Santa Clara's Jared Brownridge scored 20 points to lead the Broncos to a 61-50 victory as San Jose State turned the ball over 20 times at home in the Events Center. The Broncos have won 11 of the last 13 vs. the Spartans.
Santa Clara is 4-4. San Jose State is 1-8. Finally finished with six straight road games, Santa Clara returns home to host Washington State in a 7 pm game on Sat., Dec. 13.
"Rashad came out firing and took advantage of the chance to start. He made it tough on us in the first half," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "We were able to withstand a poor shooting night on our part, but we were able to force those turnovers and turn them into points. Those were 20 shots they don't get. For us to be able to score off those turnovers helped a lot tonight."
Santa Clara shot 40.7 percent from the field (22-54), including 36.8 percent from beyond the arc (7 of 19). The Broncos collected 10 assists, 29 rebounds, eight steals, no block and 11 turnovers. They shot 62.5 percent from the free throw line (10 of 16).
Brownridge was seven of 10 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. He added four rebounds and two assists. "It was great to get a win," said Brownridge. "We were a lot more active in the second half. We wanted to take at least four charges and it was a real team effort."
Brandon Clark had 10 points, collecting six rebounds and six assists, but was just 2 of 14 from the field. Nate Kratch scored eight points, adding seven rebounds.
San Jose State shot 42.9 percent from the field (18 of 42), including 33.9 percent from beyond the arc (6 of 18). The Spartans collected 12 assists, 31 rebounds, two steals, seven block and 20 turnovers. They shot 57.1 percent from the free throw line (8 of 14).
The Spartans were led by Rashad Muhammad, who scored 15 points. Leon Baker added 12 with five boards and six assists. Frank Rogers scored 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Jarvis Pugh tipped it in for the first basket of the second half at 19:43. Denzel Johnson stole the ball and laid it in at 17:32, making the Bronco lead four, 36-32. SJSU scored four straight to tie it up 36-36 at 15:45.
Brownridge added back-to-back triples and then Kratch laid it in on a dandy dish by Clark at 13:14. The Broncos led by eight, 44-36.
SJSU scored five straight before Clark crushed a three from the elbow at 9:35 and Kai Healy finished strong inside at 8:50. The Bronco lead was eight again, 49-41.
SJSU's 6-2 run stalled out with its 19th turnover of the game. Brownridge scored his 18th point, an eight-footer, at 3:13. At that point, Santa Clara had scored 18 points off those turnovers.
Clark and Brownridge both added pairs of free throws in the final minute and a half with the Broncos finishing off SJSU 61-50.
The teams were tied 32-32 at halftime. After Muhammad opened the game with a three, Matt Hubbard scored inside at 18:22 and then outside at 17:52. Muhammad matched him on both shots and then made a trio of free throws.
Kratch scored at 13:37 and Muhammad hit a floater – he had scored all 13 Spartan points. SJSU went on a 7-2 until Brownridge ended it with a three at 8:43.
After the Spartans timeout, Johnson grabbed his second steal and dished it to Clark for a three to put SCU up 21-20 at 8:13.
SJSU went on a 7-2 run, with Kratch scoring inside at 7:31 to tie it up 23-23. Scoring the first basket in almost five and a half minutes, Jalen Richard drove the lane to score at 2:04 and cut the lead to three, 30-27 SJSU. Brownridge crushed a three with 39 seconds left to tie it up 30-30. After Baker scored inside, Hubbard tipped it in with two seconds left to tie it up 32-32 at halftime. Brownridge scored eight for SCU and Hubbard added seven. Muhammad led all scorers with 13 points and Rogers had four boards. SJSU turned it over nine times to SCU's three in the first half.
Game Notes: Brandon Clark, Jared Brownridge, Denzel Johnson, Jarvis Pugh and Matt Hubbard started for the Broncos … Senior forward Yannick Atanga (6-8, 225) is out for the season with a torn ACL … Redshirt-freshman Emmanual Ndumanya (6-9, 270) is out with a left foot injury.
