Santa Clara-Gonzaga Game Notes

WATCH | "Bronco Bites" with Jared Brownridge/KJ Feagin

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Following a six-day break, Santa Clara will hit the road for the next three games. The Broncos head to the Northwest for two West Coast Conference contests, beginning with a Thursday meeting against Gonzaga, which split its two games in the Bay Area last week, falling to Saint Mary's and downing Pacific.

Despite 20 points from Jared Brownridge and a near double-double (11 points/9 assists) from KJ Feagin, the Broncos lost to area-rival San Francisco, 74-61, on Thursday. Gonzaga edged Santa Clara, 79-77, on New Year's Eve.

SANTA CLARA (7-14, 3-6) at Gonzaga (15-5, 7-2)

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016 • McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) • 6 p.m. PST

TV: CSN California, ROOT Northwest/Rocky Mountain/Southwest, KHQ-TV (Spokane) - Greg Heister (play-by-play), Richard Fox (analyst), Dan Dickau (analyst)

Live Stream: TheW.tv (blacked out in local markets) / ESPN3

Radio: KSCU (103.3 FM) - Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and Phil Von Buchwaldt (analyst)

Live Stats: 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. However, for the Gonzaga game, Phil Von Buchwaldt will serve as color analyst. 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 of the season, the Broncos, led by ninth-year head coach Kerry Keating, have gone 7-7 since Nov. 29.
• Jared Brownridge, in his third year as a starter, ranks No. 39 nationally in the scoring (19.4 ppg). He is second on the team in assists (2.5 pg) and third in rebounding (career-high 3.6 pg). He is connecting on 83.1 percent of his free throws (fourth in the WCC) and his 103 makes from the charity stripe are tied for No. 32 in the NCAA this year. He also ranks tied for 25th nationally in 3-point field goals (60). Brownridge is the only player in the nation to rank in the top 35 of both those categories. Junior forward Nate Kratch is second on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and leads in both rebounding (9.0 pg/third in the WCC) and FG percentage (57.3/fourth in the WCC).
• Despite playing just two-plus seasons, Brownridge already ranks third in school history with 248 career 3-pointers and 14th in scoring (1,483 points). In addition, his career scoring average (17.2 ppg) ranks No. 6 on the Broncos all-time chart and his career 3-point field-goal percentage (42.2) is tops in school history. After missing most of preseason practice Brownridge had an uneven start to the season, but has heated up. He has scored in double figures each of the last 12 games, averaging 21.2 points on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor, including 46.8 from behind the 3-point line.
• KJ Feagin has emerged in the last six weeks as another scoring option and been a consistent distributor. The freshman guard has scored in double figures in eight of the last 13 games and averaged 12.2 points in that span. He has posted eight or more assists three times in WCC action 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 14 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 three players on the shelf. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow (broken right wrist) missed the last 12 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 seven. 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 seven games.

Homeward Bound...
Sophomore forward Matt Hubbard and senior guard Werner Nistler will be playing close to home on the upcoming road. Hubbard is from Colville, Washington, which is located 70 miles north of Spokane, home of Gonzaga. Nistler hails from Portland, where he played at Jesuit High School.  

Tidbits...
• With nine assists vs. USF (Jan. 21), KJ Feagin (86) moved from a tie for eighth to fifth on the school's freshman list. He snapped a tie with Steve Kenilvort (77/1982-83) and passed Brody Angley (81/2004-05), Kevin Foster (83/2008-09) and Kyle Bailey (84/2000-01).
• Since an 0-for-3 performance from the free-throw line at Pacific (Dec. 21), Feagin has connected on 25 of 26 free throws (96.2 percent). He has improved from 59.1 to 78.3 percent from the line in the last seven games.
• During the first 15 games of the season, Santa Clara only had as many as three players in double figures six times. In the last six games, three or more players have reached double figures three times. The Broncos are 6-3 when at least three players reach double figures, including 3-0 with four players scoring 10 or more.
• Jared Brownridge has scored 20 or more points in eight of the last 12 games and 10 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).
• 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 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
• 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 seven games with the same ailment.

Scouting the Bulldogs...
Gonzaga, 15-5 (7-2 WCC) on the season, has split its last four games which came on the heels of a seven-game winning streak.  The Bulldogs have five players averaging eight or more points led by forward Kyle Wiltjer, who is the top scorer in the WCC at 21.7 ppg. Forward Domontas Sabonis is averaging 17.5 points and a league-high 11.5 rebounds. The Bulldogs rank second in the WCC in field-goal percentage (49.1) and are first in opponent FG percentage (39.3).

The Gonzaga Series...
The series began in 1946 with Gonzaga leading, 55-31. The Bulldogs have won the last 11 meetings. Santa Clara's last win occurred on Jan. 20, 2011 when the Broncos downed the Bulldogs, 85-71, in Leavey Center.

Notables...
• Nate Kratch and KJ Feagin have been the team's most accurate shooters. Kratch has connected on 57.3 percent from the floor (fourth in the WCC), scoring mostly in the paint, while Feagin has hit 44.7 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 14 games with a knee injury.
• In nine conference games, three players - Henrik Jadersten (47.8/11 of 23) Kai Healy (45.5/10 of 22), Jared Brownridge (43.9/29 of 66) and - have each hit at better than a 40-percent clip on 3-pointers. Jadersten ranks 10th in the WCC during league action.
• Feagin has been one of the top producing freshman in the WCC. He has totaled 72 assists during the last 14 games (5.1 pg), including a career-high nine vs. Saint Mary's (Dec. 21) and USF (Jan. 21). His assist-to-turnover ratio in that span is 2.6-to-1. During league action, he ranks sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6-to-1), including first among freshmen.
• Brownridge and Kratch are the only players to start all 21 games. Feagin has started 20, while Kai Healy and Matt Hubbard are next wit 12 starts apiece. Emmanuel Ndumanya made his first career start in the Gonzaga game (Dec. 31) and was also in the starting lineup the last six games. Until the Gonzaga game, the Broncos used the same starting lineup - Kratch, Hubbard, Brownridge, Feagin and Healy - for six straight outings. Ndumanya replaced Hubbard in the starting lineup vs. the Bulldogs who injured an ankle in the previous game vs. Saint Mary's (Dec. 23). Hubbard started the previous eight games.

By The Numbers…
1...Jared Brownridge leads the WCC in minutes played (35.9 pg).
1...KJ Feagin is first WCC among freshmen in assists (4.1 pg) and free-throw percentage (79.2).
1...Jared Brownridge is the only player in the NCAA to rank in the top 35 in both made free throws (t-32nd at 103) and 3-pointers (t-25th at 60) this season.  
7...The Broncos have used seven different starting lineups this season.
8...Nate Kratch has eight rebounds in 13 of 21  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).
39.7...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 476 games, with juniors Jared Brownridge (86) and Nate Kratch (86) accounting for 172.