For the fifth time in six years the Championship Series of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Buick will go to a winner-take-all third game after the Santa Clara Broncos (25-12) failed to close out the series in Game 2, falling at George Mason (22-15) 73-66 on April 3. Game 3 will take place on Fri., April 5 at the Patriot Center (10,000) on the GMU campus with tipoff set for 4 p.m. (PDT). AXS TV will be televised live nationally. The game will also be broadcast live on www.SantaClaraBroncos.com at 4 pm. It will be rebroadcast on KDOW 1220 AM at 7 pm with Anthony Passarelli making the call.
The Broncos had their 9-game postseason winning streak halted with the defeat and will match a school record for games played in a season when they take the court on Friday for the 38th time this season. Santa Clara also played 38 games during the 2010-11 season ending that campaign with a CollegeInsider.com Tournament title game win at Iona.
Santa Clara made just three of its first 16 field goals and shot 34.6 percent in the first half (9-of-26). The Patriots took a 22-12 lead on a layup by Bryon Allen with 7:06 to play in the half, it was the first time the Broncos faced a double-digit deficit in their five CBI tournament games. Trailing 39-26 at the break, Santa Clara made its push coming out of halftime. The Broncos went on a 10-2 run to open the second half, and Foster's second 3-pointer of the half cut the deficit to 47-42 with 12:04 remaining. GMU responded with a 9-2 run of its own to push the lead back to 56-44 on two foul shots by Patrick Holloway with 8:43 remaining, the Broncos made a late run to make things exciting at the end, using a 6-0 spurt keyed by two Brandon Clark layups to cut the lead to 70-66 with 16 seconds remaining.
Foster led the Broncos for the fifth time in five CBI games with 16 points, scoring 14 in the second half, but saw his tournament scoring average drop from 29.5 to 26.8. Marc Trasolini scored 13 points to move into No. 6 on the school's career list with 1,679 and added 8 rebounds and Evan Roquemore had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, tying the school's single-season assist mark with 190.
Santa Clara has won 25 games this season, the second-highest single-season total in the school's 106-year basketball history and will match a team season record for games played on Friday. The Broncos will play their 38th and final game of the season, equaling the 2010-11 team that also played 38 games and claimed the CollegeInsider.com Tournament championship. Prior to 2010-11 the most games played by a Santa Clara team was 33 in 2008-09. The school record for wins in a season was set by the 1968-69 squad that went 27-2.
CBI
The home team has won the last nine games in the Championship Series of the CBI with the last visitor to claim a victory coming in 2010 when VCU won at St. Louis to win the title … Santa Clara looks to become the second team to win a Game 3 on the road joining Oregon State in 2009 who won the title with a win at UTEP … Kevin Foster made two 3-pointers on Wednesday and now holds the CBI tournament record with 19. His 134 points is second-best, trailing the 157 scored by UTEP's Stefon Jackson in 2009 … Santa Clara is the only West Coast Conference team to win a CBI game and just the second to compete in the tournament. San Francisco lost in the first round of the 2008 CBI … The Broncos are 89 points away from tying the 2011 Creighton squad for the CBI points record.
Bronco Post-Season
It is the second time in three years and just the third time in 17 years that Santa Clara has played in the post-season. It is the 17th post-season appearance in school history (22-18: 11-13 NCAA; 2-4 NIT; 5-0 CIT; 4-1 CBI). Santa Clara had its 9-game postseason win streak snapped on Apr. 3 and is now 9-1 in postseason games under Kerry Keating. SCU posted a 5-0 record to win the 2011 CIT with home wins against Northern Colorado and Air Force and wins at San Francisco, SMU and Iona to win the title. In its previous post-season appearance Santa Clara defeated Maryland 91-79 in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament before falling 76-51 to Kansas, who advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual NCAA runner-up Syracuse, in the second round.
Santa Clara won five games in the post-season for the first time in school history in 2011 and can match that feat with a win on Friday. The last time it played at least four post-season games was in 1952 when the Broncos advanced to the NCAA Final Four in Seattle with wins over UCLA (68-59) and Wyoming (64-53). It dropped games to Kansas (75-55) and Illinois (67-64) at that Final Four. Kansas, coached by Phog Allen, won the national title with an 80-63 victory over St. John's, coached by Frank McGuire. The tournament that year was the first to have a true "Final Four" format, with the winners at four regional sites advancing to the final site.
Five players on Santa Clara's roster (Kevin Foster, Marc Trasolini, Evan Roquemore, Raymond Cowels III, Niyi Harrison) played major roles in the team's run to the 2011 CIT title, but none more than Foster. He averaged 25.4 ppg two years ago, collecting two of his eight career 30-point games in the Broncos' five-game title run.
Our Four
There have been 31 players in the history of SCU basketball to score 1,000 career points and four of them are on the current roster. Kevin Foster is the school's all-time points leader and ranks No. 2 in the WCC with 2,399, Marc Trasolini sits at No. 6 with 1,679 and needs 11 to move pass No. 5 Steve Nash. Evan Roquemore moved into No. 19 with 1,297 points and Raymond Cowels III, with 1,081, at No. 26.
SCU was the first Division I school this season with three 1,000 point scorers on its roster when Roquemore reached that mark in a win at Pacific on Dec. 15, 2012 and was the third DI school to have four active 1,000 career point scorers after Raymond Cowels III joined the club in the win over Pepperdine on Feb. 16.
SCU is the first team in WCC history to have four 1,000 point career scorers in the same year. There are now three other teams nationally with a quartet of 1,000 point scorers: N.C. State accomplished the feat on Jan. 22, 2013 vs. Wake Forest, Davidson matched them on Feb. 9, 2013 vs. App. State and No. 1 Indiana accomplished this as well a few nights after Santa Clara on Tues., Feb. 19 vs. Michigan State.
Foster became SCU's all-time scoring leader, surpassing 1980 WCC Player of the Year and former NBA star Kurt Rambis, in a win at St. Louis on Nov. 14 and became the second player in WCC history to score 2,300 career points when he tallied 34 at Purdue on March 25. Foster is the second-highest point scorer in WCC with 2,399 points, trailing only LMU's Hank Gathers, who amassed 2,490 points from 1987-90. Foster has a school-record eight career 30-point games and has reached double-digits 32 times this season and 114 times in his 132 game career.
With 1,679 career points Trasolini is 21 away from becoming the fifth player in school history to score 1,700. With 11 points he will pass No. 5 Steve Nash. He joined Bryant, Dennis Awtrey and Kurt Rambis as the only players in school history to collect 1600+ points and 800+ rebounds in their SCU careers.
Roquemore joined the 1,000-point club early this season and climbed to No. 19 with 1,297 on April 3.
Cowels III has played in all but one game during his four-year career (family funeral) and has started 67 straight times since the beginning of the 2011-12 season. He became the fourth member of the current roster to score 1,000 career points and the 31st in school history when he drained a 3-point basket against Pepperdine on Feb. 16. He is No. 26 with 1,081.
Buckets
Kevin Foster may well go down as one of the greatest all-around players to ever compete in the West Coast Conference. One of just two players to score over 2,300 career points, Foster leads the WCC this year in steals and is No. 6 in assists. Foster has collected 2,399 points - No. 1 nationally among active players - (second best in WCC history), 460 assists and 231 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 (Lowery: 2,201 points, 689 assists and 231 steals).
With 34 points in a win at Purdue on March 25 and 34 at Wright State on March 27, Foster passed Stanford greats Adam Keefe and Todd Lichti to become the Bay Area career scoring list (includes Cal, Stanford, Santa Clara, Saint Mary's, USF and San Jose State). Foster needs to score 91 points to take over the No. 1 spot from LMU's Hank Gathers, who scored 2,490 points from 1987-90. Foster has reached double figures 32 times in 37 games, has topped the 20-point mark 19 times, and scored at least 30 in a game four times to lead the Broncos in scoring.
Marc Trasolini (108), Raymond Cowels III (87) and Foster (124) have started all 37 games for SCU this year and have combined for 319 starts in their SCU careers. Evan Roquemore has started 34 of 37 games and has 90 career starts. The remaining nine players on the roster have a total of 132 career starts with Niyi Harrison leading the group with 45.
Foster became the all-time leader in games started when he took the court in SCU's win over LMU on Feb. 28. At Saint Mary's on March 2 Foster broke the school record for field goals made, topping Londale Theus who held the record since 1980 (Foster has 763, Theus had 712 from 1976-80). Foster also has the school career record in points scored, steals, field goals attempted, three pointers made, three pointers attempted and minutes played. Foster set the single season record for steals at Wright State March 27 and currently has 89, good for No. 5 in WCC single season history. Trasolini and Cowels III each have played in a school record 136 career games, surpassing Ben Dowdell, who participated in 128 games from 2007-11.
Milestones
Maybe for the first time in school history, the Broncos have three players with 100 or more assists. Evan Roquemore leads the team and tied John Woolery's 1993-94 single-season record of 190 when he dished out three at GMU on Wednesday. Kevin Foster has found time to dish out 161 assists on the season, which is the seventh-best season mark at SCU and Brandon Clark reached the century mark by handing out a pair on Wednesday. The three have combined for 451 assists and just 263 turnovers for an assist/turnover ratio of 1.71. Michigan leads the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio at 1.55.
Several Broncos have a chance to reach scoring milestones in the final game of the season on Friday. With 2,399 career points Kevin Foster needs just one to reach 2,400. Marc Trasolini needs 21 points to become the fifth player in school history to reach 1,700. Evan Roquemore needs three points for 1,300 in his career and Raymond Cowels III is 19 away from 1,100.
The Broncos were whistled for a season-high 32 personal fouls that led to 43 free throw attempts for George Mason in their 73-66 loss at GMU on Apr. 3. It was just the ninth time in school history the Broncos committed that many fouls in a game and every Bronco that played was called for at least two fouls. The Patriots converted 30 of their 43 attempts, both Santa Clara opponent season-highs, while the Broncos went 13-of-22 from the stripe.
Well-Rounded
Marc Trasolini, named to the 2013 WCC All-Academic Team on March 1, is one of the 10 finalist's for the Senior CLASS Award nationally. The men's Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA Final Four. Eligible seniors 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.
Trasolini became the fourth player in school history to be named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American list on Feb. 19 when he was named third team nationally. He 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 (2010, '11, '13). Trasolini is in his fifth quarter of MBA work and graduated cum laude in March 2012 with a degree in Finance (3.65 GPA).
Climbing
Kevin Foster is the WCC's career leader with 426 after breaking a tie with LMU's Jeff Fryer vs. BYU on Jan. 12. Foster hit his record 364th career three knocking down a shot from the corner with 10:44 left in the first half vs. the Cougars. Foster is No. 5 on the NCAA Division I all-time threes made list, passing Davidson's Stephen Curry who made 414 career threes from 2007-09. He needs five threes made to pass former All-American Chris Lofton of Tennessee (430, 2006-2009)
Foster's 152 made threes in WCC games is No. 3 all-time in league history as he passed Gonzaga's Blake Stepp with 143 threes made in WCC games (2000-04) at Portland on Feb. 23 when he made four. LMU's Jeff Fryer holds the WCC record in league-only games with 166 threes made in 49 games (1987-90) and Portland's Jared Stohl is No. 2 with 160 career WCC threes (2007-11). Foster's three threes at BYU Feb. 2 broke two-time NBA MVP and former Bronco Steve Nash's school record for career WCC threes. 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. Foster has attempted 10 or more 3s in a game 16 times this season and 60 times in his 132 game career.
No. Player 3PA From To Last School
1. Keydren Clark 1192 2003 2006 Saint Peter's
2. Kevin Foster 1170 2009 2013 Santa Clara
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.
Randomly
Head coach Kerry Keating needs one win for 100 in his career. His current record in six season at SCU is 99-102 … Santa Clara is the last remaining WCC team still playing after BYU's semifinal NIT loss on April 2 … The Broncos will tie a school record for games when they play their 38th of the season Friday. They will match the 2010-11 team that also played 38 games and ended the season with a win in the CollegeInsider.com championship game at Iona. Prior to the 10-11 season the most games played by a Santa Clara team was 33 in 2008-09 … Prior to Game 1 of the CBI Championship Series on April 1, the Broncos had never played a game in the month of April … The Broncos faced their second-largest halftime deficit of the season when they trailed by 13 (39-26) at GMU on Apr. 3 and have been behind at the break eight times in their last 14 games (two were tied). Over the first 23 games of the season the Broncos trailed at the break six times by a combined 28 points. SCU had its 2-game win streak when trailing at halftime come to an end and is 5-9 this season when playing catch up after 20 minutes … Santa Clara has scored at least 60 points in all but two games this season and its total of 2,747 is the second-most in school history. The Broncos totaled a school record 2,810 points in 2010-11 when they played 38 games … Four of Kevin Foster's school-record eight career 30-point games have come in the Broncos' last nine postseason contests. He tied a career-high with 36 points in a second round CIT win over Air Force on Mar. 18, 2011 and notched 35 in a semifinal CIT win at SMU on Mar. 25, 2011. His 34 points at Purdue on Mar. 25 tied for the third-most in the six-year history of the College Basketball Invitational presented by Buick and he became the third player in school history with back-to-back 30-point games when he scored 33 at Wright State on Mar. 27 … SCU has held opponents to fewer than 20 first half points five times … The Broncos have nine wins by at least 20 points and four wins by at least 30 points ... 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 in 11 games this season … Kevin Foster is the only player in SCU history to attempt more than 200 three-point shots in a season and make more than 100. He's attempted more than 200 for a third time this season with 322 and has made over 100 for a second time with 115 … Led by Kevin Foster's 115 and 75 from Raymond Cowels III, the Broncos have set a team season record for 3-point baskets made with 297. With 322 3-point attempts from Foster, 192 from Cowels III and 143 from Evan Roquemore, the Broncos have also established a new team record with 820.
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 88 of 132 career games and he has scored 19+ in 63 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)
57. vs. Pepperdine (Feb. 16, 2013) 22 (5)
58. at Portland (Feb. 23, 2013) 20 (4)
59. vs. LMU (March 8, 2013) 23 (3)
60. vs. Vermont (March 19, 2013) 23 (3)
61. at Purdue (March 25, 2013) 34 (3)
62. at Wright State (March 27, 2013) 33 (6)
63. vs. George Mason (April 1, 2013) 28 (5)
