Nov. 30, 2000
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Santa Clara men's basketball team arrived in Iowa City Thursday for its second regular-season tournament of the year following a six-and-one-half hour trek from San Jose.
The Broncos (3-2) left campus at 7 a.m., just a little over eight hours after Wednesday night's 71-56 win at San Jose State. The team had a layover in Denver before arriving in Cedar Rapids and taking a short bus ride to Iowa City. Upon arrival, the team went though a short workout in Carver Hawkeye Arena then enjoyed a buffet dinner compliments of the tournament hosts.
"I really didn't get much sleep last night," said senior forward Jamie Holmes (Merced, Calif.). "Finals start Monday and I had a lot of school work to take care of before we left this morning. So, last night was kind of a long one and I know a lot of the guys were in the same situation."
Santa Clara faces Tulsa in Friday's first round of the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge, hosted by the University of Iowa. The Golden Hurricane are 3-1 on the season with wins over Arizona State, North Texas and Rhode Island. Tulsa's only loss was a 91-81 defeat at North Carolina in the NABC Classic.
Last season, Tulsa tied Iowa State and national champion Michigan State with the most wins in the nation with 32. The Golden Hurricane advanced to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament and was just five points shy of its first Final Four appearance in school history.
"We have our hands full," said Santa Clara Head Coach Dick Davey. "Mainly because we are dealing with a team that has strong athletes at every position. They have great quickness, guys who can run the floor and players who can put the ball on the floor and go with it. That presents problems for anybody when you are playing against a team with such fine athletes.
"They are not a big team, but they are really quick and really get up and down the court. We aren't as athletic and that is going to be a problem for us. We will be looking to play smart, tough defense and try to slow them down a little bit."
The second game of Friday's doubleheader features host Iowa against Chattanooga. On Saturday, the two losing teams from each game will play at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific) following by the championship game at 6 p.m.
Santa Clara is coming off an impressive performance on both ends of the court against San Jose State. Senior guard Bryan Jones (Carson, Calif.) scored 25 points and added six assists to lead the Broncos to their fourth-straight win over SJSU. Holmes added 12 points and 13 rebounds, while junior center David Emslie (Seattle, Wash.) added a season-high 11 points in the game. On the defensive end, the Broncos limited SJSU to just 31 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and held the Spartans to just 23 points.
"I was glad to see us score some and get some good looks against a good defensive team," said Davey. "We were able to get some better looks and we changed some things offensively that I think will help our team. I think we are making some strides in practice and in the game tonight we were a lot more efficient in what we did offensively."
Following the Gazette Hawkeye Challenge, Santa Clara will have 11 days off for final exams before hosting Fresno State in the first game in the new Leavey Center on Dec. 13. For ticket information, contact the Santa Clara athletic ticket office at 408/554-4660 or order online at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com.