Jan. 11, 2007
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Next Up for the Broncos
The Santa Clara Broncos square off against the defending WCC champion Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Leavey Center. The game tips off at 8:00 p.m. PT and will be televised on Fox Sports Net. The game will be joined in progress on FSN following the San Jose Sharks game. SCU will be looking for their first win against the Zags since 2001. Gonzaga has won 12 straight games between the two teams. Fans can also follow the action on the radio on 1220 KNTS and on GameTracker on SantaClaraBroncos.
Head Coach Dick Davey
In his 15th season as the head coach at Santa Clara, Dick Davey has compiled a career record of 241-185 (113-84 WCC), which includes three 20-win seasons. Davey has also posted a 137-60 record at home for a .695 winning percentage. He owns the most WCC wins among active coaches and is the first Bronco coach to lead Santa Clara to four 10-plus win seasons in WCC play. A three-time conference Coach of the Year, Davey has coached Santa Clara to three regular season league titles, one WCC Tournament title, three NCAA Tournament appearances and five wins over top-25 teams. Davey served as a Bronco assistant for 15 seasons (1977-92) under former head coach and athletic director Carroll Williams and is a member of the prestigious Board of Directors for the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Bronco's 100th Season
2006-07 marks the 100th season of men's basketball at Santa Clara. The basketball team at Santa Clara first started in 1905 and became a varsity sport in 1917-18. In their 99 seasons, SCU has had seven All-Americans, 15 postseason appearances (11 NCAA, 4 NIT), three WCC Coaches of the Year, and one visit to the Final Four (1951-52). In 2006-07, the Broncos again face some of the top competition in the country as they attempt to earn their 16th postseason appearance.
SCU vs. Gonzaga
Series Record: GU leads 34-29
First Meeting: SCU 44-32 win on Jan. 2, 1947 at Gonzaga
2005-06 at SCU: GU won 81-68
2005-06 at GU: GU won 85-71
Record at SCU: SCU leads 21-10
Record at Gonzaga: GU leads 21-7
Record at Neutral Site: GU leads 3-1
Biggest SCU Win: 86-62 (24) on Dec. 23, 1968
Biggest Gonzaga Win: 96-62 (34) on Feb. 1, 2003
Dick Davey vs. Gonzaga: 10-20
Notes: The last two times Gonzaga has knocked SCU out of the WCC Tournament were by a combined total of four points (3 in 2001 & 1 in 2004) ... Gonzaga has an active streak of 12-straight wins over the Broncos and has won nine-straight at home ... SCU senior Danny Pariseau is a Spokane, Wash. native and 2002 grad of Shadle Park High School ... Former SCU coach and athletic director Carroll Williams is widely known as the "godfather" of the modern "flex offense." Williams' assistant coach Dan Fitzgerald took it to Spokane as the head coach of Gonzaga in 1986-87 and it has been a big part of the Bulldogs' offensive scheme since ... SCU's last win over Gonzaga, 84-71 on Feb. 22, 2001 at the Leavey Center, ended the Bulldogs' 14-game winning streak, which was the nation's longest at the time ... In that last win, Steve Ross led SCU with 22 points, while Jamie Holmes, who now serves as Santa Clara's Director of Basketball Operations, scored 17 points. Kyle Bailey scored 10 points in the final 4:49 of the game in the win ... The game was also historic because SCU's Brian Jones notched his 500th career assist to become the first WCC player ever with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in his career.
Scouting Gonzaga
Gonzaga enters Saturday's game with a 25-game winning streak in WCC play and a 29-game winning streak against WCC competition, including the WCC Tournament. Derek Raivio leads the Zags and the WCC in scoring this season at 19.4 points per game. As a sophomore, Raivio scored a career-high 32 points at the Leavey Center on Jan. 6, 2005. Center Josh Heytfelt is second at 14.9 per game. Gonzaga is 11-6 on the season including a win over No. 1 ranked North Carolina. Eight teams on the Bulldogs current schedule are ranked in the top 25. The team is led by Mark Few, who has won six consecutive WCC Coach of the Year awards.
Last Game Versus Gonzaga
Gonzaga defeated the Broncos 85-71 on Feb. 4, 2006 in Spokane, Wash. Santa Clara fell behind by 25 in the second half, but their comeback bid fell short. Mitch Henke led the Broncos 17 points, while Adam Morrison was the high scorer for Gonzaga with 24.
Moving to No. 2
Santa Clara head coach Dick Davey moved into second all-time in wins in West Coast Conference history following the Broncos victory over Saint Mary's on Jan. 6. He moved past former Gonzaga head coach Dan Fitzgerald, who has 112 wins. Davey is now 52 wins behind former SCU head coach Carroll Williams, who won 165 WCC games from 1970-1992.
Saturday Night Festivities
Saturday night will be full of excitement at the Leavey Center. Santa Clara will be raising Bob Feerick's jersey to the rafters at halftime of the game. Feerick '41 was an All-American player and a legendary coach at Santa Clara before going on to play and coach in the NBA. Feerick led the Broncos to their only Final Four appearance in 1952 as a coach and as a player he was a member of Santa Clara's "Magicians of the Maplewood", who went 17-3 in 1939-40. Saturday is also Dick Davey Argyle Sweater Night. Fans are encouraged to wear their best sweater to honor long-time Santa Clara coach Dick Davey and the fan with the best sweater will be honored prior to the game.
WCC Openers
After beating Saint Marys', Santa Clara is 10-5 in WCC openers under current head coach Dick Davey. The team has won four out of its past five conference openers.
Denison Perfect
Santa Clara senior power forward Sean Denison got off to a perfect start in the conference season. The Nelson, British Columbia native shot 8-for-8 from the field against Saint Mary's on Jan. 6 and scored 20 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds in the win. Denison now leads the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game.
Dominating Big Men
Santa Clara got a dominating performance from their three big men on Jan. 6 against Saint Mary's. John Bryant, Sean Denison and Josh Higgins, all 6-10 or taller, combined to score 40 points and grab 24 rebounds against the Gaels. Denison had 20 points and nine rebounds, while fellow starter John Bryant had 16 points and nine rebounds. Off the bench, Higgins scored four points, but grabbed six rebounds in only 12 minutes of action.
Broncos vs. Top-25 Opponents
Santa Clara lost to then-No. 23 Air Force in the Cable Car Classic championship on Dec. 29. Prior to that game Broncos last faced a top-25 team on Nov. 25, 2006 when they lost 78-70 to Nevada, which was ranked No. 21 at the time. SCU is 19-77 all-time against top-25 competition, while Dick Davey teams are 5-29 against the top-25. SCU played two ranked teams last season, Gonzaga and North Carolina.
NCAA Leaders
As a team Santa Clara finds itself among the nation's leaders in two categories. The Broncos rank 43rd in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to .399 from the field so far this year. The Broncos are also tied for 31st in rebound margin at plus-6.8 per game.
Non-Conference Wins
The Broncos won their 10th non-conference game of the year against Colgate on Dec. 28, setting a new team record for non-league wins during head coach Dick Davey's tenure. Under Davey, the team record for non-conference wins was nine, set five times (1994-95, 1995-6, 1997-98, 1999-00 and 2002-03).
Injuries
Junior forward Mitch Henke played only four minutes total at the Cable Car Classic due to a right ankle sprain that he suffered on Dec. 23 against Utah State. He came back to play 14 minutes against Saint Mary's on Jan. 6. He is still not 100 percent and is listed as probable for Saturday's game against Gonzaga. Senior Brandon Rohe missed the Jan. 6 Saint Mary's game with a back injury. Rohe has battled back problems since his sophomore year at SCU. He is also listed as probable for Saturday's game.
WCC Leaders
Individually and as a team, Santa Clara currently ranks among the best in the West Coast Conference in a number of statistical categories. As a team, SCU is first scoring defense (62.9), rebounding margin (+6.8), assists (15.7), offensive rebounds (13.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0). The Broncos are second in field goal percentage defense at .399. Sean Denison is first in the conference in field goal percentage at .592, while John Bryant (.534) is fourth. Bryant is tied for sixth in rebounding at 7.1 per game and third in blocks at 1.75 per game. Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley are second and fourth in assists at 4.5 and 3.9 respectively. Pariseau is first in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.18.
Rebounding
The Broncos started conference play with another win in the battle of the boards as they outrebounded Saint Mary's 40-34. SCU has now outrebounded opponents in 12 out of 16 games, while owning a plus-6.8 rebounding margin. That rebound margin is tied for 31st in the country. The Broncos have grabbed more than 40 rebounds eight times this season and have outrebounded their foes 606-497 on the year.
Defense Steps Up Again
Santa Clara held Colgate to a season-low 39 points on Dec. 28. The last time that Santa Clara held an opponent to under 40 points was Dec. 27, 1988 in a 54-39 win over Fresno State. Dec. 28 was the first time that a Dick Davey-led team held an opponent under 40. For the season, opponents are now shooting only .399 against Santa Clara and scoring 62.9 points per game. Santa Clara has now held seven of its past 12 opponents to under 40 percent from the floor.
Home Cooking
Santa Clara has gotten off to good starts at the Leavey Center the past few years. Last year, the Broncos started out with four straight wins at home and in 2004-05 they won their first five at home. Three years ago, the team won five out of six at home to start the year. This season has been no different as SCU has won eight out of 10 so far at the Leavey Center. The Broncos had their five-game home winning streak snapped against Air Force on Dec. 29.
Tight Games
The Broncos have not played many close games so far in 2006-07. Prior to their two-point win over Utah State on Dec. 23, the closest game was an eight-point loss to Nevada on Nov. 25. The Broncos have played only four games that have been decided by 10 points or less, including Jan. 6's seven-point win over Saint Mary's.
Pariseau Keeps It Going
Broncos senior Danny Pariseau has been having a dream season so far for SCU. After scoring 11 points against Colgate on Dec. 28, he has now scored in double figures nine times this season. From December 9-23, Pariseau set or tied career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals. On Dec. 9, he scored a career-high 20 points at Pacific, before dishing out a career-high nine assists on Dec. 11 versus Eastern Washington. On Dec. 16 against Stanford, Pariseau led SCU with nine rebounds, setting another career high. Pariseau also scored 16 points, had four assists and made three steals to lead the team in four categories overall against Stanford. Pariseau finished the four-game stretch with 14 points on the road against Kentucky. He also made four steals against the Wildcats to tie his career high.
Shutting Down Big Scorers
Santa Clara has faced two of the top-10 scoring leaders in Division I this season in Rodney Stuckey and Jaycee Carroll. Both times, the Broncos have held them to their lowest scoring output of the season at the time. On Dec. 11, Stuckey managed only a season-low 12 points in the Broncos' 91-68 win over Eastern Washington. On Dec. 23, Carroll scored a season-low 14 points as SCU won 77-75 knocking him down to 12th in the country in scoring.
Bryant Comes Up Big
Sophomore center John Bryant had one of the best games of his career on Dec. 23 against Utah State. He matched his career high with 20 points while also pulling down a season-high 12 rebounds. He also scored the game-tying basket with six seconds left to send the game to overtime. In overtime, he scored four more points to help SCU to the win. Bryant has three double-doubles this season.
Backcourt Combo
Senior Danny Pariseau and junior Brody Angley have proven to be a dangerous combination in the backcourt together. For the season, they are combining for 17.5 points, 8.4 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game from the guard spots. The pair has also combined for 43 steals on the season.
Rankings
After beating Saint Mary's last week Santa Clara remained 19th in Collegeinsider.com's mid-major top-25, which is based on voting by coaches around the country. SCU is 67th in RPI in the Pomeroy Ratings.
Angley Aims For Top 10
Junior point guard Brody Angley has 63 assists on the season, giving him 286 career assists and leaving him less than 30 assists away from cracking the Broncos all-time top 10 in that category. He needs 23 assists to pass Chris Lane (1984-88) and move into 10th all time.
Home and Away
The Broncos started the season with a stretch of five out of six games at home, including three home games in five days that began Nov. 25 against Nevada. SCU then completed a stretch of five out of six on the road. Now, the Broncos are in the midst of six straight games at the Leavey Cener. Last season, SCU also played six straight home games at this time of the year and posted a 4-2 record. So far in this stretch, Santa Clara is 3-1.
