Feb. 1, 2007

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Next Up for the Broncos
The Santa Clara Broncos face an important test on the road on Saturday, Feb. 3 when they take on the Saint Mary's Gaels live on Comcast SportsNet. The Broncos and the Gaels are both 5-2 this year in the WCC. On Jan. 6, SCU defeated Saint Mary's in a closely-contested game, 76-69. That win snapped a four-game losing streak against the Gaels. SantaClaraBroncos.com will also have a live audio feed along with GameTracker.

Last Game for the Broncos
Santa Clara burst out of the gate against Pepperdine on Jan. 29 and cruised to a 77-55 win over the Waves at the Leavey Center. Six Broncos scored in double figures led by Scott Dougherty, who had 14. Sean Denison had another double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help SCU win its 15th game of the season. The Broncos shot 56 percent from the floor and 52 percent on 3-pointers pull away from the Waves.

Head Coach Dick Davey
In his 15th season as the head coach at Santa Clara, Dick Davey has compiled a career record of 245-187 (116-85 WCC), which includes three 20-win seasons. Davey has also posted a 139-62 record at home for a .692 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' No. 34 will be raised in a future season as his duties as assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers will not allow him time to come back this year.

SCU vs. Saint Mary's
Series Record: SCU leads 128-71
First Meeting: SMC 42-13 win on Feb. 19, 1910
2005-06 at SMC: SMC won 54-51
2005-06 at SCU: SMC won 76-69 (ot)
Record at SCU: SCU leads 59-23
Record at SMC: SCU leads 30-28
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 39-20
Biggest SCU Win: 113-69 (44) on Feb. 10, 1979
Biggest SMC Win: 84-52 (32) on Jan. 22, 2004
Dick Davey vs. Saint Mary's: 18-12
Notes: Santa Clara has swept the regular-season series between the two schools in five of the last eight seasons ... Saint Mary's has knocked Santa Clara out of the WCC Tournament in three of the last four years ... Santa Clara has won six of the last nine regular-season meetings between the two schools in the Leavey Center ... SCU has also won five of the last seven matchups at McKeon Pavilion ... Saint Mary's had won four straight games in the series prior to the Broncos' 76-69 win on Jan. 6 ... Joey Kaempf scored a career high 21 points against SMC in the WCC tourney last year, but SCU fell in overtime 76-72.

Scouting Saint Mary's
After losing to Santa Clara on Jan. 6, the Gaels won four straight games in conference to move into a first place tie. The Gaels lost to Pepperdine on Jan. 27 and then beat Loyola Marymount on Jan. 29 to find themselves at 5-2 and in a tie for second with Santa Clara. Gaels' forward Diamon Simpson has had a strong year so far, averaging 14.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. In conference contests, those averages increase to 17.1 and 7.9.

Last Game Versus SMC
Santa Clara snapped a four-game losing streak to Saint Mary's with a 76-69 win in the conference opener on Jan. 6 at the Leavey Center. Sean Denison had 20 points and nine rebounds and shot 8-for-8 from the field. Center John Bryant added 16 points and nine rebounds in the win. Trailing by two at halftime, SCU outscored the Gaels by nine points in the second half to earn the win.

15 Wins In January
By defeating the Pepperdine Waves on Jan. 29, SCU won its 15th game of the year. This season marks the first time since 1983 that the Broncos have had 15 wins at the end of the month of January.

Best Start Since 1997-98
The Broncos are off to their best start (15-7) since the 1997-98 season when the team posted a 16-6 record through 22 games.

Dougherty Leading Team
Small forward Scott Dougherty continues to impress in the starting role. He has started every game of the conference season and is leading the team in scoring in those seven games at 13.4 points per game. Against Pepperdine, he led the team with 14 points two days after he shot 4-for-6 from the field and had 13 points, while grabbing seven rebounds against Loyola Marymount. His average overall is now 7.4 points per game. 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.

5 Wins
With half of the conference season remaining, Santa Clara has already matched its win total from last season in conference games. SCU finished 5-9 in conference last season.

Six In Double Figures
Santa Clara beat Pepperdine with a complete team effort on Jan. 29 as six Broncos scored in double figures. Scott Dougherty led the way with 14 points, but he was joined in double figures by Brody Angley (12), Joey Kaempf (11), John Bryant (10), Sean Denison (10) and Danny Pariseau. It was the first time since Feb. 25, 2006 against Loyola Marymount that the Broncos had more than five players in double figures.

Denison Double Double
Sean Denison recorded his second double double in three games as he scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds against Pepperdine. He also had 10 and 10 against USF on Jan. 22. He now has three double doubles this season, one behind John Bryant, who leads the team with four.

Shooting
SCU shot 56 percent from the field against Pepperdine on Jan. 29, the team's second-best shooting performance of the year. The Broncos shot 60 percent against Utah on Nov. 18.

NCAA Leaders
Prior to its Jan. 29 game against Pepperdine, Santa Clara was among the nation's leaders in three statistical categories. The Broncos were 45th in scoring defense, allowing 62.1 (now 61.8) points per game. The Broncos were also 27th in rebound margin at plus-6.4 (now 6.5) per game.

Three-Pointers
Santa Clara set a season high for 3-pointers for the second game in a row on Jan. 29 against Pepperdine. SCU hit 12 3-pointers in the game two days after knocking down 11 threes in the game against Loyola Marymount. Against LMU, the team also shot .579 from beyond the arc, the best percentage of the season. On Jan. 22, SCU made 10 3-pointers against San Francisco. In the last three games, Santa Clara has made 33 threes and are shooting 52 percent from beyond the arc (33-64). Scott Dougherty's is shooting 9-for-15 on 3-pointers the past three games.

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 (61.8), rebounding margin (+6.5) and assists (15.36). The Broncos are second in field goal percentage defense (.401), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99) and offensive rebounds (12.36). Sean Denison is first in the conference in field goal percentage at .595, while John Bryant (.539) is fifth. Bryant is third in rebounding at 7.5 per game and tied for third in blocks at 1.55 per game. Danny Pariseau and Brody Angley are third and fourth in assists at 4.68 and 3.82 respectively. Pariseau is first in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.34.

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. The Broncos turned that around on Jan. 29 against Pepperdine, outrebounding the Waves 36-27. Santa Clara has now outrebounded opponents in 15 out of 22 games, while owning a plus-6.5 rebounding margin. The Broncos have grabbed more than 40 rebounds nine times this season and have outrebounded their foes 811-667.

Suffocating Defense
Santa Clara returned to its defensive form on Jan. 29 against Pepperdine, forcing the Waves to shoot just 32 percent from the floor and 27 percent from 3-point land. The Broncos allowed LMU to score 74 points on 61 perecent shooting two days before the Pepperdine game. However, prior to that game, SCU had gone three consecutive games holding opponents below 60 points. Against USF on Jan. 22, the Broncos forced 18 turnovers and limited the Dons to 32 percent shooting in 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.

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.

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 10 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 dropped four spots to 19th in Collegeinsider.com's mid-major top-25 after losing to LMU on Jan. 27. The poll is based on voting by coaches around the country.

Angley Aims For Top 10
Junior point guard Brody Angley has 84 assists on the season, giving him 302 career assists and leaving him less than 5 assists away from cracking the Broncos all-time top 10 in that category. He needs 2 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.