Men's Basketball Hits the Road, Faces San Jose State Saturday

Santa Clara Men's Basketball Ticket Information | Tickets vs. San Jose State | Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara plays its first road game of the season on Saturday by making the short trip to face San Jose State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Event Center.

After defeating Northern Colorado and Sacred Heart at home in preliminary-round action in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Nov. 19-25), the Broncos fell to No. 8/9-ranked Arizona and Vanderbilt in bracket play at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Broncos, in their first season under head coach Herb Sendek, were edged Wednesday at home 58-55 by UC Irvine, which connected on a season-best 55 percent of its field goal attempts. Senior guard Jared Brownridge kept his hot streaking going, scoring a game-high 20 points for Santa Clara, which had only five turnovers, but shot 34 percent from the floor.

Brownridge is scoring a team-high 20.6 ppg, including 28.3 in the last four. He is also second in assists (2.9 pg) and third in rebounding (3.9 pg). Brownridge went 4-for-29 (13.8 percent) on 3-pointers in the opening four games but has exploded by hitting 21 of 48 (43.8 percent) in the last four. Junior forward Jarvis Pugh is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.9 pg). Sophomore Matt Hauser, the primary point guard with KJ Feagin out of the lineup, is averaging 8.1 ppg and a team-best 6.4 assists, which ranks 19th nationally. Hauser's assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.1-to-1 is No. 13 in the country.

Quick Hits...
• Jared Brownridge, a preseason All-WCC choice, had moved up both the Santa Clara all-time scoring list and the WCC career chart this season. During the first two games, Brownridge (1,881 points) passed Brian Jones (1,722/1996-01), Harold Keeling (1981-85/1,731) and Kurt Rambis (1976-80/1,736) on the SCU list. Brownridge has a ways to go to reach all-time leader Kevin Foster (2008-13), who had 2,423 points. Brownridge moved into the WCC's career top 25 scoring list (to 23rd) with 32 points in the win against Sacred Heart (Nov. 21). He has jumped to 15th during the last three games. Brownridge 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 eight games. Brownridge, Hauser and Pugh are averaging 36-plus minutes per game. Brownridge played a season-low 30 minutes against Northern Colorado (Nov. 19) due to foul trouble, but has played at least 36 minutes in the other seven contests. Pugh and Hauser have each played less than 34 minutes only one game apiece.
• 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 (Nov. 21).
• KJ Feagin, the team's starting point guard and an All-WCC Freshman team pick last season, has yet to suit up this season due to a broken bone in his foot. Feagin was injured during the first week of preseason practice and is out of action indefinitely, though hopes to begin working out soon. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow (hamstring) and junior forward Matt Hubbard (ankle) have also been limited with injuries.
• With 36 points vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 25), Brownridge, who earned a spot of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational tournament team, posted his ninth-career game of 30 or more points, the most in school history. He was tied with the school's all-time leading scorer Kevin Foster with eight.

Trends...
• Senior guard Jared Brownridge has scored in double figures in the last 30 games, posting at least 20 points in 17 ... after connecting on one of his first 16 attempts from behind the 3-point line, sophomore guard Matt Hauser has hit 10 of his last 23 (43.4 percent) ... in Wednesday's UC Irvine contest, Hauser knocked down a career-high four three-pointers and also dished out six assists, the fifth time in the last six games he has delivered five or more helpers ... Hauser is averaging 7.3 assists during the last six games ... junior forward Jarvis Pugh scored in double figures in five contests this season after reaching 10 points just twice in his previous 42 career games ... sophomore forward Henrik Jadersten has scored in double figures four times this season after only three occurrences in 2015-16. He has connected on at least one 3-pointer in all but two contests.
• After producing their top two field-goal shooting performances of the season (53.3 percent vs. N. Colorado, Nov. 19; 54.5 vs. Sacred Heart, Nov. 21), the Broncos have hit just 39.9 percent in the last three games. They did hit 47 percent from the field, including 52 percent in the second half, vs. Vanderbilt (Nov. 25), but 40 or less in the other two games.
• Brownridge and Pugh have combined to shoot 70 of the team's 102 free throws at an 81.6-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 85.7 percent at the line.

Notables...
• Santa Clara has a number of missing pieces in its rotation this season. Sophomore point guard KJ Feagin broke a bone in his foot during the first week of preseason practice and has yet to play a game. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow has been injured most of the last two seasons. He was relegated to seven games last year due to a wrist injury and has seen only 43 minutes of action this year because to a hamstring injury. Junior forward Matt Hubbard had offseason ankle surgery and has only been able to play 45 minutes in five games.
• Injuries to Feagin, Hubbard and Wardlow have forced the Broncos to shorten rotation. Guards Jared Brownridge and Matt Hauser, and forwards Nate Kratch and Jarvis Pugh have started all eight games, logging an average of 30-plus minutes per game. Brownridge, Hauser and Pugh have seen the most time, averaging 36 or more minutes per contest. Forwards Henrik Jadersten (24.3 minutes pg) and guard Kai Healy (16.3) are the only other players to see action in all eight games and play at least 10 minutes per game.
• 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 has played in all eight games, averaging 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.0 minutes. Crawford saw his first career action in the Tennessee State game.

Scouting San Jose State...
San Jose State boasts a 3-3 record in Dave Wojcik's fourth season as head coach. The game against Santa Clara will be the fourth home contest of the season for the Spartans. They have posted a 1-2 record at the Event Center on the year. Sophomore forwards Brandon Clarke (14.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Ryan Welage (14.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) lead the team in scoring and rebounding. Clarke has recorded three double-doubles on the year and also leads the team in blocks with 13. Wojcik goes deep into the bench, with 11 players on the team averaging 9 or more minutes per game and nobody averaging more than 30. The Spartans also take care of the ball, have committed just 73 turnovers (12.1 per game) on the season, a top-50 mark in the country.

The San Jose State Series...
The Broncos lead the all-time series 79-29 with victories in the last six meetings. The teams are meeting for the 22nd consecutive season (since 1995-96) and in 34 of the last 35 years (since 1982-83). The 108 games played is the sixth highest total of any Santa Clara opponent and most vs. a nonconference foe.

Tickets vs. San Jose State: Tickets are available through the San Jose State ticket office. Click here for information.

Tickets: Season or single-game tickets, along with mini-plans, are available for Santa Clara home games. 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.  

Parking: Parking is $10 in the main campus parking structure, which is located on Palm Drive through the main entrance. The Leavey Center parking lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is reserved for season-ticket holders. Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.

Radio/Live Stream: Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (color) will call the action vs. San Jose State for the Broncos via 1220 AM in Palo Alto. 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). KLIV 1590 AM is broadcasting 25 Santa Clara games this season and a selected few will can be heard on KSCU 103.3 FM and KDOW 1220 AM.

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