Jan. 29, 2007

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Next Up for the Broncos
The Santa Clara Broncos look to bounce back from a tough loss to Loyola Marymount when they host the Pepperdine Waves on Monday, Jan. 29 at the Leavey Cetner. The game begins at 8:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPNU and 1220 KNTS. Santa Clara is now tied for second place in the WCC and will need a win to maintain its position among the conference leaders. SantaClaraBroncos.com will also have full audio and video coverage along with GameTracker at Broncos All-Access.

Last Game for the Broncos
Santa Clara fell behind by 14 points in the first half and came back to take a six-point lead in the second half against Loyola Marymount. However, the Lions stormed back to earn a 74-71 win at the Leavey Center on Jan. 27. Danny Pariseau led four players in double figures with 14 points. John Bryant overcame bronchitis to scored 12 points off the bench for SCU. Joey Kaempf nearly won the game for SCU, but his 3-pointer with eight seconds left rimmed out.

Head Coach Dick Davey
In his 15th season as the head coach at Santa Clara, Dick Davey has compiled a career record of 244-187 (116-85 WCC), which includes three 20-win seasons. Davey has also posted a 138-62 record at home for a .690 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. To celebrate 100 seasons of basketball, the Broncos are hanging a number of former Bronco's jerseys in the rafters of the Leavey Center this year. Bob Feerick had his No. 5 put in rafters on Jan. 6, alongside Steve Nash's No. 11, which was hung on Sept. 18 at the Santa Clara Convocation. Joining Feerick and Nash this season will be Ken Sears (Jan. 27), Nick Vanos (Jan. 29), Dennis Awtrey (Feb. 5) and Bud Ogden (Feb. 5). Kurt Rambis is tentatively scheduled to have his jersey raised on Feb. 17.

SCU vs. Pepperdine
Series Record: SCU leads 62-48
First Meeting: SCU 79-56 win on Feb. 3, 1956
2005-06 at Pepperdine: Pepp won 65-45
2005-06 at SCU: SCU won 62-56
Record at SCU: SCU leads 36-19
Record at Pepperdine: Pepp leads 29-19
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 7-0
Biggest SCU Win: 112-70 (42) on Dec. 28, 1965
Biggest Pepperdine Win: 96-58 (38) on Feb. 23, 2002
Dick Davey vs. Pepperdine: 13-18
Notes: Santa Clara has won four of the last seven meetings, but the Waves have won 10 of the last 15 ... SCU has won three of the last four games played at the Leavey Center ... Santa Clara is just 8-24 in Firestone Fieldhouse since it opened on November 30, 1973 ... SCU has won just once at Pepperdine since an 87-76 victory over the Waves in 1996 ... Pepperdine has never beaten Santa Clara at a neutral site ... Santa Clara owns the longest win streak in series history with a 19-game streak from 1964-1973 ... Pepperdine's longest win streak over the Broncos was a six-game skein twice.

Scouting Pepperdine
Pepperdine has won two straight games in WCC play after losing their first four games of the conference season. The Waves earned a 68-66 victory over Saint Mary's on the road on Jan. 27. The team has four players scoring in double figures, led by Marvin Lea at 16.2 points per game. The team is coached by Vance Walberg, a Cupertino native, who attended nearby Monte Vista High School. Walberg is in his first year in charge of the Waves.

Last Game Versus Pepperdine
Santa Clara earned a 62-56 win over the Waves on Feb. 27, 2006 at the Leavey Center. Travis Niesen led the Broncos with 18 points and Calvin Johnson added 11 in the win. Brody Angley had five points and two big rebounds in the final 30 seconds of the game to help the Broncos finish the regular season with a three-game winning streak.

Best Start Since 1997-98
The Broncos are off to their best start (14-7) since the 1997-98 season when the team posted a 15-6 record through 21 games.

Three-Game Win Streak Over
For the third time this season, Santa Clara could not extend a three-game winning streak to four games. The Broncos had won three games in a row heading into their game against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 27, but they fell 74-71 to snap their win streak.

Dougherty's Big Game
Small forward Scott Dougherty continues to impress in the starting role. He shot 4-for-6 from the field and had 13 points, while grabbing seven rebounds against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 27. He raised his average overall to 7.2 points per game and 13.3 per game in WCC contests. Against San Francisco on Jan. 22, he had three points at halftime, but then exploded in the second half with 16 points, including 11 during a decisive 14-4 run, and finished with a career high 19 points. He also hit two free throws in the closing seconds to give SCU a three-point lead. Dougherty's previous career high was 18, set on Jan. 13 vs. Gonzaga. Dougherty started his first game of the year on Dec. 28 against Colgate.

14 Wins
Last season Santa Clara finished the season with 13 wins. With the team's win over San Francisco on Jan. 22, the Broncos surpassed last season's win total by winning their 14th game.

Bryant Sick
Sophomore John Bryant did not start on Saturday against Loyola Marymount due to bronchitis. He missed several practices leading up to the game. It was the first time that Bryant did not start this season. Off the bench, he scored 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

NCAA Leaders
Prior to its Jan. 27 game against Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara was among the nation's leaders in three statistical categories. The Broncos were 44th in scoring defense, allowing 61.5 points per game. They were ranked 27th in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to .396 from the field. The Broncos were also 23rd in rebound margin at plus-6.8 per game.

Three-Pointers
Santa Clara set a season high for 3-pointers on Jan. 27 against Loyola Marymount, knocking down 11 threes in the game. The team also shot .579 from beyond the arc, the best percentage of the season. In the past two games, SCU has made 21 3-pointers. The Broncos hit 10 three-pointers on Jan. 22 against San Francisco. They also made 10 3-pointers on Dec. 11 against Eastern Washington. The Broncos set a season high in three-point attempts on Jan. 13 against Gonzaga. SCU hoisted 29 threes and made eight of them.

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).

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 (62.1), rebounding margin (+6.4) and assists (15.33). The Broncos are second in field goal percentage defense (.405), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.98) and offensive rebounds (12.43). Sean Denison is first in the conference in field goal percentage at .596, while John Bryant (.532) is sixth. Bryant is third in rebounding at 7.6 per game and fourth in blocks at 1.57 per game. Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley are third and fourth in assists at 4.57 and 3.76 respectively. Pariseau is first in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.18.

Rebounding
After three straight games of outrebounding their opponent, the Broncos lost the battle of the boards on Jan. 27 against Loyola Marymount, 26-25. However, despite being outrebounded Santa Clara has now outrebounded opponents in 14 out of 21 games, while owning a plus-6.4 rebounding margin. The Broncos have grabbed more than 40 rebounds nine times this season and have outrebounded their foes 775-640.

Suffocating Defense
Prior to allowing LMU to shoot 61 percent on Jan. 27, Santa Clara had been shutting teams down on the defensive end. Against USF on Jan. 22, the Broncos forced 18 turnovers and limited the Dons to 32 percent shootingin the second half. The Dons scored only 58 points in the game. Prior to that game, the Broncos held Portland to 41 points on Jan. 15 and limited San Diego to 47 points on Jan. 20. In both games, SCU had outstanding second half efforts, holding Portland to 14 points and San Diego to 16 points. USD shot 2-for-22 from the field in the second half (nine percent). The 41 points by Portland was the second lowest total this year for an opponent. The Broncos 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 .405 against Santa Clara and scoring 62.1 points per game.

Under 50
The Santa Clara Broncos have held six opponents to under 50 points in a game this season, tying the record for a season under Dick Davey. In 1999-2000, the Broncos also held six opponents to under 50 points. No other SCU team under Davey has held more than two opponents to under 50 points in the same season.

More D
Santa Clara held San Diego to 15 field goals on Jan. 20. However, that total is just the third lowest total allowed. The Broncos limited San Jose State to just 13 field goal makes on Nov. 27, while Stanford made just 14 shots on Dec. 16.

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 nine out of 12 so far at the Leavey Center. The Broncos had their five-game home winning streak snapped against Air Force on Dec. 29.

Tight Games
After playing only two games decided by 10 points or less in their first 12 games, Santa Clara has had five of their past nine games decided by eight points or less. SCU defeated San Francisco by three points on Jan. 22, but lost to Loyola Marymount by three on Jan. 27. SCU is now 4-3 in games decided by 10 points or less.

Rankings
Santa Clara moved up to 15th in Collegeinsider.com's mid-major top-25 last week, which is based on voting by coaches around the country.

Angley Aims For Top 10
Junior point guard Brody Angley has 79 assists on the season, giving him 302 career assists and leaving him less than 10 assists away from cracking the Broncos all-time top 10 in that category. He needs 7 assists to pass Chris Lane (1984-88) and move into 10th all time.

Rohe Near Century Mark
Senior guard Brandon Rohe played in his 99th career game on Jan. 27 against Loyola Marymoutn. He is now just one game away from reaching 100 games played for his career.