Jan. 27, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's basketball team will be looking to extend its three-game home win streak this week when it hosts West Coast Conference rivals Portland and Gonzaga in the Leavey Center.
The Pilots (8-10, 2-2 in the WCC), will visit Santa Clara in a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, while 10th-ranked Gonzaga (15-2, 5-0 in the WCC) comes into the Leavey Center Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. contest. Saturday's game will be televised by Fox Sports.
Tickets remain available for Thursday game against Portland by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 408/554-4660 or by purchasing online by clicking here. Approximately 200 tickets remain available for the Gonzaga game and they are only available by contacting the Athletic Ticket Office by telephone or in-person at the Leavey Center.
SCU students wishing to attend the Gonzaga game must be registered as members of Ruff Riders, the athletic department spirit organization in which membership includes admission to Bronco sporting events. In addition, Ruff Riders holding a valid ACCESS card will be required to have a ticket to enter the Gonzaga game. Tickets will be available for distribution at the Portland game on Thursday night. Should there be tickets remaining from the student allotment, Ruff Riders may stop by a special table in the Benson Center on Friday.
"We are suggesting Ruff Riders pickup their ticket at the Portland game on Thursday as we don't anticipate much if any availability on Friday and none at the game on Saturday," said Richard Kilwien, SCU associate director of athletics. "The only way to guarantee admission into the Gonzaga game is to have a ticket. We also are reserving courtside section 108 for Ruff Riders wearing their club t-shirt and this will be on a first-come, first-served basis. So, I would encourage Ruff Riders to get to the game early if they want a prime seat at the game."
Santa Clara enters Thursday's game with an 11-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in WCC play after dropping a pair of road games at Saint Mary's and San Francisco last weekend. Despite the back-to-back losses, the Broncos remain tied with Pepperdine for third-place in the league standings.
The Broncos opened league play with three-straight home wins and remain undefeated at home in conference games. SCU defeated San Francisco, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount to open the WCC season and improve its record in the Leavey Center to 8-3 overall this season.
A key to Santa Clara's success this season has been a defensive effort that has limited opponents to just 64.8 points per game, which is second in the WCC. In league play, the Broncos have allowed an average of 64.6 points to its first five opponents.
At the Leavey Center, the Broncos have held their opponents to just 62.5 points per game with two of the three opponents failing to reach the 60-point mark.
Junior guard Doron Perkins continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game on the season. In league play, however, he is tied with backcourt mate Kyle Bailey with an identical 11.6 per game scoring average. A whopping 37 percent of Perkins' scoring this season has come at the free throw line as the Anchorage, Alaska native has made 89-of-121 of his attempts at the charity stripe, which is nearly twice the number of any other Bronco.
Portland enters Thursday's game with an 8-10 overall record and is coming off an 80-65 home loss to Gonzaga on Friday night at the Chiles Center. Eugene Jeter is the Pilots' leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points per game overall and 21.0 in WCC games. He is shooting .475 from the three-point line and has made 48-of-101 of his attempts from that range. Donald Wilson is scoring 13.3 points per game for Portland, which averages 68.8 points per game but is giving-up 73.3.
The Pilots opened the season with a 5-1 record before losing seven of its next eight games. Portland has impressive wins on the road at Oregon State, New Mexico and Loyola Marymount as well as home victories over Long Beach State, Nevada and San Francisco.