Santa Clara Men's Basketball Ticket Information | Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara capped off a season-opening five-game homestand with a pair of wins in a three-day window to start play in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.

Senior Jared Brownridge shook off an early season shooting slump to guide the Broncos to an 84-74 victory over Sacred Heart Monday in preliminary-round action. Brownridge scored a season- and game-high 32 points (11 of 21 FGs), and fellow guard Matt Hauser posted his second-straight double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 assists.

Santa Clara downed Northern Colorado, 88-72, Saturday in another campus site game in the tournament. Junior forward Jarvis Pugh scored a career- and game-high 26 points, while Hauser posted his first career double-double (16 points/10 assists).

The Broncos shot 57 percent from the field in the second half with only one turnover. After three contests in three days at the 50th Annual Cable Car Classic (Nov. 11-13), the Broncos enjoyed a five-day break before defeating N. Colorado. Play in the tournament continues at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas with the Broncos facing No. 8/9 Arizona on Thanksgiving Day (7:30 p.m. Pacific on FOX Sports 1) and either Butler or Vanderbilt Friday (5 of 7:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1).

Brownridge is leading the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and is second in both rebounding (5.0 pg) and assists (4.0 pg). He went 4-for-29 on 3-pointers in the opening four games before exploding for a 7 of 15 effort against Sacred Heart. Pugh is second in scoring (15.6 ppg) and first in rebounding (6.6 pg). Hauser is averaging 8.4 ppg and a team-best 6.6 assists, which ranks third in the West Coast Conference and tied for 21st nationally.

Quick Hits...
• Santa Clara and Arizona are meeting for the 12th time, but first with former colleagues Sean Miller and Herb Sendek on opposing benches. Miller is in his eighth season as Arizona head coach, while Sendek was hired in March to lead the Broncos. Miller served two stints as an assistant coach under Sendek. Miller was on Sendek's Miami (Ohio) staff for two seasons (1993-95) and again for five years (1996-2001) at NC State.
• Jared Brownridge, a preseason All-WCC choice, moved from fifth to second on the school's all-time scoring list (1,800 points) during the first two games of the season. He passed Brian Jones (1,722/1996-01), Harold Keeling (1981-85/1,731) and Kurt Rambis (1976-80/1,736). Brownridge has a ways to go to reach all-time leader Kevin Foster (2008-13), who had 2,423 points. Brownridge did move into the WCC's career top 25 scoring list with 32 points in Monday's win against Sacred Heart. He ranks 23rd on the all-time chart and is on pace to become only the 11th player in league history to score 2,000 or more career points.  
• Brownridge, Matt Hauser, Nate Kratch and Jarvis Pugh have started all four games. Brownridge, Hauser and Pugh are all averaging 35-plus minutes per game. Brownridge played a season-low 30 minutes Saturday against Northern Colorado due to foul trouble, while Pugh went all 40 minutes. Hauser played all but one minute Monday against Sacred Heart.
• Hauser (16 points/10 assists vs. N. Colorado, Nov. 19) became the first Santa Clara player to post double digit points and assists in the same game since Evan Roquemore (14 points/11 assists) against Pacific (Dec. 17, 2011). He followed that up with his second career double-double (14 points/11 assists) vs. Sacred Heart on Monday.

Notables...
• Senior  guard Jared Brownridge has scored in double figures in the last 27 games ... senior forward Nate Kratch saw a season-high 38 minutes of action vs. Northern Colorado (Nov. 19) and produced season highs in points (17 on 7 of 11 FGs) and rebounds (seven) ... after connecting on one of his first 16 attempts from behind the 3-point line, Matt Hauser has hit five of his last 12 ... Jarvis Pugh scored in double figures in the first four games after reaching 10 points just twice in his previous 42 career games ... the Broncos were out-rebounded 41 to 24 and did not record one at the offensive end in Monday's Sacred Heart contest. The Pioneers had 14 offensive rebounds and out-scored Santa Clara 14-0 in second-chance points, but the Broncos won the turnover battle (18-11) and converted those into 20 points (vs. seven points for Sacred Heart) … Santa Clara posted a season-high eight steals, including a career-best three by Hauser, against Sacred Heart.
• The Broncos are coming off their two best shooting performances of the season, connecting on 53.3 percent from the field against N. Colorado and 54.5 vs. Sacred Heart. Santa Clara is also shooting a blistering 44.1 percent from behind the 3-point line in the last two contests. However, the opposition had its two best shooting outings against the Broncos defense. N. Colorado connected on 50 percent of its field goals and Sacred Heart 46 percent.
• Brownridge and Pugh have combined to shoot 45 of the team's 75 free throws at a 76-percent clip ... Pugh made 8 of 9 free throws in the season opener vs. N. Arizona (Nov. 11). He made only eight (on 17 attempts) all of last season when he was relegated to 10 games due to injury. Pugh is shooting a team-best 81.8 percent ...
• The Broncos return 10 players who saw action last year. Tony Lewis redshirted in his first year with Santa Clara. Additions include freshman Julian Roche and junior Akil Douglas, both of whom signed with the program in the spring. Freshman Johnny Sawyer and sophomore Evan Crawford were added to the roster in the summer and senior guard Will Burkett prior to the season, all as non-scholarship players. Lewis was the only one to play in the opener against Northern Arizona. The 6-foot-9 center started and had two points in 13 minutes, He's shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Crawford saw his first career action in the Tennessee State game.
• Brownridge earned a spot on the preseason All-WCC team after averaging 20.6 points per game in 2015-16, which was first in the league and 21st nationally. He was also placed on the preseason watch list for the 2016-17 Lou Henson Award, which honors the top mid-major player in the nation. Brownridge made the same list last season.

Scouting Arizona...
Arizona is 4-0 in Sean Miller's eighth season at the helm and the 2016-17 squad is led by freshman Lauri Markkanen who is scoring 19.5 points per game on the year. Along with his efficient scoring (55.6 FG%, 37.5 3FG%, 95.7 FT%), Markkanen hauls in 8.3 rebounds per game, also the top mark on the team. Junior point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright is averaging 5.75 assists per game (4.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio) and posted his first-career double-double (15 points and 11 assists) last time out in Arizona's 71-55 win over Northern Colorado, the final preliminary round game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.

Tickets: Season or single-game tickets, along with mini-plans, are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Doors to Leavey Center, as well as its ticket office, are open one hour prior to the start of the first game. Tickets are also available for the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational games in Las Vegas by contacting the Santa Clara ticket office. The Broncos are playing Arizona on Thursday, Nov. 24 and either Butler or Vanderbilt the following day in Orleans Arena. Tickets are priced at $130 and good for all eight games during the two days.  

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