The Broncos (17-8, 5-5) play the middle game of a three-game league homestand when they host San Diego (13-13, 6-5) in a critical West Coast Conference game on Thurs., Feb. 14.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (PST) with the game being shown on WCC Digital with George Devin and Kris Johnson making the call. Click here after 6:45 pm on game day to see the game on the internet.
The game can also be heard live on KDOW 1220 AM with the broadcast beginning at 7 p.m. Anthony Passarelli is in his sixth season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer.
Santa Clara trails San Diego by a half game in the WCC standings for the No. 4 spot, a crucial position since the third and fourth seeds receive a bye into the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament in Las Vegas. SCU has six league games remaining while the Toreros have five. The teams met earlier this year with the Broncos ending a two-game slide to the Toreros with a 64-50 win in San Diego on Jan. 26. Marc Trasolini scored a game-high 23 points with Evan Roquemore adding 18 and Kevin Foster 15. The three combined to score 56 of the team's 64 points and made 15-of-16 free throws in the win.
The Broncos will look for a season sweep vs. San Diego on their own floor where they are 22-15 all-time against the Toreros. USD has closed the gap recently however, winning five of the last seven games at the Leavey Center, including last season's 75-62 win on Jan. 12, 2012.
Santa Clara suffered its worst loss of the season in its last game, losing by 21 points (84-63) to Saint Mary's on Feb. 7. SCU missed its first six field goal attempts and never led while dropping its eighth straight game to the Gaels. Four Broncos reached double figures in scoring with Evan Roquemore netting a team-high 18. Raymond Cowels III (14), Marc Trasolini (13) and Kevin Foster (10) also hit double-digits, but the Broncos shot just 40.8 percent from the field and scored a season-low 63 points. Santa Clara's previous worst loss was by 18 points (82-64) to BYU on Jan. 12. The Broncos responded by defeating USF by 31 points the following game (85-54) on Jan. 17.
With 17 wins this season, the Broncos have already amassed their second-highest victory total in head coach Kerry Keating's six seasons and have the third-most wins in the program's last 12 seasons. They are also just three victories away from posting the 19th 20-win season in program history.
Despite scoring a season-low in their 84-63 loss to Saint Mary's on Feb. 7, the Broncos rank No. 12 nationally in total points with 1,904. They've scored at least 70 points in a game 20 times this season, doing so for just the 14th time in school history. Santa Clara has not gone an entire season without scoring fewer than 60 points in at least one game since 1980-81 when its lowest point total in a game was 63.
Santa Clara is one of two WCC teams to boast four double-digit scorers (Saint Mary's) with three of the four having amassed over 1,000 career points each. Kevin Foster (18.6 ppg, 2,156 career points), Marc Trasolini (15.6 ppg, 1,503) and Evan Roquemore (12.9 ppg, 1,184) are the first trio in the country on the same team with 1,000 or more career points. Foster is No. 2 nationally in active career points scored behind Lehigh's C.J. McCollum (2,361) who is out for the season with a broken foot. Raymond Cowels III is closing in on 1,000 points needing just 15 points to become the fourth member of the 1,000 point club.
Broncos vs. Toreros
The two teams will be playing on Thursday for the 74th time with SCU holding a 40-33 lead all-time. After being swept by USD last season the Broncos look to return the favor. SCU won the first meeting, 64-50, in San Diego on Jan. 26. SCU is 7-4 all-time against USD in the second game of the season series when winning the first game on the road and have swept the season series nine times since USD joined the WCC in 1979-80. This will be the 38th game played between the schools in Santa Clara with SCU holding a 22-15 series lead. USD has won five of the last seven games at Leavey however, including a 75-62 victory last year on Jan. 12, 2012. Johnny Dee leads the Toreros in scoring this season at 15.0 ppg and is one of two USD players to start all 26 games. He scored his third-highest career point total when he collected 26 at Santa Clara on Jan 12, 2012 and has scored 54 points in three career games against SCU. He also leads the WCC in free throw percentage at .893.
Marc Trasolini went scoreless against USD on Jan. 8, 2010, the only game during his career he failed to score a point when playing more than 20 minutes. He scored 23 points, the most in his nine games against USD, earlier this season on Jan. 26. Evan Roquemore has made 27 of 28 free throws (.964) in five career games against USD. Denzel Johnson scored 20 points at USD (2/4/12), his second-highest career point total. Niyi Harrison attempted a career-high 12 free throws vs. USD (1/12/12).
Coming Up Roses
Santa Clara has had sweet results when playing at home on February 14. Since 1941 the Broncos have posted a rosy 7-1 home record on Valentine's Day with their only loss during that time coming to No. 1 ranked USF In 1955. Since that loss the Broncos have won five consecutive Valentine's Day games with the last coming in 2002, a 77-67 win over USF. SCU's last two February 14th games have been on the road, losing at Pepperdine in 2002 and winning at LMU In 2009. Overall since 1941 the Broncos are 13-7 when playing on Feb. 14.
Members Only
All of Kevin Foster's scoring exploits have been chronicled, but the senior from Katy, Texas, may well go down as one of the greatest all-around players to ever compete in the WCC. One of just four players to score over 2,100 career points, Foster leads the WCC and ranks 14th nationally this season with 2.52 steals per game and he is No. 5 in the WCC with 4.6 assists a game. Through his career Foster has amassed 2,156 points, 415 assists and 205 steals joining LMU's Terrell Lowery as the only players in WCC history to accumulate more than 2,000 points, 400 assists and 200 steals. From 1988-92 Lowery recorded 2,201 points, 689 assists and 231 steals.
Scoring
There have been 30 players in the history of SCU basketball to score 1,000 career points and three of them are on the current roster. SCU was the first Division I school with three 1,000 point scorers on its roster. Bucknell and Loyola Maryland have since matched the Broncos.
Kevin Foster (2,156) 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 fourth player in WCC history to score 2,100 career points vs. CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 23. Not even ranked in the top 25 career scorers in WCC history when the season began, Foster currently sits at No. 3 after passing Bill Cartwright (2,116) with his 15-point effort at San Diego on Jan. 26 and needs 46 points to move past LMU's Terrell Lowery, who scored 2,201 from 1988-92, for the No. 2 spot.
Marc Trasolini became the 11th Bronco to score 1,500 career points when he tallied 13 vs. Saint Mary's on Feb. 7. With 1,503 career points Trasolini is 68 behind Kyle Bailey for the No. 10 spot. Bailey scored 1,571 points from 2001-05. Trasolini scored 23 points at San Diego on Jan. 26 moving ahead of Bud Ogden (1,437) and Mike Stewart (1,446) into 11th on the school's career list.
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 to score that many. His 18 points vs. Saint Mary's on Feb. 7 helped him move past Nathan Fast (1996-00, 1,182) into the 23rd spot with 1,184 points.
Raymond Cowels III has played in all but one game during his four-year career (family funeral) and has started 55 straight times since the beginning of the 2011-12 season. RC3 is fourth on the team in scoring with 10.0 ppg and needs 15 points to become the fourth member of the current roster to score 1,000 career points and the 31st in school history. SCU will be the first team in the country with four 1,000 point scorers this year. Its three 1,000 point scorers is already a school record (for a single season).
Tip-Ins
SCU has three winning streaks of five or more games this season … Kevin Foster has scored over 100 points against every WCC team except BYU (62) and Pepperdine (77). He's scored 102 points in seven career games against San Diego … Brandon Clark is the only non-starter to have more than one double-digit scoring game off the bench. Clark has scored 10 or more points six times this season … SCU has held opponents to fewer than 20 first half points five times this season … Head coach Kerry Keating has a 6-7 career record vs. USD … Kevin Foster is the only SCU player to attempt more than 200 three-point shots in a season. He's done it for a third time this season with 218 … John McArthur has more personal fouls (58) than points scored (43) playing in all 25 games this season … In the last two games SCU opponents are shooting 57% from the field (65-of-114), 54.8% from 3-point range (17-of-31) and 71.7% from the free throw line (33-of-46) while averaging 90 points.
Trasolini Named Senior CLASS Finalist
Marc Trasolini has been named as one of the 10 finalist's for the Senior CLASS Award. Trasolini leads the team in rebounds and blocks and is second in points per game. The men's Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA Final Four.
Nationwide fan voting has begun and Bronco fans are encouraged to vote for Trasolini every day at the following website through March 25. Click here to vote everyday!
On the court, Trasolini is No. 11 in career points scored for the Broncos and in the top 10 career list in field goals made, field goal percentage, rebounds, blocks, games played, games started and minutes. In the classroom, Trasolini is the only player in the WCC and Pac 12 to be named to the CoSIDA All-District Academic All-American list three straight competition years this Feb (2010, '11, '13), Trasolini carries a 3.56 GPA in his fourth quarter of MBA work and graduated cum laude in March 2012 with a degree in Finance (3.65 GPA).
Bronco head coach Kerry Keating had this to say about Trasolini in the community. "On our annual trip to the Great America park to spend the day with Courageous Kids (kids with cancer) Marc has been front and center each year. At 6-9 240, he is easily visible, but the kids feel his heart when he spends time with them because he is a good person, not because he is a basketball player and tall. Marc has been a fixture at our annual summer camp and relishes his role as teacher and role model, and has developed a comfort in being easily noticeable but has more so developed strength in being a role model and good citizen."
To be eligible for the award, the senior must have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in October.
Handling Success
Kevin Foster added another record to his list of achievements during SCU's loss to BYU on Jan. 12, but when he went 0-of-3 from beyond the arc vs. Saint Mary's on Feb. 7, it was the first time he went without a three since Dec. 22, 2012 (0-5 vs. Wagner). He is the WCC's career leader in 3-point baskets made with 385 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 vs. BYU on Jan. 12 for the record.
Foster did manage to score 10 points against Saint Mary's, his 22nd double-digit scoring game of the season and 104th in his 120 game career.
Foster sits in 16th place on the NCAA Division I all-time threes made list with 385. He needs three to tie Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn and crack the top 15 and is 15 away from becoming the 11th player in Division I to make 400 career threes. Foster's 133 made threes in WCC games is No. 4 all-time in league history. His three threes at BYU Feb. 2 broke two-time NBA MVP and former Bronco Steve Nash's school record. Nash made 132 in his 56 league games and is No. 2 all-time for the Broncos with 263 threes, a record Foster eclipsed early his junior year. Sitting at No. 3 on the WCC list is Gonzaga's Blake Stepp with 143 threes made in WCC games (2000-04). LMU's Jeff Fryer holds the WCC record in league-only games with 166 threes made in 49 games (1987-90).
With 1,067 attempted, Foster is the SCU and WCC leader and he ranks No. 7 in NCAA Division I history. He needs 126 attempts to break the all-time NCAA record set by Keydren Clark in 2006 (1,192, Saint Peter's). Foster has attempted 10 or more 3s in a game 10 times this season and 54 times in his 120 game career.
1998-99 – sports-reference.com)
Rk Player 3PA From To Last School
1. Keydren Clark 1192 2003 2006 Saint Peter's
2. David Holston 1147 2006 2009 Chicago State
3. Joe Zeglinski 1140 2007 2011 Hartford
4. Gerry McNamara 1131 2003 2006 Syracuse
5. J.J. Redick 1126 2003 2006 Duke
6. Michael Watson 1098 2001 2004 Missouri-Kansas City
7. Kevin Foster 1067 2009 2013 Santa Clara
8. Chris Lofton 1027 2005 2008 Tennessee
9. Jack Leasure 1009 2005 2008 Coastal Carolina
10. Stephen Curry 1004 2007 2009 Davidson
For the second time this season, Foster was the WCC Player of the Week, earning the honor on Jan. 21 after he averaged 27.5 ppg, including 57.1 percent from beyond the arc (12-of-21), in a pair of road wins at USF, winning 85-54, and 83-76 at Pepperdine. Foster averaged 33 minutes per game hitting six threes in both victories. He also shot 62.5 percent for the week (20-of-32) and recorded his first career double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds at USF. On the week he averaged 6.0 rpg, 3.0, apg and 2.5 spg.
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.
Foster's 768 points in 2010-11 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 that year. 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.
Heating Up The Microwave
Kevin Foster was nicknamed 'Microwave' by his father Rick Foster 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 79 of 120 career games and he has scored 19+ in 56 career games. Foster's 19+ games follow:
Opponent/Date Pts. (3s)
1. vs. Arizona/Nov. 25, 2008 21 (5)
2. vs. Belmont/Dec. 29, 2008 24 (3)
3. at Harvard/Jan. 2, 2009 20 (4)
4. at Saint Mary's/Jan. 9, 2009 31 (5)
5. at Portland/Jan. 17, 2009 20 (3)
6. vs. LMU/Jan. 29, 2009 20 (3)
7. vs. Saint Mary's/Feb. 7, 2009 26 (4)
8. at LMU/Feb. 14, 2009 26 (5)
9. at USF/Feb. 21, 2009 20 (2)
10. vs. Gonzaga/Feb. 26, 2009 20 (3)
11. vs. San Diego/March 7, 2009 21 (4)
12. at CSUB/Nov. 13, 2009 21 (3)
13. vs. Menlo/Nov. 19, 2009 19 (4)
14. at Pacific/Nov. 22, 2009 22 (5)
15. vs. Fresno State/Nov. 28, 2009 25 (5)
16. vs. CSU Bakersfield/Nov. 12, 2010 19 (4)
17. at So. California/Nov. 15, 2010 26 (4)
18. vs. Bethune-Cookman/Nov. 21, 2010 21 (6)
19. vs. N. Colorado/Nov. 23, 2010 19 (4)
20. vs. UC Santa Barbara/Dec. 4, 2010 25 (6)
21. at San Jose State/Dec. 10, 2010 26 (3)
22. vs. Washington St./Dec. 19, 2010 29 (4)
23. at CSU Northridge/Dec. 22, 2010 22 (2)
24. vs. Bethany/Jan. 3, 2011 19 (6)
25. vs. USF/Jan. 8, 2011 26 (8)
26. vs. Gonzaga/Jan. 20, 2011 36 (6)
27. vs. Portland/Jan. 22, 2011 19 (3)
28. vs. LMU/Jan. 29, 2011 28 (3)
29. vs. St. Mary's/Feb. 10, 2011 25 (4)
30. vs. San Diego/Feb. 12, 2011 21 (3)
31. at Gonzaga/Feb. 17, 2011 27 (8)
32. at Portland/Feb. 19, 2011 29 (7)
33. vs. Air Force/March 18, 2011 36 (9)
34. at USF/March 22, 2011 27 (3)
35. at SMU (March 25, 2011 35 (5)
36. vs. New Mexico (Nov. 24, 2011) 26 (5)
37. vs. Oklahoma (Nov. 25, 2011) 19 (3)
38. vs. Cal State Northridge (Dec. 3, 2011) 20 (4)
39. vs. Pacific (Dec. 17, 2011) 26 (6)
40. at Houston Baptist (Dec. 21, 2011) 19 (3)
41. vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 29, 2011) 25 (6)
42. vs. Wagner (Dec. 30, 2011) 20 (4)
43. at BYU (Jan. 14, 2012) 22 (4)
44. vs. Saint Mary's (Jan. 21, 2012) 22 (5)
45. vs. Simpson (Nov. 10, 2012) 27 (7)
46. at Saint Louis (Nov. 14, 2012) 30 (2)
47. vs. Utah Valley (Nov. 21, 2012) 21 (1)
48. vs. Utah State (Nov. 28, 2012) 27 (5)
49. vs. UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 1, 2012) 28 (4)
50. at Pacific (Dec. 15, 2012) 31 (4)
51. at Duke (Dec. 29, 2012) 29 (5)
52. vs. USF (Jan. 2, 2013) 21 (5)
53. vs. Gonzaga (Jan. 5, 2013) 29 (2)
54. vs. BYU (Jan. 12, 2013) 22 (3)
55. at USF (Jan. 17, 2013) 27 (6)
56. at Pepperdine (Jan. 19, 2013) 29 (6)
Dishes
A 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award nominee, Evan Roquemore is one of the top assist men in the WCC. Roquemore has at least five assists in 20 of the team's 25 games ranking No. 2 in the WCC and No. 26 nationally with 5.8 per game while his 2.74 assist/turnover ratio is the best in the WCC and ranks No. 16 in the NCAA. He is also second on the team in minutes played with 790.
During SCU's Jan. 10 game at LMU, Roquemore scored his 1,100th career point and collected his 400th career assist joining Brian Jones, Steve Nash, Kyle Bailey and Kevin Foster as the only Broncos to amass that many points and assists over a career. 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 145 assists for the season and has a chance to break John Woolery's 1993-94 single season school record of 190. With 442 career assists, Roquemore has an outside chance of becoming the fourth Bronco with 500 by the time his junior season ends. He currently sits at No. 6 on the school's all-time assist list and needs 11 to overtake Kyle Bailey (2001-05) for the fifth spot.
Line Up Cards
Marc Trasolini (96), Raymond Cowels III (75) and Kevin Foster (112) have started all 25 games for SCU this season and have combined for 283 starts in their Santa Clara careers. Evan Roquemore has started 24 of 25 games and has 79 career starts under his belt. The remaining nine players on the roster have a total of 119 career starts with Niyi Harrison leading the group with 44. Foster became the sixth Bronco to start 100 career games when SCU defeated Wagner for the Cable Car Classic title on Dec. 22 and his 112 starts are second-most in school history. With five more starts he will break the school record of 116 set by Brian Jones from 1996-01. Cowels III and Trasolini tied John Bryant (2005-09) for the third-most games played in school history vs. Saint Mary's on Feb. 7 when they each played in game No. 124. Ben Dowdell (2007-11) is the all-time leader having played in 128 career games.
Tough Luck
SCU's eight losses this season have come against seven different teams with a combined record of 116-52 (.690). Five of the seven teams have won at least 10 more games than they have lost and two top-5 teams have lost just twice on the season (Duke 21-2; Gonzaga 23-2). The Broncos have also lost to BYU twice (18-8), Saint Mary's (21-4), Utah State (17-5), LMU (8-16) and UC Santa Barbara (8-15).
Bay Area Scorers
With 15 points in a win at San Diego on Jan. 26, Kevin Foster passed former USF great Bill Cartwright for No. 3 on the WCC and Bay Area career scoring list. Foster, who has scored 2,156 career points, is chasing Terrell Lowery for the No. 2 spot on the WCC chart, needing 46 points to overtake the former LMU standout, who scored 2,201 points from 1988-92. To pass No. 1 all-time – LMU's Hank Gathers (1987-90) for the WCC's top spot (2,490) – Foster would need to score 335 points. Foster became SCU's career points leader, overtaking 1980 WCC Player of the Year Kurt Rambis, in a 74-62 win at St. Louis on Nov. 14.
Foster has reached double figures 22 times in 25 games this season, has topped the 20-point mark 12 times, and scored at least 30 in a game twice to lead the Broncos in scoring. He is just the fourth player to score 2,100 points in WCC history. Foster became the seventh 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 vs. Gonzaga on Jan. 5. He scored his 1,900th career point on a 3-point basket at Pacific on Dec. 15 and added career point No. 1,800 on a three-pointer against Utah State on Nov. 28.
Against No. 10 Gonzaga on Jan. 5, 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). He needs 164 points to pass No. 2 Adam Keefe of Stanford.
Rank/Name School Years Total points
1. Todd Lichti Stanford 1986-89 2,336
2. Adam Keefe Stanford 1989-92 2,319
3. Kevin Foster Santa Clara 2008-13 2,146
4. Bill Cartwright USF 1976-79 2,116