Santa Clara and Washington have put their Thanksgiving feast on hold until late Friday, delaying the celebration until after they battle for the championship of the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif.
The Broncos (3-4) beat TCU to earn a spot in Friday afternoon’s title game while Washington (5-1) outlasted Colorado State, both on Turkey Day.
Santa Clara was in control throughout most of its 69-52 win, on top for the first 24 minutes of the game, surrendering the lead briefly, and then taking charge with a 26-5 run over a nearly 12-minute span that was capped by a dunk from Carlos Stewart with 4:04 to play.
Stewart scored 18 points while going 8 of 9 from the floor for the Broncos, with Elijah Mahi adding 13 points and Camaron Tongue 11. Santa Clara outrebounded TCU 49-38 and had 42 points in the paint.
“Our guys just played the right way when we got in the paint,” Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek said. “For the most part, our decision making was good, but the key was on the defensive end of the floor. I thought the guys really competed and gave a great effort defensively.”
The Broncos bounced back from a tough 71-69 home loss to Stanford on Saturday. Three of Santa Clara’s setbacks this year have been by single digits.
“I’m just happy for our guys,” Sendek said. “You know, they’re tremendously, tremendously resilient. We’ve had some tough losses already this year, and for them to stick together and come out and play with this kind of toughness shows what they are made of.”
The Huskies beat Colorado State 73-67 in the nightcap Thursday in a clash that had seven lead changes and four ties. Tyler Harris led Washington with a 24-point effort that included a career-best five 3-pointers. Great Osobor added 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
The Huskies were down 58-56 before forging a decisive 10-0 run that began with a 3-pointer by Mekhi Mason with 6:18 remaining. Washington held the Rams scoreless for more than five minutes and then survived a torrid Colorado State run that saw the Rams pull within two before the Huskies closed the game at the free-throw line to capture their fourth straight win.
“The biggest in-game adjustment was us just being aggressive, and we got some shots to fall,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “The players did it, you know, give them credit, man. The second half, I thought they played terrific. We had a different urgency in the second half, a lot of urgency, for sure, and the guys came in and attacked.”