Santa Clara (10-11, 3-5) travels to San Francisco (12-8, 5-3) on Sat., Jan. 25 for a 5 pm game on The Hilltop. The SCU-USF game will be shown live on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area as well as TheW.tv. Glen Kuiper and Dan Belluomini will the call. The game will also be broadcast live on KLIV 1590 AM and SantaClaraBroncos.com as part of the Bronco Radio Network. Anthony Passarelli is in his seventh season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer.
Santa Clara dropped both home WCC contests last week. The Broncos lost 69-66 to San Diego on Jan. 16 and then 91-81 to BYU on Jan. 18. Jared Brownridge scored a career-high 30 points vs. BYU and Brandon Clark added 20 points as well. It was the seventh time in eight WCC games Clark has scored 20+ points. USF split their home slate last weekend with a 83-76 loss vs. BYU on Jan. 16 and then a 64-62 victory vs. San Diego on Jan. 18.
The Broncos were 9-7 last season in league play, finishing fourth. With the five Bronco seniors graduating in June of 2013, they took with them a huge chuck: 13,455 minutes played, 6,188 points scored, 2,149 rebounds, 705 assists and 492 steals
213
Santa Clara and USF will meet for the 213th time overall and the first time this season. SCU leads the all-time series 111-101 following its 84-54 victory on Jan. 18, 2013. It was Santa Clara's first regular season sweep of the Dons since 2008 and its biggest victory in WCC play since a 32-point win (87-55) vs. USF on Feb. 25, 2008.
SCU has won almost 47 percent of the games played at USF over the years (45 of 96). Since the formation of what is now the WCC in 1952-53, Santa Clara and USF have played 135 times with SCU holding a 69-66 lead in all games. The two teams are tied 61-61 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 two team's 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.
Kerry Keating posted his first career WCC road win at USF (1/28/08) and is 8-6 all-time vs. USF. Evan Roquemore scored a career-high 30 points at USF to help lead SCU to the CIT semi-finals (3/22/11). Denzel Johnson has two of his three career 20-point games vs. USF. He scored a career-high 26 points (1/26/12) and had 20 with a career-best five rebounds (2/9/12).
Leaders
Three Broncos average double figures: Brandon Clark, Jared Brownridge and Evan Roquemore.
+ Clark leads the team with 17.7 ppg and 3.7 apg. Clark has scored almost 1/4 of his points at the free throw line this year, hitting 84.6 percent (88 of 104).
+ If he finishes the season leading the team in ppg and apg, he would be the first Bronco since Brandon Rohe in 2002-03 to do this (10.6 ppg, 2.4 apg).
+ This season Clark has scored 20+ 12 times, including a career-high 32 points vs. N.D. State on Nov. 29.
+ Even more impressive, Clark has scored 20+ in seven of eight WCC games this season. He scored 16 vs.. Pepperdine to start league play and now has hit 20+ in each game since.
+ Clark scored a WCC career-high with 26 points vs. LMU on Jan. 4 (career high is 32 vs. North Dakota State on Nov. 29). Half of Clark's points vs. the Lions came at the free throw line, as the East Chicago, Ind. native went 13 of 14 from the free throw line. Clark's 13 free throws made are matched only by Gonzaga's Kevin Pangos' 13 made vs. Dayton on Nov. 25, 2013 as the top two WCC performances this year. Santa Clara's top three most-recent performances at the free throw line have all come vs. LMU.
+ Scoring 30 points vs. Sacred Heart on Dec. 18, he is the 13th Bronco in school history to have multiple 30+ point games in a single season.
+ During a four-game span this season (Nov. 12-29), Clark scored 21+ points in each game; and he was the fourth Bronco player since 2007-08 to accomplish this feat.
Brownridge is second with 16.6 ppg as the top scoring freshman in the WCC. Brownridge leads the Broncos in threes made (61) and attempted (136), and he is shooting 44.9 percent beyond the arc. He is averaging a team-leading 2.9 threes per game which is right up there with GU's Kevin Pangos.
+ He has scored 20+ nine times this season already, including four times in WCC play; and just barely missed 20 vs. USD on Jan. 16 (19 points).
+ He scored a career-high 30 points vs. BYU on Jan. 18, adding four threes and hitting 8 of 8 free throws. Roquemore is third with 11.6 ppg and is second on the team with 3.53 apg.
+ Already the school record holder for a single season with assists (2012-13), he now owns the career school record for assists with 553.
+ His 20 points and five three pointers were a season-high at Portland on Dec. 30.
+ He did not attend the BYU game after failing to meet academic requirements, but is expected to travel to USF.
Jerry Brown, a graduate transfer from Fresno State, leads the team with 6.0 rpg and is fourth with 8.1 ppg.
+ He scored the Broncos lone double-double this year vs. SJSU (16 pts., 10 reb., Nov. 12, 2013).
+ Brown is working on a Master's in Communication as he redshirted his sophomore year at Fresno State.
+ He came off the bench the first four games, then started 12 straight. After coming off the bench four straight games, he started vs. BYU on Jan. 18.
+ He has scored 701 career points with 478 rebounds, including 162 points and 120 rebounds with the Broncos.
20+ Club
Prior to this year, Brandon Clark hadn't scored 20+ points in a college or high school game since he scored 29 in an AAU game in eighth grade. Clark has scored 20+ 12 times this season, including 20+ in seven of the eight WCC games this year. His 12 20+ games are sixth-most since 2000-01. Tops on the list since 2000-01 - Kevin Foster scored 20+ 20 times in 2012-13.
Jared Brownridge has scored 20+ points nine times already this year - second best for a Bronco freshman since 1990-91. All-time leading scorer Kevin Foster scored 20+ points 11 times his freshman season Brownridge has led the Broncos in scoring nine times this year and has scored double-digits in 16 games.
MOST 20+ PT GAMES, SEASON
(SINCE '00-'01)
1. 20 Kevin Foster ('12-'13)
2. 16 Kevin Foster ('10-'11)
3. 13 John Bryant ('08-'09)
13 John Bryant ('07-'08)
13 Travis Niesen ('05-'06)
6. 12 Brandon Clark ('13-'14)
7. 11 Marc Trasolini ('12-'13)
11 Kevin Foster ('08-'09)
9. 10 Doron Perkins ('04-'05)
10. 9 Jared Brownridge ('13-'14)
Brownridge
Jared Brownridge has already hit 61 threes this season, which is 12 more than Steve Nash hit his entire rookie season (49). The 61 threes put him at No. 2 on the Bronco freshman records list. The freshman school record was set by Kevin Foster in 2008-09 when he crushed 85.
If the season finished today, Brownridge would break the freshman school record for points per game, three point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Those records belong to Kurt Rambis and Nash. Brownridge is averaging 16.6 ppg and Rambis averaged 15.3 (1973-77). He is scoring 44.9 percent of his threes and Nash averaged 40.8 percent (1992-93). Brownridge is averaging 83.1 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe, while Nash hit 82.5 percent of his.
Brownridge collected seven three pointers on a night where he shot 8 of 15 from the field with a game-high seven assists in the win vs. La Sierra on Dec. 14. The seven threes by Brownridge broke the Bronco freshman record set by Nash back in 1993 (6 vs. CS Stanislaus, 1-5-93). Brandon Rohe (6, vs. Mississippi State Valley, 12-27-02) and Calvin Johnson (6, vs. Cal Poly, 12-10-05) later matched it. It is the most threes hit by a Bronco since WCC record holder Foster scored nine vs. Air Force on March 18, 2011.
Brownridge has started all 21 games this season and he has scored 18+ points in 11 games thus far, including 13 games with 3+ threes made and 16 double-figure games. Much of his scoring has been beyond the arc as Brownridge has collected 5+ threes three times. Foster accomplished this feat three times in his 33-game rookie season (5 vs. Arizona, Nov. 25, 2008; at Saint Mary's, Jan. 9, 2009; and at LMU, Feb. 14, 2009). All told, Foster scored seven threes twice, eight threes twice and nine threes once (the school record for a single game).
In the final non-conference game vs. South Florida on Dec. 23, Santa Clara went on a 13-3 run as Brownridge hit a three with 53.8 seconds left to give SCU a one-point lead and then iced it with a pair of free throws with 10.8 ticks left to lead the Broncos to a 66-65 victory. He also scored eight straight Bronco points late in the second half of the Portland win on Dec. 30 to help seal the victory and scored the game-winning three with 1.2 seconds left on the clock at Saint Mary's on Jan. 9. He added a career-high 30 points vs. BYU on Jan. 18.
In his first three collegiate basketball games, Brownridge was in elite company at SCU. Only three players since the 1999-2000 season have scored more points in the first three games of the season and Brownridge is the only first-year player among them. In his junior year John Bryant collected 75 points in three games at the outset of the 2007-08 season and Travis Niesen tallied 68 points during the first three games of his 2005-06 senior campaign. Foster went for 65 in the first three games last season. Foster also scored 62 points in 2009 but it took him four team games after he missed the third contest of the season.
Roquemore
Evan Roquemore enters the USF game with 553 career assists, a Bronco school record, and that total is No. 10 all-time on the WCC list. He needs three assists to pass former Zag John Stockton at No. 9 on the WCC list (554, 1980-84). Roquemore broke the Bronco career assists record vs. Radford on Dec. 16 with a dandy dish to Jared Brownridge in the first half, topping Brian Jones (517, 1996-2001). Last year Roquemore set the single season assists record with 196, topping John Woolery (190, 1993-94).
Roquemore is just the third player in school history to score 1,500+ points and collect 500+ assists. The other two were Brian Jones (1,722 points, 517 assists, 1996-01) and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash (1,689 points, 510 assists, 1992-96). Nash was named the WCC Player of the Year in 1995 and '96 and Jones was a three-time All-WCC First Team honoree.
Roquemore has collected an assist in 122 of 123 career games. He was credited with no assists in SCU's 64-53 loss at Cal Poly on Dec. 7. Looking back, Jones missed an assist in just three games (Dec. 21, 1996 at Pacific, Jan. 22, 1997 at USF; and March 4, 2000 vs. USF). Jones only had one game his final three years without an assist (USF, 2000). Nash had eight games his freshman year with no assists, but the final three years of his career he had at least one assist in every game he played in during his Bronco career.
Roquemore has a chance to break four more Bronco career records this year. Entering the USF game, he is No. 2 in free throws made (454) and No. 2 in minutes played (3,940). He started his 100th career game vs. USF and played in his 123rd game vs. San Diego (No. 8). The games started career record was set last year by Kevin Foster (125) along with the minutes played record (4,212). The games played record was broken last year by Raymond Cowels III and Marc Trasolini (137). With 454 career free throws made, Roquemore needs to make 17 to break the school record set by Ken Sears (470, 1951-55).
The team's lone 1,000+ career point scorer, Roquemore missed the first four games with a back injury. Roquemore sits at No. 12 with 1,514 career points. He needs 58 points to pass No. 11 Kyle Bailey (1,571, 2001-05) and with 73 points he will pass No. 10 Ken Sears (1,586 points, 1951-55). Last year's Bronco team was the first team in WCC history to feature four 1,000 point career scorers. Along with Roquemore, the team had Foster (No. 1, 2,423 points), Trasolini (No. 5, 1,699 points) and Cowels III (No. 26, 1,090 points).
Brandon Clark will most likely be the next Bronco to reach 1,000 career points as he has 856. He would be the 31st Bronco with 1,000 plus points in his career and the seventh 1,000 point scorer under head coach Kerry Keating.
Stop
Yannick Atanga is No. 6 with 82 career blocks. He needs 12 blocks to pass No. 5 Kurt Rambis (93, 1976-80). Atanga has 20 blocks this year to lead the team, including at least a single block in 15 of 21 games.
After leading the league in rebounds last year, Atanga is No. 2 on the team in rebounds this year with 4.9 rpg and has collected 10+ boards in 11 career games. A native of Yaounde, Cameroon, Atanga spent time playing this past summer with the Cameroon National Team in China as part of a four-nation tournament. Playing basketball since he was 12 years old and now sporting a 7'4 wing span, Atanga dreams one day of working for the United Nations as a peacekeeper in Africa.
Robert Garrett is No. 7 all-time with 73 career blocks. He is tied with Nate Kratch at No. 3 on the team with 14 blocks this season. Garrett passed Brendan Groves (70, 1994-96) when he scored three blocks vs. Pepperdine. Jerry Brown is second on the team with 18 blocks.