Santa Clara-San Diego Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara concludes its two-game road trip Saturday, playing at West Coast Conference foe San Diego.

After posting an 84-77 home victory vs. Portland Saturday behind a combined 48 points for KJ Feagin (25) and Jared Brownridge (23), the Broncos struggled in Thursday's 97-61 road loss to BYU, which placed five players in double figures, including Kyle Collinsworth who had a triple-double. Brownridge, who claimed WCC Player of the Week Monday, led the Broncos with 16 points. San Diego has dropped its last three games after winning five of six.

SANTA CLARA (5-12, 1-4) at San Diego (5-9, 0-3)

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 • Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) • 7 p.m. PST

TV: CSN California, TWC SportsNet, ROOT Northwest/Rocky Mountain - Steve Quis (play-by-play) and Brad Holland (analyst)

Live Stream: TheW.tv (blacked out in local markets)

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...
• After dropping their first seven games, the Broncos, led by ninth-year head coach Kerry Keating, have gone 5-5 in the last 10. They 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 43.7 percent (38.1 on 3-pointers) in the last 12 contests.
• Jared Brownridge, in his third year as a starter, ranks second in the WCC and No. 28 nationally in the scoring (20.2 ppg). He is second on the team in assists (2.6 pg) and third in rebounding (career-high 3.6 pg). He is connecting on 83.3 percent of his free throws (third in the WCC) and his 95 makes from the charity stripe are No. 9 in the NCAA this year. He also ranks 15th nationally on 3-point field goals (50). Brownridge is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 30 of both those categories. Junior forward Nate Kratch is second on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and leads in both rebounding (9.2 pg/third in the WCC) and field-goal percentage (57.1/fourth in the WCC).
• Despite playing just two-plus seasons, Brownridge already ranks third in school history with 238 career 3-pointers and 16th in scoring (1,419 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 (42.3) 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 eight games, he has averaged 23.8 points on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor, including 49.3 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 nine games and averaged 12.6 points per contest in that span. He has posted a career high in assists in two of the last five 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 (Jan. 2).
• Eight of Santa Clara's 12 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 nine 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 three. 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 play in the last three games.

Tidbits...
• With five assists against BYU (Jan. 7), KJ Feagin moved to No. 11 on the school's all-time freshman list.
• 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 eight 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. He ranks third in the WCC in scoring (10.2) 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 three 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. Hubbard saw 26 minutes of action vs. BYU (Jan. 7), scoring six points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
• 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 Toreros...
San Diego, 5-9 (0-3 WCC) on the season, has dropped its last three games following a stretch of five wins in six outings. The Toreros rank third in the WCC in points allowed and first in blocked shots (4.4 pg). They have struggled shooting from the field, connecting on 37.5 percent, including 27.4 from behind the 3-point line. Senior guard Duda Sanadze is the team's leading scorer (12.6 ppg). Junior forward Brett Bailey is second in scoring (8.6 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.6 pg). Lamont Smith, a former assistant coach at Santa Clara (2007-08), is in his first season as San Diego's head coach. In addition, assistant coach Sam Scholl spent the previous eight seasons in the same role at Santa Clara.

The San Diego Series...
The series began in 1953 with Santa Clara leading 43-35. The series has been evenly matched in recent years. The teams split a pair of meetings in each of the last two seasons. Santa Clara captured both meetings in 2012-13 and San Diego won the two the year before.

Notables...
• Nate Kratch and KJ Feagin have been the team's most accurate shooters. Kratch has connected on 57.1 percent from the floor (fourth in the WCC), scoring mostly in the paint, while Feagin has hit 47.1 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 10 games with a knee injury.
• Feagin has totaled 53 assists during the last 10 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 17 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 the last two games. 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, has played as a reserve in the last three outings.

By The Numbers…
1...Jared Brownridge is the only player in the NCAA to rank in the top 30 in both made free throws (9th at 95) and 3-pointers (15th at 50) this season.
7...The Broncos have used seven different starting lineups this season.
8...Nate Kratch has eight rebounds in 12 of 17  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).
18...Jared Brownridge (1,419) needs 18 more points to move from 16th to 15th on the school's career scoring list. Bud Ogden (1,437/1965-69) is currently 15th.
36.6...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 439 games, with juniors Jared Brownridge (82) and Nate Kratch (82) accounting for 164.