Santa Clara Travels to USF Thursday

Santa Clara Travels to USF Thursday

Santa Clara Game Notes

WATCH: Assistant coach Sam Scholl talks keys to the USF game

The Broncos (12-6, 1-3) look to make it two in a row vs. the Dons and to break their three-game losing streak when they travel to USF (7-10, 0-4) for a West Coast Conference game on Thurs., Jan. 17 at 8:00 p.m. 

The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet California with Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini.  The game can be heard live on KDOW 1220 AM with the broadcast beginning at 8 p.m. Pacific. Anthony Passarelli is in his sixth season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer. 

SCU will be playing just its sixth road game of the season and only its third since Dec. 15, 2012. The Broncos are 3-2 in away games this season with one of those losses coming at top-ranked Duke on Dec. 29, 2012. They are looking for their first season sweep of the Dons since the 2007-08 season when they also beat USF in the WCC Tournament.

In their last game the Broncos battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit to tie BYU but then saw the Cougars go on an 18-0 run midway through the second half to pull away for an 82-64 win. Marc Trasolini had a career-high tying 14 rebounds in the game with 17 points for his 10th career double-double. He also posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting with USF on Jan. 2.

The Broncos are led by a trio of scorers in double figures this year with 1,000-plus career points each.  Kevin Foster (19.3 ppg, 2,039 career points), Marc Trasolini (15.5 ppg, 1,391) and Evan Roquemore (13.5 ppg, 1,104) are the only active trio in the country on the same team with 1,000 career points or more. Foster is No. 2 in active career points scored behind Lehigh's C.J. McCollum (2,361) who is out for the season with broken foot.

Rivals

These Bay Area rivals will meet for the 212th time overall and the second time in two weeks. SCU snapped a 17-game losing streak to WCC opponents when they defeated the Dons, 74-69, on Jan. 2 in the conference opener for both teams.

SCU leads the all-time series 110-101 following their victory on Jan. 2, but USF has won 51 of the 95 meetings on its homecourt. Since the formation of what is now the WCC in 1952-53, Santa Clara and USF have played 134 times with SCU holding a 68-66 lead in all games. USF has a 61-60 lead in regular season conference action with Santa Clara holding a 4-2 lead in WCC tournament games. SCU won the only postseason tournament matchup, 95-91, at USF on Mar. 22, 2011 in CollegeInsider.com tournament and the teams have split six Cable Car Classic games. Santa Clara and USF are two of three original conference members, along with Saint Mary's, and the two played the first conference game at the Cow Palace on Jan. 6, 1953 with USF posting a 59-48 win. 

CAREER NOTES vs. USF

Head coach Kerry Keating posted his first career WCC road win at USF (1/28/08) and is 7-6 all-time against the Dons … Evan Roquemore scored a career-high 30 points at USF to help lead the Broncos to the CIT Semi-Finals (3/22/11) … Denzel Johnson has two of his three career 20-point games against USF. He scored a career-high 26 points (1/26/12) and had 20 with a career-best five rebounds (2/9/12) … Niyi Harrison blocked a career-high four shots at USF (1/23/10) … Kevin Foster has four of his 47 career 20+ point games against USF in just six games played. He scored 21 on 1/2/13, had 27 on 3/22/11, 26 (1/8/11) and 20 (2/21/09) … Raymond Cowels III scored 21 points at USF on 2/9/12, one of his four career 20+ point games.  He twice recorded a career-high tying 3 assists vs. the Dons (1/26/12 and 1/8/11) and blocked a career-best 2 shots (1/26/12) … Yannick Atanga snared a career-best 13 rebounds vs. USF (1/2/13) … Marc Trasolini had 14 points and 10 rebounds last game against USF (1/2/13), the only double-double game recorded against the Dons by any current SCU player.

Stung by the Beehive

Three of Santa Clara's four games this season allowing the opposition to shoot over 50 percent from the field have come against schools from the state of Utah. In their last game, on Jan. 12 against BYU, the Broncos allowed the Cougars to shoot 53.6% (30-of-56) while Utah State shot 56% (28-of-50) on Nov. 28, 2012 and Utah Valley shot 53.1% (26-of-49) on Nov. 21, 2012. The three schools from the Beehive state combined to go 84-of-155 from the field for a blistering 54.2% while in the other 15 games the Broncos have held teams to just over 40% shooting (329-of-815).

Board Work

Marc Trasolini hauled down a career-high tying 14 rebounds against BYU on Jan. 12, including the 700th of his career, and leads the Broncos with 8.0 per game, good for 3rd-best In the WCC. It was his 6th double-digit rebound game of the season and 14th career moving him into the No. 9 spot on the school's career list with 708. Trasolini also joined John Bryant (2005-09) and Nick Vanos (1981-85) as the only Broncos to record over 1,300 points, 150 blocked shots and 700 rebounds in a career.

1,000 and Counting done

There have been 30 players in the history of Santa Clara basketball to score 1,000 career points and three of them are on the current roster. In fact this season SCU is the only Division I school with three 1,000 point scorers on its roster. Kevin Foster (2,039) became SCU's all-time scoring leader, surpassing 1980 West Coast Conference Player of the Year and former NBA star Kurt Rambis, in a win at St. Louis on Nov. 14 and became the seventh player in WCC history to score 2,000 career points when he netted 29 against Gonzaga on Jan. 5.  He moved to No. 5 all-time on the WCC career points scored list when he notched 22 vs. BYU on Jan. 12 and he enters the USF game with 2,039.  He needs to score 22 points to move past No. 4 Forrest McKenzie of LMU (1981-86, 2,060 points).

Marc Trasolini scored his 1,300th career point in a win over Alcorn St. on Dec. 21 and is No. 14 on the school's list with 1,391. Trasolini is nine points away from becoming the 13th player in school history with 1,400 career points and he will move to No. 12 all-time, passing Mike Gervasoni (1,393, 1964-67) and Nick Vanos (1,399, 1981-85) along the way.

Evan Roquemore joined the 1,000-point club this season, reaching the plateau in a win at Pacific on Dec. 15. He scored his 1,100th career point at LMU on Jan. 10, becoming just the 25th player in school history score that many.  He has 1,104 career points heading to USF. 

Getting Closer

Raymond Cowels III has played in all but one game during his four-year career and has started 48 straight times since the beginning of the 2011-12 season. RC3 is fourth on the team in scoring with a 9.2 ppg average and needs 96 points to become the fourth member of the current roster to score 1,000 career points. Cowels III scored a season-high 15 points with a career-best 11 rebounds at LMU on Jan. 10 for his first double-double game as a Bronco. He added 14 points with eight rebounds and four steals vs. BYU on Jan. 12 to surpass the 900 career point mark (904).

All Time Leader

Kevin Foster added another record to his list of achievements during SCU's loss to BYU on Jan. 12. He is now the WCC's career leader in 3-point baskets made after breaking a tie with LMU's Jeff Fryer. Foster hit his 364th career 3 knocking down a shot from the corner with 10:44 left in the first half for the record. He finished with a team-high 22 points on three 3-pointers, and has made at least one 3-point basket in 106 of his 113 career games played with five or more 3s in a game 26 times. Foster is also No. 26 on the NCAA Division I all-time threes made list with 366, tied with Pat Bradley of Arkansas (1996-99), and needs eight more threes to tie Ohio State's Jon Diebler for 20th.

Foster has also launched a bunch of 3s during his career. With 1,017 attempted he is the SCU and WCC leader and he ranks No. 8 in NCAA Division I history. Foster has attempted 10 or more 3s in a game eight times this season and 52 times in his 113 game career. In his last four games against USF Foster has attempted 52 3-point shots making 16 (30.8%).

Dishes

A 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award nominee, Evan Roquemore is Santa Clara's floor leader in minutes played (582) and is averaging 32.3 mpg. Despite a poor shooting game against BYU, when he made just one of his 10 field goal attempts, he did hand out a game-high tying 8 assists, the sixth time this season he's dished out at least that many, and the 14th time in his career.

Roquemore joined Brian Jones, Steve Nash and Kyle Bailey as the only Broncos to record over 1,100 points and 400 assists in a career when he scored 21 points at LMU on Jan. 10 to reach 1,101 for his career. He also added six assists, including his 400th career, against the Lions. He produced his first double-double game of the season, and third career, with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the Cable Car Classic title game win over Wagner on Dec. 22.

Roquemore has 115 assists for the season and ranks 18th nationally with 6.4 a game. He is also on pace to break John Woolery's 1993-94 single season school record of 190 and has a chance to become the fourth Bronco with 500 career assists, all by the end of his junior season.  Roquemore, who currently has 412 career assists, ranks 8th on the school's all-time list and needs 10 assists to tie Woolery for 7th place. 

Bay Area Scorers

Leading scorer Kevin Foster scored 11 points at LMU on Jan. 10 to crack the West Coast Conference's top 5 in career points. Foster climbed over LMU's Bo Kimble (1987-90 - 2,010) and Gonzaga's Jim McPhee (1986-90 - 2,015) into the fifth spot.  After scoring 22 points against BYU on Jan. 12, he needs just 22 points to move up to the No. 4 spot, currently held by LMU's Forrest McKenzie, who scored 2,060 points from 1981-86.

Foster has reached double figures 16 times in 18 games this season, has topped the 20-point mark 10 times, and scored at least 30 in a game twice to lead the Broncos in scoring, place third in the WCC and 25th nationally at 19.3 ppg. 

Foster became the 7th player in West Coast Conference history to score 2,000 career points, reaching that mark on a runner in the lane early in the second half of SCU's loss to Gonzaga on Jan. 5. He scored his 1,900th career point on a 3-point basket at Pacific on Dec. 15 and also scored career point No. 1,800 on a three-pointer against Utah State on Nov. 28, converting his second 4-point play of the season after being fouled on the shot.

Foster became SCU's career points leader, overtaking 1980 WCC Player of the Year Kurt Rambis, in a win at St. Louis on Nov. 14. It's unlikely he will catch LMU's Hank Gathers (1987-90) for the WCC's top spot (2,490), but Foster has a shot at the No. 2 overall spot, currently held by LMU's Terrell Lowery (2,201).

Against No. 10 Gonzaga, he became the fourth player in Bay Area Division I history (includes Cal, Stanford, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's, USF and San Jose State), and the first in 21 years, to score 2,000 career points, joining Stanford's Todd Lichti (2,336) and Adam Keefe (2,319) and USF's Bill Cartwright (2,116).

Rank/Name School Years Total points

1.Todd Lichti Stanford 1986-89 2,336 

2.Adam Keefe Stanford 1989-92 2,319

3.Bill Cartwright USF 1976-79 2,116

4.Kevin Foster Santa Clara 2008-13 2,039 

In SCU's 88-75 win over Air Force on March 18, 2011, Foster broke the school record with nine threes, tying a career-high with 36 points.  He also had a career-high 36 in Santa Clara's 85-71 win over Gonzaga on Jan. 20, 2011.  Foster shattered the WCC single season threes made record with 140 in 2010-11, leading the country, and grabbed the nation's top spot in threes made per game as well with 3.68.  His 768 points that year were No. 6 on the WCC's single season points scored list as he finished as the leading scorer in a single season in the Bay Area as well.  He broke the school's single season mark for points scored, minutes played, threes made and threes attempted.  He was named first-team All-WCC and was named the WCC Player of the Month in February and March.  He was named the WCC Player of the Year by CollegeInsider.com.

Foster was nicknamed 'Microwave' by his father during his youth after the Detroit Piston's Vinnie Johnson.  Johnson earned the nickname 'the Microwave' from Celtics guard Danny Ainge for his ability to score many points in a short period of time, heating up the offense. Foster has scored 15+ points in 74 of 113 career games and he has scored 19+ in 54 career games. 

OT

Two of Santa Clara's six defeats this season have come in overtime after the Broncos held a lead late in each game. During their two OT losses, which came in consecutive games, SCU allowed a late 3-point basket in each and lost both in the extra session. Utah State's Preston Medlin hit a game-tying three with 2.4 seconds left in regulation to send the game into OT and the Aggies handed Santa Clara its first loss of the season, 80-78, on Nov. 28. The Broncos endured a similar fate against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 1, when Kyle Boswell hit a contested three at the regulation buzzer to tie the game, 71-71. The Gauchos would prevail 83-80.

Starting With

Seniors Marc Trasolini (89), Raymond Cowels III (68) and Kevin Foster (105) have started all 18 games for the Broncos this season and have combined for 262 starts in their Santa Clara careers. Evan Roquemore has started 17 of 18 games this season and has 72 career starts under his belt.  The remaining nine players on the roster have a total of 112 career starts with Niyi Harrison leading the group with 44. Foster became the sixth Bronco to start 100 career games when SCU defeated Wagner in the championship of the Cable Car Classic on Dec. 22 and is just 11 starts shy of equaling the school record held by Brian Jones.

Blocks

Robert Garrett and Marc Trasolini have each blocked 32 shots this season to tie for the No. 1 spot in the WCC. Trasolini has multiple blocks in 10 games this season recording a season-high 3 blocks seven times. Garrett blocked a WCC season-high and career-best 6 shots in the season opener vs. Simpson on Nov. 10 and has at least 4 blocks in a game three times. The two have combined for 64 of the team's 95 blocks and SCU is averaging 5.3 blocks a game, tops in the conference. Trasolini currently ranks third at SCU in career blocks with 154 and needs six to tie Nick Vanos (1981-85) for second place on the school's career list.