Nov. 28, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Men's basketball bragging rights for the South Bay are on the line Saturday night when Santa Clara and San Jose State play for the 92nd time in the two schools' history. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in SCU's recently-remodeled Leavey Center.
Tickets are available by clicking here or calling the athletic ticket office at 408/554-4660. For a seating diagram of the Leavey Center, click here. The game can be heard on the radio on KDIA 1340 AM or KSCU 103.3 FM or via the Internet by clicking here. A live statistical GameTracker will also be available on www.SantaClaraBroncos.com.
The two teams will have added incentive for victory this season with the creation of a rivalry series between the two schools. A competition that awards points for each victory between the two schools in 13 sports, the rivalry series has been dominated thus far in the season by Santa Clara with the Broncos owning a 13-0 lead. SCU won head-to-head matchups in volleyball, men and women's soccer and men and women's cross country to jump out to an early lead in the inaugural contest.
Saturday's game will award three points to the winner and a SCU victory will give the Broncos 16 points and nearly clinch the series title. Seven sports have yet to play and a minimum of 16 points will be awarded following Saturday's men's basketball game.
Santa Clara brings an undefeated 3-0 record into Saturday's game following its 69-66 win over visiting Montana State Wednesday night at the Leavey Center. Junior guard Kyle Bailey scored 20 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line, to lead the Broncos to its best start in eight seasons. Jim Howell added 18 points, while Cord Anderson set a career-high with 11 rebounds against the Bobcats.
Bailey is averaging a team-high 18 points per game and is a perfect 16-for-16 from the charity stripe in his first two outings against Pacific and Montana State. He did not see action in the exhibition game against the Olympic Club or the UC Santa Cruz contest due to a lower back injury. The Fairbanks, Alaska native missed several weeks of practice during the preseason due to the injury.
The Broncos are also without the services of Jordan Legge (knee), Bakari Altheimer (fractured foot) and J.R. Patrick (knee) for the San Jose State game. Scott Borchart saw his first action of the season Wednesday after missing most of the preseason due to a separated shoulder.
SCU is scoring at a rate of 80.0 points per game, while holding opponents to just 36.8 percent shooting from the field. The Broncos are also outrebounding their opponents by an average of 9.3 per game.
San Jose State enters Saturday's game with a 1-1 record following its 98-73 win over Menlo College Tuesday night. The Spartans opened the season with a 76-68 loss at Washington State on Saturday.
The leading scorer for coach Phil Johnson's Spartans is Oudie Baker, who is pouring-in 19.0 points per game. He scored a season-high 24 points to go with 12 rebounds in the loss at Washington State.
Heralded freshman Antonio Lawrence averages 12 points per game in his first two contests as a Spartan, while Keith West is chipping in 11 points per game. Those three players account for over 50 percent of SJSU's scoring average of 83 points per game.