Dec. 8, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After a whirlwind two weeks that featured a last-second road win at rival San Jose State, a disappointing overtime loss at Mississippi State and a week of final exams, the Santa Clara men's basketball team is looking forward to finally returning home this weekend.

Santa Clara hosts Cal Poly Saturday in a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Leavey Center in a game that means a bit more to the Broncos than the average person might believe. SCU will be looking to erase the memory of last year's surprising 98-89 loss in front of a partisan crowd at the Mustangs' Mott Gym.

Tickets are on sale by calling 408/554-4660 or by clicking here. Live coverage of the game will be provided by KNTS-AM (1220) in the Bay Area and over the Internet via Broncos All-Access. Live Gametracker coverage will also be available on SantaClaraBroncos.com.

Listen to all Bronco men's and women's basketball games as well as special interviews and other features on Broncos All-Access.

The Broncos are 3-2 on the season, 2-0 at home and have won two of their last three games. Last weekend, following a 10-hour, 2,300-mile trip to Starkville, Miss., the Broncos dropped an 82-69 overtime contest at Mississippi State. Four days earlier, Santa Clara won a dramatic 47-46 decision at San Jose State on a Travis Niesen layin at the buzzer.

Niesen, a senior from Mission Viejo, Calif. is the team's leading scorer with an average of 22.4 points per game. He has surpassed the 20-point barrier in each of his last four games and scored a season-high 28 points in SCU's 63-60 win over Pacific. Niesen is also fourth on the team in rebounding with a 6.2 per game average.

Sophomore guard Brody Angley is second on the squad with a 10.6 per game scoring average and leads the team with 3.6 assists per game. The Redding, Calif. native is third in the West Coast Conference in assist/turnover ratio.

As a team, Santa Clara is averaging 69.2 points per game while limiting opponents to just 63.8 points and a WCC-leading .381 shooting from the field. SCU is second in the WCC in rebounding with a 40.8 per game average.

Cal Poly enters Saturday's game with a 1-4 overall record and a four-game losing streak. After winning its season-opener at home against Division II UC San Diego, the Mustangs dropped home games to San Jose State and Fresno State then lost at Stanford and Colorado.

Sophomore Guard Dawin Whiten is Cal Poly's leading scorer, averaging 16.6 points per game. He is shooting .500 from behind the three-point arc after making 19 of his 38 attempts in the team's five games. Senior Gabe Stephenson is averaging 11.2 points per game and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game. Former University of San Diego guard Derek Stockalper, a junior, is averaging 10.0 points per outing.

Tickets to all SCU basketball games are on sale now, including the Jan. 9 Big Monday contest against Gonzaga. Click here to purchase tickets online!

Last season, Santa Clara traveled to San Luis Obispo with a 6-2 record and wins over eventual national champion North Carolina and Stanford on its resume. The Broncos' three-game win streak came to a halt when the Mustangs shot .647 from behind the three-point arc (11-of-17) and .612 overall in a 98-89 win.

Whiten, the only starter from that game that is still a member of this year's Cal Poly squad, led the Mustangs with 26 points, while Enzweiler scored 22 on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the three-point line.

The two schools have played just three times in history, with Santa Clara winning the 1978-79 and 1982-83 encounters at Toso Pavilion.

Following Saturday's game, the Broncos travel to the University of Oregon on Dec. 13 and the University of North Carolina on Dec. 17. SCU returns home for a Dec. 20 contest against Notre Dame de Namur in the Leavey Center.