Santa Clara Faces Rhode Island Friday In Second Round Of Orlando Classic

Santa Clara Faces Rhode Island Friday In Second Round Of Orlando Classic

Santa Clara Game Notes Vs. Rhode Island

On Friday Santa Clara, 2-3, will continue its six-game road trip with its third and final stop in Orlando. Fla.  The Broncos play Rhode Island, 3-1, in the second round of the Orlando Classic on Fri., Nov. 28 at 11:30 am Pacific.  The game will be shown on ESPNU with Dave O'Brien and Sean Farnham making the call.  Santa Clara dropped a 64-57 game to Tennessee on Thursday.  No. 11 Kansas defeated Rhode Island 76-60.  The SCU audio broadcast can also be heard on the school's website, SantaClaraBroncos.com, with Anthony Passarelli in his eighth year as the Voice of the Broncos. He will be joined on this trip by former Bronco center John Stege.

The Broncos are led by eighth-year head coach Kerry Keating.  URI head coach Dan Hurley is in his third year as the head coach of the Rams.  He is the son of famed high-school coach Bob, Sr. and the younger brother of former Duke All-American and Buffalo head coach Bobby Hurley.

Sound Familiar?

Dan Hurley's name will be ring familiar to SCU fans, especially its head coach.  Hurley served as the head coach at Wagner for two years, collecting a 38-23 record  On Dec 30, 2011, Santa Clara dropped a heartbreaker to a Hurley-coached Wagner team in the 45th Cable Car Classic Championship, 64-62.  Wagner scored an improbable acrobatic shot at the buzzer, including inbounding the ball over the backboard, after coming back from 15 down in the final five minutes.

Keating coached his Rams counterpart as an assistant at Seton Hall in the early 1990s. Seton Hall's head coach at the time was P.J. Carlesimo.  Keating also played against Hurley's older brother, Bobby, during their prep days in New Jersey.

In the past Keating had also had high praise for their father, Bob Sr., who has won more than 1,000 games in nearly 40 years as a high school coach.  "I know all about them because I'm from where they're from," Keating said. "They've got that East Coast attitude -- very aggressive -- and they learned from one of the all-time greats."

Last Time, Only Time

Santa Clara leads the series record vs. 1-0.  They defeated Rhode Island, 79-70, in overtime on Nov. 26, 1999 as part of the Big Island Invitational in Hilo, Hawai'i.  Darrell Test led the Broncos with 25 points, including a perfect 4 of 4 beyond the arc.  Nathan Fast was 12 of 15 from the free throw line, scoring 23 points.