading 60-50, the Bulldogs capitalized on Johnson’s technical-Saint-Supery knocked down both free throws, igniting a 13-2 run that he capped with a three-pointer. Just like that, it was 73-52 with under 10 minutes to go.
By the 7:21 mark, Gonzaga had stretched the lead to 83-62, and it looked like the rout was on. But San Diego had other plans.
The Toreros clawed their way back with a 31-15 burst, slicing the deficit to just 88-80 after a Goodwin layup with 3:10 remaining. Gonzaga responded with a clutch sequence-Saint-Supery buried a three, followed by a three-point play and a layup from Warley-to push the lead back to 96-80.
Even then, San Diego kept swinging. A flurry in the final minutes brought the score to 98-93 with just 11.2 seconds left, but the comeback ran out of time.
For Gonzaga, it was a reminder that no road win in conference play comes easy-especially not in your farewell tour. But it also showed the depth and resilience this team has built over the course of the season.
What’s Next
Gonzaga returns home to host Seattle on January 7, while San Diego hits the road to face San Francisco on Friday night.