Santa Clara @ Gonzaga preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2019 ) Gonzaga 98, Santa Clara 39

Top-ranked Gonzaga attempts to defeat Santa Clara for the 20th straight time when it hosts the Broncos in Thursday's West Coast Conference contest in Spokane, Wash. The Bulldogs have won their past 10 games, and their home winning streak of 32 straight is the longest active streak in the nation.

Gonzaga won its first two WCC games by an average of nine points before routing San Diego and Loyola Marymount by an average of 34.5 in its last two affairs. "I've been on them that there's accountability and honor that comes with the ranking," Bulldogs coach Mark Few told reporters. "You have to come out and own it. You should prepare and play as confident as anyone. By in large, that is what we wanted to do." Gonzaga has won 12 straight home meetings with Santa Clara, which is just 1-3 on the road, and its losses to Stanford, Nevada and San Francisco have come by an average of 22.7 points. The Broncos broke their road drought Saturday with a 12-4 finishing kick to post a 67-66 victory at Saint Mary's.

TIME: 11 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT SANTA CLARA (15-3, 2-1 WCC): The Broncos are one win shy of matching last season's total and have a strong chance of posting their first 20-win campaign since going 26-12 in 2012-13. "Our team has grown a lot and in very good ways," junior forward Josip Vrankic said. "I feel like we're a lot more connected. We play really hard, and that's the biggest thing. The key to winning games is playing good defense and being tough. As we move on through the season, we've done a really good job of that." Vrankic, who averages 10.3 points per game, had a season-best 22 points to go with 10 rebounds against Saint Mary's and capped it off by scoring the decisive points on a putback with 9.4 seconds.

ABOUT GONZAGA (18-1, 4-0): The Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring (87.8) and have seven players averaging more than nine points per game. Sophomore power forward Filip Petrusev leads the Bulldogs in scoring (16.6), rebounding (7.9) and blocked shots (23), junior forward Corey Kispert (14.1 points) has made a team-high 46 3-pointers, and senior forward Killian Tillie (12.2) also averages more than 12 points per game. Senior point guard Ryan Woolridge (10.5) tallied 13 points in last Saturday's win over Loyola Marymount after averaging four points over the previous two games.

TIP-INS

1. Gonzaga won last season's two meetings by an average of 51 points - 91-48 at home and 98-39 at Santa Clara.

2. Santa Clara will be without sophomore F Guglielmo Caruso (right leg) for the fourth consecutive game - he averages 11.6 points, second on the squad behind sophomore G Trey Wertz (12.2).

3. Freshman PF Drew Timme recorded his first career double-double (10 points, season-best 11 rebounds) in Saturday's win over Loyola Marymount.

PREDICTION: Gonzaga 91, Santa Clara 63