SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Freshman Sash Gavalyugov scored 21 points off the bench and Santa Clara won its ninth straight game with a 84-72 victory over Seattle on Wednesday night.
The Broncos (22-5, 13-1 West Coast Conference) are off to their best start since the 1969-70 season when they were also 22-5. The nine-game win streak is Santa Clara's longest since the 1994-95 season.
Vying to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years, Santa Clara has tied its record for most conference wins in a single season. The Broncos also won 13 games in conference play in the 1967-68 and '68-69 seasons, when they went on to win league titles and advance to the Elite Eight.
Junseok Yeo and Brayden Maldonado each had 17 points for Seattle (15-11, 4-9).
Santa Clara, which sits atop the WCC standings having played one more game than Gonzaga (12-1), jumped out to an early 17-5 lead on Allen Graves' 3-pointer that capped a 15-0 run. Graves finished with 15 points.
Seattle closed to within 25-24 on a 3 from John Christofilis with 5:49 left in the first half but the Redhawks trailed 33-29 at the break.
Brenton Knapper's layup put the Santa Clara in front 57-46 with 8:23 to go. The Redhawks closed within 76-70 with 2:54 left on Maldonado's 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Yeo, but Seattle could not get closer.
Santa Clara hosts No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday.
Seattle hosts Oregon State on Sunday.
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