Click here after 6:45 pm on game day to see the game on the internet on WCC Digital.
The Broncos (18-8, 6-5) conclude their three-game homestand when they host Pepperdine (12-13, 4-8) in a West Coast Conference game on Saturday at 7 pm. (PST). The game will be shown on WCC Digital with George Devine 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. It is looking to sweep its third WCC opponent this season (USF, San Diego).
Santa Clara jumped into the No. 4 position in the WCC standings after upending San Diego, 61-52, on Feb. 14. Marc Trasolini posted his seventh double-double of the season and 13th career with a game-high tying 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 10 rebounds. Santa Clara's bench players provided a spark with a 14-6 run midway through the second half turning a 3-point deficit into a 5-point lead in just under six minutes of play. Brandon Clark scored six points, Niyi Harrison four, and Denzel Johnson and Julian Clarke scored two each during the run giving the Broncos a 47-42 lead before exiting the game with 6:26 left in the half. San Diego would get no closer than three points the rest of the way. Santa Clara's reserves scored 21 points on the night, one game after being outscored 39-8 by Saint Mary's.
SCU swept the regular season series from San Diego for the second time in three seasons and moved a half game ahead of the Toreros for the fourth spot in the conference standings. The third and fourth place finishers receive a bye into the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament, which takes place in Las Vegas on Mar. 6-11. The Broncos now trail BYU by 1 1/2 games in the standings for the No. 3 position.
With a sweep of San Diego complete, the Broncos will try and do the same against Pepperdine on Saturday on their own floor where they are 41-20 all-time against the Waves. SCU won the earlier meeting with the Waves, 83-76, on Jan. 19 behind six 3-point buckets and 29 points from Kevin Foster, 18 points from Marc Trasolini and 15 from Raymond Cowels III. The Broncos shot a season-best 53.6 percent from the field (30-of-56) in snapping a two-game series losing skid.
With 18 wins this season, the Broncos have 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 have a 10-game improvement on their win total from last season and are also just two victories away from posting the 19th 20-win season in program history. Santa Clara is also experiencing one of the finest turnarounds in WCC history. Its six-game improvement in league play from last season is the fifth-best. LMU had a 10-game turnaround from 0-14 in 1987 to 10-4 in 1988.
The Broncos shot just 35.1 percent and produced a season-low point total in their 61-52 win over San Diego, but kept their season-long streak of scoring at least 60 points intact. 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 (18.2 ppg, 2,165 career points), Marc Trasolini (15.7 ppg, 1,520) and Evan Roquemore (12.6 ppg, 1,188) 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, averaging 10.0 ppg, is closing in on 1,000 points needing just seven points to become the fourth member of the 1,000 point club.
The Waves Roll In
The teams will be meeting for the 126th time with Santa Clara holding a 69-56 lead, with a 41-20 advantage in games played in Santa Clara. The Broncos won the first meeting this season, 83-76, on Jan. 19 in Malibu breaking a two-game series losing streak. Pepperdine's 63-57 win last season at the Leavey Center broke a six-game homecourt win streak for Santa Clara and was just the Waves' second win in their last 10 visits. The Broncos will try for their 16th sweep of Pepperdine and second in the last three seasons. Prior to winning both regular season games in 2011, Santa Clara hadn't swept Pepperdine since 1984.
Pepperdine beat LMU 52-50 on Feb. 14 winning two straight games for the first time since early December. Lorne Jackson leads the Waves in scoring at 14.3 ppg and has scored 23 points in each of his last two games against Santa Clara. He was 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc, earlier this season on Jan. 19. On Feb. 26, 2011 Jackson was 7-of-16 from the field and 8-of-12 from the free throw line against SCU. He redshirted the 2011-12 season due to a knee injury.
Pepperdine is the only WCC member Kevin Foster has played at least five games against and hasn't scored 100 or more points. In five career games Foster has 77 points (15.4 ppg) ... Marc Trasolini has a career 60.3 percent (35-of-58) field goal shooter in seven games against the Waves ... Evan Roquemore tallied 10 assists in the last meeting between the teams (1/19/13), his fourth career double-digit assist game ... Raymond Cowels III has scored 15 points in each of his last two games against Pepperdine and is a career 52.9 percent 3-point shooter (18-of-34) in seven games. He has made at least three 3-pointers in five of his seven games against the Waves.
Traz Tops
Marc Trasolini is on a bit of a hot streak for the Broncos. Over the last seven games Trasolini has scored 123 points (17.6 ppg) while shooting 59.8 percent from the field (52-of-87). Trasolini was the only starter to reach double-digits with a team-high 17 points in a 61-52 win over San Diego on Feb. 14 and he added 10 rebounds for his third double-double game during this stretch, his seventh double-double of the season and 13th career. He has led the team in scoring four times in the seven games and has scored 10 or more points in all seven contests matching a career-long streak of double-figure scoring games. Trasolini has also grabbed 62 rebounds in the seven games (8.9 rpg) with three double-figure rebound games.
Seven More To Four
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 (2,165) 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 37 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 1,520 career points Trasolini is 51 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 56 straight times since the beginning of the 2011-12 season. RC3 is fourth on the team in scoring with 10.0 ppg and needs seven 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.
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 to vote here!
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.