Santa Clara-Pacific Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After seeing its four-game winning streak come to an end Friday, Santa Clara now heads into West Coast Conference play. The Broncos will face Pacific Monday on the road. Last time out, Santa Clara lost at Nevada, 72-69, despite a game-high 29 points from Jared Brownridge who led three players in double figures. The game was tied nine times, including three occurrences in the final five minutes, and the Broncos had a pair of attempts at a tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

SANTA CLARA (4-8) at Pacific (1-8)

Monday, Dec. 21 • Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) • 7 p.m. PST

Radio: KSCU (103.3 FM) - Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (color)

Live Stream: TheW.tv - Zack Bayrouty (play-by-play) and Bob Thomason (color)

Live Stats: www.statbroadcast.com

Quick Hits...
• The Broncos, led by ninth-year head coach Kerry Keating, are in the midst of five games in 12 days, including three in six. With finals in session during the week of Dec. 7, the schedule was light with just one game (Dec. 5 vs. San Jose State) in a 12-day span. Santa Clara played four games in seven days last month at the Wooden Legacy, and had three straight days of action with the season-opening Cable Car Classic.
• Junior guard Jared Brownridge, a two-year starter, leads the team in scoring at 18.9 points per contest, which is third in the WCC. He is second on the team in assists (2.9 pg) and third rebounding (career-high 4.0 pg). Junior forward Nate Kratch is second in scoring (12.4 ppg) and leads the team in both rebounding (9.3 pg/third in the WCC) and field-goal percentage (61.9/second in the WCC). Kratch's 3.5 offensive rebounds per game lead the league.
• Despite playing just two-plus seasons, Brownridge already ranks tied for fourth in school history with 219 career 3-pointers made and 21st in scoring (1,303 points). In addition, his career scoring average (16.9 ppg) ranks No. 6 on the Broncos all-time chart and his career 3-point field-goal percentage (42.0) is tops in school history. After missing most of preseason practice Brownridge had an uneven start to the season, but has been coming around. During the last three games, he has averaged 24.7 points on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor, including 53.6 from behind the 3-point line. He has also posted 10 assists with one turnover in that span. In fact, Brownridge has turned the ball over just 20 times on the year, despite averaging a league-high 36.0 minutes a game while being the focal point of the offense.
• The Broncos have three players on the shelf and one who just returned from injury. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow (broken right wrist) missed the last four games and will be out approximately two months. Sophomore forward Jarvis Pugh (knee) has missed the last six games and freshman forward Tony Lewis (leg) has not played this season. Junior guard Brendyn Taylor (concussion) returned vs. Nevada after missing seven games.

Team Trends...
• After connecting on 34.1 percent from the field, including 25.1 on 3-pointers, in the first five games, the Broncos are hitting 44.3 percent (35.7 on 3-pointers) in the most recent seven contests. Two of their three best shooting performances occurred in the last four outings (50.8 vs. San Jose State; season-best 55.6 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
• The opposition connected on 38.2 percent from behind the 3-point arc in the first five games, but has been held to 28.7 percent in the last seven contests. The Broncos held Arizona to a season-low 13.6 percent on 3's (3-for-22).
Player Tidbits...
• During the last five games, Nate Kratch is averaging 19.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. In that span, he has hit 38 of 56 field goals (67.9 percent) and 20 of his 51 rebounds (39 percent) have been at the offensive end.
• Jared Brownridge has scored 20 or more points in three straight games and five times on the season. He has matched his career high with seven 3-pointers twice this season (vs. Arizona, Nov. 26; at Nevada, Dec. 18).
• Sophomore forward Matt Hubbard has scored in double figures four times this season, including three of the last four games.
• Sophomore guard Kai Healy has at least six rebounds in four of the last six games, and averaging 5.7 per contest during that stretch.
• Brendyn Taylor, a junior transfer from USC, saw his first action since the fourth game of the season vs. Nevada. He played 10 minutes, posting four points, four rebounds and one assist.

Scouting the Tigers...
The Tigers are 1-8 on the season, but five of the losses are by eight points or less. Senior guard Alec Kobre is scoring a team-high 18.0 points per game, though he has played in just three contests. Sophomore guard/forward Ray Bowles is second in scoring (12.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 pg). Sophomore forward Jacob Lampkin is the top rebounder (5.7 pg) and sophomore guard Maleke Haynes leads in assists (3.2 pg).

Common Foes...
The Broncos and Tigers have four common opponents this season with similar results. Both teams lost to Arizona, UC Irvine and Nevada, and defeated Notre Dame De Namur. The Broncos faced Notre Dame de Namur in the exhibition season and the Tigers in the regular season.

The Pacific Series...
The Broncos have a 92-43 edge in a series that dates back to 1905. This is the third season the Tigers have been a member of the West Coast Conference, with the Broncos holding a 3-2 edge in that time. But the teams have faced each other every season since 1994-95. The 135 games played are the fifth-most among all-time opponents.

Notables...
• Nate Kratch and KJ Feagin have been the team's most accurate shooters. Kratch has connected on 61.9 percent from the floor (second in the WCC), including 67.9 in the last five games, scoring mostly in the paint, while Feagin has hit 50.0 percent of his field-goal attempts on a mix of drives and jump shots. Forward Jarvis Pugh has connected on 52 percent from the floor, though he has missed the last five games.
• Kratch has posted five double-digit rebound games this season.
• Feagin has totaled 26 assists during the last five games (5.2 pg) and his assist-to-turnover ratio in that span is 2.9-to-1.
• Brownridge and Kratch are the only players to start all 12 games. Freshman forward Henrik Jadersten started for the first time in his career and sophomore guard Evan Wardlow made his first start of the season (second of his career) vs. UC Irvine (Nov. 23). Wardlow went on to start the next three games. Kai Healy made his first start of the season (second of his career) vs. San Jose State (Dec. 5)
• The Broncos have used the same starting lineup the last four games - Kratch, Matt Hubbard, Jared Brownridge, Feagin and Healy.

By The Numbers…
6...Jared Brownridge (219) needs six 3-pointers to move fifth to fourth on the school's career list. Kyle Bailey (225/2001-05) is currently fourth.
6...The Broncos have used six different starting lineups this season.
8...Nate Kratch has eight rebounds in eight of 12  games this season, including 12 vs. UC Riverside (Nov 19), 14 vs. UC Irvine (Nov. 23), 12 vs. San Jose State and 18 vs. Pacific Union (Dec. 5)
32.6...Average career games played among the 12 active players on the roster (freshmen Tony Lewis and Bryson Lockley have not played). That group has played in a total of 391 games, with juniors Jared Brownridge (77) and Nate Kratch (77) accounting for 154.