Santa Clara - Washington State Game Notes (Notes, Bios, Boxes, Stats)
Finished with a six-game road swing, Santa Clara, 4-4, returns home to host Washington State on Sat, Dec. 13 at 7 pm. The Washington State game will be broadcast via the Bronco Radio Network on both KDOW 1220 AM and the Broncos' All-Access network at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. Anthony Passarelli is in his eighth season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer. Out of the listening area, KDOW is streamed online at www.1220kdow.com.
In SCU's last game, behind Jared Brownridge's 20 points, including four threes, Santa Clara won 61-50 at San Jose State on Dec. 6. The Broncos have been in finals all week.
Playing the Zags for the 149th time on Dec. 10, No. 8 Gonzaga had three players score 20+ points each in its 81-66 victory over Washington State. WSU's Josh Hawkinson collected a double-double with 18 points and 11 boards. Ike Iroegbu and DeVonte Lacy both added 14 each.
The Broncos will be without the services of forwards Yannick Atanga (6-8, 230) and Emmanuel Ndumanya (6-9, 270). Atanga will have ACL surgery Dec. 16 and is out for the remainder of the season. Ndumanya has a left foot injury that has caused him to miss the past six games.
Them
The Broncos are 0-4 vs. the Cougars, including 0-1 at home. Despite hitting 33 of 36 free throws, Santa Clara was edged in overtime by Washington State, 85-79, in the Cougars only visit to the Leavey Center on Dec. 20, 2010. Klay Thompson's three with 17 seconds left in regulation pushed the game to overtime. After Thompson and Evan Roquemore traded threes with a couple minutes remaining in overtime, the Cougars finished the extra period by making six free throws to Kevin Foster's two.
Series History
at WSU 60 SCU 38 12-31-46
vs. WSU 82 SCU 71 12-28-73+
WSU 85 at SCU 79 (ot) 12-19-10
at WSU 93 SCU 55 12-11-11
+ Rainbow Classic (Honolulu)
Bronco fans may recognize Cougar head coach Ernie Kent. He was the head coach at Oregon for 13 years (1997-2010). He took the Ducks to five NCAA tournaments, including two trips to the Elite Eight (2002, '07). Prior to that, he was the head coach at Saint Mary's from 1991-97. Along with winning the WCC title, he took the 1997 team to the NCAA tournament - the school's first bid since 1989.
Santa's Clara freshman forward Matt Hubbard grew up almost three hours north of Pullman in Colville, Wash. His older sister Haley is a junior at Washington State. He went to Cougar Basketball camps as a youngster and has played against Josh Hawkinson a number of times.
The Cougar roster includes five players from California: Ike Iroegbu (Sacramento), Jackie Davis (Long Beach), Trevor Dunbar (San Francisco), Junior Longrus (Oakland) and Aaron Cheatum (Moreno Valley).
48th Annual Cable Car Classic
Santa Clara will host the 48th annual Cable Car Classic from Dec. 17-23. The Classic begins on Dec. 17 with Northeastern and Cal Poly. The Broncos play Northeastern on Dec. 20 and close with the 2014 Big West tournament champions and NCAA tournament participants, Cal Poly, on Dec. 23.
Back-Court Leads
The Broncos return the West Coast Conference's top-scoring back-court, Jared Brownridge (14.3 ppg, 2014-15; 17.2 ppg, 2013-14) and Brandon Clark (17.3 ppg, 2014-15; 16.9 ppg, 2013-14). Brownridge has started each of the 41 career games he has played in. Clark has started 45 of the 109 games he has played in during his four-year career.
Brownridge led the team with 95 three pointers a season ago and he has already hit 23 in the early going this season. His 567 points last year scored shattered the SCU freshman record and placed him at No. 2 all-time in points scored for a Bay Area freshman (list includes SCU, Stanford, Cal, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and Pacific). He finished his freshman year with 24 points vs. Gonzaga in the WCC quarterfinals, as the Broncos fell 77-75 on a last second layup by the Zags' David Stockton. It was his 14th game with 20+ points, which put him at No. 3 on SCU's single season list for 20+ points a game.
Clark had his streak of 25 straight games in double figures snapped at Utah State when he scored nine. It dated back to Dec. 13, 2013. It was the longest streak for a Bronco since Travis Niesen scored double figures in 22 straight games (Feb. 5, 2005-Jan. 21, 2006).
Last season Clark collected 13 games of 20+ points. He did not have a single 20+ game his first two years. Clark hit 86.8 percent of his free throws (145-167) and finished No. 14 on the single season points list with 557. He also became the 32nd Bronco in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Santa Clara also welcomes back senior starters Denzel Johnson and Yannick Atanga. Johnson is averaging 7.1 ppg this season and has started all eight games. Atanga played in two games this season, but will undergo surgery on Dec. 16 to repair a torn ACL and will be out for the remainder of the season. It is expected he will apply for a sixth year of play.
Brandon
Brandon Clark is No. 25 on the all-time points scored list with 1,179. With 4 points, he will move past Nathan Fast to No. 24 (1,182, 1996-00). He needs 102 points to move to No. 20, passing Ralph Ogden (1,280, 1967-70). Clark is tied for No. 3 all-time in free throw percentage. He has made 309 of his 371 free throws attempted, good for 83.2 percent. The school record is held by Steve Nash (86.1 percent, 1991-96).
Clark was named the WCC Player of the Week on Nov. 17, 2014. He set a school record for points scored in a season opener with 31, including 15 of 16 from the line, in the Broncos' win vs. CSU Fullerton on Nov. 14. He had four career bests on the weekend as well. He was 15 of 16 from the free throw line vs. the Titans - marking a career best in makes and attempts. He is the only the seventh Bronco in school history to make 15+ free throws in a game. He scored 21 points vs. San Diego Christian on Nov. 15, collecting career-highs with nine assists and nine rebounds.
20s
For the first time this year Jared Brownridge (27) and Brandon Clark (23) scored 20+ points each in SCU's 68-60 win vs. Rider in the final game of the Orlando Classic. Brownridge had a season-high six threes. . Scoring 20+ together is nothing new for the duo of Brownridge and Clark, as they did it five times last season. The first time was Nov. 16, 2013 when Brownridge scored 21 and Clark added 23. The last time was Jan. 28, 2014 when Brownridge dropped 30 and Clark added 20.
Brownridge and Clark x 20+
Opponent Date JB BC
at Fullerton 11/16/13 23 21
at Portland 12/30/13 20 20
vs. LMU 1/4/14 26 29
at Saint Mary's 1/9/14 20 23
vs. BYU 1/18/14 20 30
vs. Rider 11/30/14 27 23
Brownridge has scored 30+ points three times, all last year. He has scored 20+ points 16 times in his career, including the past two games vs. Rider and at San Jose State. Starting all 41 games of his career, he has scored double figures 32 times. He has scored five or more three threes five times in his career, including seven twice last year (7 vs. La Sierra, 12/14/13 and 7 at Pepperdine, 3-1-14)
Clark has scored double figures 53 times in his career, including 17 games with 20 or more points the past two years. He also scored 30 or more three times during his career, including a season-high 31 points vs. Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 14.
Youngsters
The Broncos welcome four true freshmen to their team: forward Matt Hubbard from Colville, Wash., guard Stephen Edwards from Muskogee, Okla., forward Evan Wardlow from Lake View Terrace, Calif., and guard Kai Healy from Sydney, Australia. In addition, the Broncos have two redshirt freshmen, forward Jarvis Pugh from Murphy, Texas and center Emmanuel Ndumanya from Anambra, Nigeria. In the offseason, the team also added forward Dominic Romeo, a graduate student who played a year of football at Notre Dame University. Ndumanya has been out the past six games with a left foot injury and he will not play this weekend.
Kai
The Broncos were expecting to redshirt Kai Healy this season, but announced prior to the Michigan State game on Nov. 24 that he would play this year. He responded with four points and three boards in 19 minutes at Michigan State. He started and scored a key three pointer in the first half in Santa Clara's win vs. Rider on Nov. 30. He has made one field goal in each of the five games he has played.
Healy is a 2013 graduate of The Scots College in Sydney, Australia. The Scots College lost 82-76 to Lake Ginninderra College in the national championship high school game in 2013. Healy had 25 points in that game on 10 of 11 shooting from the field, including making four of five beyond the arc. Dante Exum scored 19 points with 15 assists for Lake Ginninderra. Lake Ginninderra had a 17-point three quarter time lead reduced to four points inside the final two minutes, before they steadied to hold on for the win. Healy's team defeated Exum's team three of the five times they played during their prep career. Exum went on to be the fifth overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Healy was born in Indianapolis, Ind. and moved to Australia prior to his fourth birthday and has lived there with his family since then. His father is a Notre Dame graduate and his mother a University of Indiana graduate.
Blocks
The Broncos will miss Yannick Atanga's blocks this season now that he is out with a torn ACL. They had no blocks at San Jose State on Dec. 5. It was the 11th time they didn't collect a block in Coach Keating's eight years as the head coach. The last time they didn't score a block: a 76-68 victory at Portland on Dec. 30, 2013.
With a block at Utah State, Atanga moved to No. 5 all-time in Santa Clara history with 94 career blocks. He passed former All-American Kurt Rambis (93, 1976-80). Atanga had 30 blocks last season. After leading the WCC in rebounds in 2012-13, Atanga was second on the team in rebounds last year with 5.0 rpg. He has collected 10+ boards in 11 career games. A native of Yaounde, Cameroon, Atanga spent time playing with the Cameroon National Team in China as part of a four-nation tournament in the summer of 2013. Playing basketball since he was 12 years old and now sporting a 7-4 wing span, Atanga dreams of one day working for the United Nations as a peacekeeper in Africa.
