Nash Leads Santa Clara Over Loyola, 83-70

Steve Nash had 23 points and 10 assists to lead Santa Clara to an 83-70 victory over Loyola Marymount on Saturday night at Santa Clara.

Santa Clara, 11-3 overall and 3-0 in the West Coast Conference, outrebounded Loyola, 54-36, to compensate for 40.9% shooting.

“They’re a very good team and they’re playing as well as anyone in the league,” Loyola Coach John Olive said of the Broncos. “Steve Nash presented a lot of problems for us and their big people, as a whole, did a real good job.

“They were a more physical team than us. They dominated in the paint, and that’s something we take pride in controlling.”

Reserve Drew Zurek scored 15 points for Santa Clara, Kevin Dunne scored 14 and Brendan Graves scored 12. Dunne and Graves each had nine rebounds.

Loyola (9-5, 1-1) was led by senior forward Wyking Jones, who matched a season high with 24 points. Jim Williamson had 15 points and five assists and Robin Kirksey scored 11 points.

Loyola center Ime Oduok, the leading rebounder in the WCC, was in foul trouble most of the game and finished with eight points and a season-low five rebounds before fouling out after 24 minutes.

“It was difficult to play virtually the whole game without Ime out there,” Olive said.