SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara will play its next two games on the road, traveling to West Coast Conference foes BYU (Thursday) and San Diego (Saturday).
The Broncos posted an 84-77 home victory vs. Portland Saturday as KJ Feagin (25) and Jared Brownridge (23) combined for 48 points, including a 26-for-27 performance from the free-throw line. Brownridge hit all six of his free throw attempts in the final minute of a game tied 16 times with 17 lead changes. He was named the WCC Player of the Week Monday after averaging 24.5 points and shooting 47 percent from the 3-point line in two games.
SANTA CLARA (5-11, 1-3) at BYU (10-5, 1-1)
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 • Marriott Center (20,900) • 8 p.m. PST
TV: ESPNU - Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Corey Williams (analyst)
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: KSCU (103.3 FM) - Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst)
Live Stats: www.statbroadcast.com
Radio/Live Stream: Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (color) will call the action for the Broncos on KSCU 103.3 FM. The game can be heard over the air or online through tunein. All Broncos home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform) will also be streamed through TheW.tv (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air).
Quick Hits...
• The Broncos, led by ninth-year head coach Kerry Keating, have been improving offensively, especially behind the 3-point line. After connecting on 34.1 percent from the field, including 25.1 on 3-pointers, in the first five games, the Broncos are hitting 44.6 percent (39.5 on 3-pointers) in the last 11 contests. During the four WCC games, Santa Clara has the third-best 3-point field-goal percentage (45.9).
• Jared Brownridge, in his third year as a starter, ranks second in the WCC and No. 27 nationally in the scoring (20.4 ppg). He is second on the team in assists (2.7 pg) and third in rebounding (career-high 3.8 pg). He is connecting on 84.3 percent of his free throws (third in the WCC) and his 91 makes from the charity stripe are No. 8 in the NCAA this year. He also ranks 13th nationally on 3-point field goals (48). Brownridge is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 20 of both those categories. Junior forward Nate Kratch is second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and leads in both rebounding (9.3 pg/third in the WCC) and field-goal percentage (57.4/fourth in the WCC).
• Despite playing just two-plus seasons, Brownridge already ranks third in school history with 236 career 3-pointers and 16th in scoring (1,403 points). In addition, his career scoring average (17.3 ppg) ranks No. 6 on the Broncos all-time chart and his career 3-point field-goal percentage (42.4) is tops in school history. After missing most of preseason practice Brownridge had an uneven start to the season, but has been heating up. During the last seven games, he has averaged 24.9 points on 46.8 percent shooting from the floor, including 51.6 from behind the 3-point line.
• KJ Feagin has emerged lately as another scoring option and been a consistent distributor. The freshman guard has scored in double figures in five of the last eight games and averaged 13.0 points per contest in that span. He has posted a career high in assists in two of the last four games (8 vs. Pacific, Dec. 21; 9 vs. Saint Mary's, Dec. 23) and tallied the second-highest point total of his career (25), including a career-best 13 FTs, vs. Portland
• Eight of Santa Clara's 11 losses have been by eight points or less, including six that were within three. The Broncos have lost three times in overtime.
• The Broncos have two players on the shelf and three others battling injury. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow (broken right wrist) missed the last eight games and will be out approximately two months. Sophomore forward Jarvis Pugh (knee) missed the previous seven games before playing against Saint Mary's (Dec. 23), but sat out the last two. Junior guard Brendyn Taylor (concussion) returned vs. Nevada (Dec. 19) after missing seven games. Freshman forward Tony Lewis (leg) has not played this season. Sophomore forward Matt Hubbard was limited to only five minutes vs. Saint Mary's due to an ankle injury, but did a total of 29 minutes the last two games.
Team Trends...
• With 23 points vs. Portland (Jan. 2), Jared Brownridge (1,403) moved from a tie for 18th to 16th on the school's career scoring list. He passed Mike Gervasoni (1,393/1964-67) and Nick Vanos (1,399/1981-85).
• The Portland game was the first time in school history two Bronco players made at least 13 free throws. Brownridge was 13-for-13 and KJ Feagin 13 of 14. Brownridge is the fifth Santa Clara player on record to be perfect from the line in Leavey Center with at least 10 attempts. The last was Steve Nash who made all 21 of his attempts (a school record) vs. Saint Mary's on Jan. 7, 1995
• Brownridge has scored 20 or more points in six of the last seven games and eight times on the season. He has connected on seven or more 3-pointers three times (seven vs. Arizona, Nov. 26; seven at Nevada, Dec. 18; career-high eight vs. Pacific, Dec. 23).
• With 25 points vs. Portland, Feagin moved into double-figure scoring (10.3 ppg). He ranks third in the WCC in scoring and first in assists (3.9 pg) among freshmen.
• Sophomore forward Jarvis Pugh made his return from a knee injury vs. Saint Mary's, playing 24 minutes and scoring six points to go with four rebounds. However, he had to sit out the last two games with the same ailment.
• Sophomore forward Matt Hubbard had scored in double figures four of five games leading up to the Saint Mary's contest where he injured an ankle and was relegated to five minutes. He played 17 minutes vs. Gonzaga (Dec. 31) and 12 against Portland (Jan. 2), but only scored a total of four points.
• Brendyn Taylor, a junior transfer from USC, saw his first action since the fourth game of the season vs. Nevada (Dec. 18). He played 10 minutes, posting four points, four rebounds and one assist.
Scouting the Cougars...
BYU, 10-5 on the season, has won three of its last four games and scored more than 90 points five times this year. The Cougars lead the WCC in scoring (82.9 ppg) and rank second in 3-point field-goal percentage (38.5). They maintain a plus-6 rebounding edge per game (third in the WCC) and rank third in the league in opponent field-goal percentage (41.7). Offensively, the Cougars are led by a pair of senior guards in Chase Fisher and Kyle Collinsworth. Fisher leads four players in double figures at 18.0 points per game. Collinsworth is second at 14.7 ppg and leads the WCC in both assists (7.3 pg) and steals. (2.1 pg). He is also averaging 8.0 rebounds per game, second on the team to junior forward Kyle Davis who collects 9.9 pg, second in the WCC.
The BYU Series...
The series began in 1951 with BYU leading, 24-5. The Cougars have won the last 10 meetings, including all nine since BYU joined the WCC during the 2011-12 season. The Broncos last win in the series was on Dec. 2, 1972 (66-64 in Provo, Utah) though the teams only met once (Dec. 30, 1986 in the Cable Car Classic) in a 38-year span.
Notables...
• Nate Kratch and KJ Feagin have been the team's most accurate shooters. Kratch has connected on 57.4 percent from the floor (fourth in the WCC), including 59.3 in the last nine games, scoring mostly in the paint, while Feagin has hit 48.8 percent of his field-goal attempts on a mix of drives and jump shots. Forward Jarvis Pugh has connected on 50 percent from the floor, though he has missed eight games with a knee injury.
• Feagin has totaled 48 assists during the last nine games (5.3 pg), including a career-high nine vs. Saint Mary's (Dec. 21). His assist-to-turnover ratio in that span is 2.5-to-1.
• Brownridge and Kratch are the only players to start all 16 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). Emmanuel Ndumanya made his first career start in the Gonzaga game (Dec. 31) and was also in the starting lineup vs. Portland (Jan. 2). His 24 minutes played vs. Gonzaga were one shy of his career high (25 vs. Portland, Feb. 7, 2015).
• Until the Gonzaga game, the Broncos used the same starting lineup - Kratch, Matt Hubbard, Jared Brownridge, Feagin and Healy - for six straight outings. Ndumanya was in the starting lineup vs. the Bulldogs replacing Hubbard who injured an ankle in the previous game vs. Saint Mary's. Hubbard, who started the previous eight games, was able to play 17 minutes, but did not enter the scoring column.
By The Numbers…
1...Jared Brownridge is the only player in the NCAA to rank in the top 20 in both made free throws (8th at 91) and 3-pointers (13th at 48) this season.
7...The Broncos have used seven different starting lineups this season.
8...Nate Kratch has eight rebounds in 11 of 16 games this season, including 12 vs. UC Riverside (Nov 19), 14 vs. UC Irvine (Nov. 23), 12 vs. San Jose State, 18 vs. Pacific Union (Dec. 5) and 14 vs. Portland (Jan. 2).
34...Jared Brownridge (1,403) needs 34 more points to move from 16th to 15th on the school's career scoring list. Bud Ogden (1,437/1965-69) is currently 15th.
35.8...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 429 games, with juniors Jared Brownridge (81) and Nate Kratch (81) accounting for 162.
