Men's Basketball Caps Off Stretch of Three Straight on the Road Saturday vs. Pepperdine

Ticket Information | Game Notes

MALIBU, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball will look to make it two straight on its road swing through Southern California on Saturday at Pepperdine. Tipoff between the Broncos and Waves is set for 5 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse.

The meeting of the longtime rivals will serve as the West Coast Conference Game of the Week, presented by Geico. The pregame show begins at 4:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Spectrum SportsNet.

The Broncos (9-9, 3-2) won a thriller Thursday at San Diego, downing the Toreros, 59-57, behind the guard play of Jared Brownridge (20), KJ Feagin (19) and Matt Hauser (10) who combined for 49 points. Brownridge's driving layup with 1:07 left proved to be the game-winner as the Broncos, who are fourth in the West Coast Conference standings, held San Diego without a field goal in the final 5:14 to claim their sixth win in the last nine games, including three in the last four.

After losing Saturday at LMU with just eight scholarship players available due to injury, Hauser (concussion) and fellow guard Evan Wardlow (hamstring) returned to the lineup against San Diego. The Broncos secured just their second victory away from home in eight tries and will attempt to duplicate the feat against Pepperdine (5-12, 1-4), which has dropped 11 of its last 12, but is 4-3 at home on the season.

Tomorrow at 4:30 on Spectrum SportsNet, @SantaClaraHoops' @23Jbrown tries out his new catch phrase on @SarahKezele �� pic.twitter.com/QlfeYYAhET

— TheW.tv (@TheWtv) January 13, 2017

Brownridge leads four Santa Clara players in double figures at 17.2 ppg, which ranks sixth in the league. Feagin is second on the team at 15.3 ppg, though he has played in only the last six games after missing 12 due to injury. Hauser, who served as the primary point guard when Feagin was out, is averaging 10.1 points (fourth on the team) and a team-best 5.2 assists per game, which ranks No. 5 in the WCC. Hauser's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.8-to-1 is first in the league and No. 8 in the country. Kratch is third in scoring (10.3 ppg) and first in rebounding (6.6 pg).

Quick Hits...
• Herb Sendek is in his first season as Santa Clara head coach after three successful stops leading Division I programs. Sendek, one of the three youngest coaches to reach 400 career victories, is in his 23rd season as a head coach. He compiled a 413-295 (.583) record, including 39 victories against top 25 teams, at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio). Sendek was a coach of the year in the Pac-10, Atlantic Coast Conference and Mid-American Conference.
• Jared Brownridge, the second-leading scorer in school history (2,026), moved from 11th to ninth on the WCC career scoring list in Thursday's win against San Diego. He passed Bo Kimble of Loyola Marymount (2,010/1987-90) and Jim McPhee of Gonzaga (2,015/1986-90). Brownridge needs 20 more to reach Johnny Dee of San Diego (2,046/2011-15) who is in eighth place. In last week's 70-42 win over Portland, Brownridge became only the second Bronco and 11th player in conference history to reach 2,000 career points. Brownridge is also fourth among active leading scorers in NCAA Division I (see charts on page 6).
• KJ Feagin, the team's starting point guard and an All-WCC Freshman team pick last year, suited up for the first time this year in the Valparaiso game (Dec. 22). Feagin broke a bone in his foot in the preseason and missed the first 12 games. He has played in the last six, gradually increasing his workload. Feagin has averaged 37.5 minutes and 19.8 points in the last four games. Sophomore guard Evan Wardlow (hamstring) missed seven games and junior forward Jarvis Pugh (foot) will be out of action indefinitely.
• Santa Clara has the best turnover margin in the WCC (+2.4 per game) and the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3-to-1). Those factors have helped offset an offense scoring 66.8 points per game (No. 10 in the league). However, the Broncos are allowing just 64.7 ppg, which ranks third in the conference. Santa Clara is 8-2 this season when scoring 65 or more points. Pepperdine is surrendering 79.5 ppg (No. 10 in the WCC).

Trends...
• Guards Jared Brownridge and forward Nate Kratch are the only players to start all 18 games. Brownridge is averaging more than 37 minutes and Kratch 32-plus per game. Guard Matt Hauser is averaging nearly 35 per game, but did not play Saturday vs. LMU. He played just two minutes vs. Portland (Jan. 5) after leaving due to injury. Brownridge played 30 minutes against Northern Colorado (Nov. 19) due to foul trouble and a season-low 28 at BYU (Dec. 29), but has played at least 33 minutes in the other 16 contests. Hauser has played less than 34 minutes only three times. Brownridge (49), Kratch (48) and Hauser (46) nearly played the entire Valparaiso game (Dec. 22). Brownridge, Kratch and Kai Healy played all 40 minutes vs. LMU (Jan. 7) ... Brownridge had his 32-game double-figure scoring streak snapped when he was held to seven points in a 75-50 win over UC Riverside (Dec. 13). He also had only eight against BYU (Dec. 29). Brownridge, who has scored in double figures in 36 of the last 40 games, including 20 or more points in 21, snapped out of a mini-slump (single-digit scoring in two straight games) with 20 Thursday vs. San Diego ... Brownridge went 4-for-29 (13.8 percent) on 3-pointers in the opening four games but has been more himself the last 14, hitting 53 of 126 (42.1 percent) ... Hauser has scored in double figures eight times this season (seven of his last 10 games), including a career-high 18 vs. UC Riverside. He scored in double figures four times in 2015-16 ... after reaching double figures in three of the first nine games, Kratch has scored at least 10 points in six of the last nine. He is averaging 12.2 points and connecting on 47 of 95 FGs (49.5 percent) in the last nine contests. Kratch is also averaging 9.5 rebounds in the last six games and missed a double-double by one carom vs. BYU (Dec. 29), USF (Dec. 31) and LMU (Jan. 7) ... after not seeing action in the first seven games, junior center Emmanuel Ndumanya has played in the last 11. He assumed the starting center role in the Cal State East Bay game (Dec. 10) and has been in the opening lineup the last nine games, averaging 3.9 points and 5.3 rebounds ... junior forward Jarvis Pugh has 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 five times this season after only three occurrences in 2015-16
• Santa Clara has been trying to find some consistency shooting from the floor. The Broncos, who rank eighth in the WCC in FG percentage (42.5), have connected on 50 percent or more in three games and less than 40 percent six times. The team is 8-2 this season when connecting on at least 43 percent from the field and 6-2 when hitting 40 percent or higher from behind the 3-point line. Conversely, Santa Clara is just 4-8 when the opposition shoots 45-plus percent from the field ... Santa Clara averages 9.4 made 3-pointers per game (No. 3 in the WCC). The Broncos are 5-3 on the year when nailing 10 or more from beyond the 3-point line ... Santa Clara out-rebounded Washington State, 35-27, on Dec. 17 and posted its top rebounding outings of the season in the previous two games, grabbing 41 against both Cal State East Bay (Dec. 10) and UC Riverside (Dec. 13). But the Broncos have the lowest rebounding margin in the WCC (-3.4 pg).
• After shooting only 45 free throws in the previous four games, the Broncos attempted 35 vs. Cal State East Bay (Dec. 10) and 21 against UC Riverside (Dec. 13), the highest two totals of the season ... Santa Clara attempted just two free throws vs. Portland (Jan. 5). The Broncos have shot the second-fewest free throws (241) in the WCC. Saint Mary's is first with 236.

Scouting Pepperdine...
Head coach Marty Wilson, who is in his sixth season, and the Pepperdine Waves are 5-12 (1-4 WCC) on the year and have lost 11 of their last 12 games. Senior wing Lamond Murray Jr., who averages 19.4 points per game, leads the league in field goal attempts (273) and makes (130). Murray's made field goals are also the seventh-best total in the nation. Senior forward Chris Reyes scores 15.2 points per game shoots 59.6 percent from the field, the second-best mark in the conference and No. 23 ranked in the country.

The Pepperdine Series...
The series began in 1956 and the Broncos hold a 73-59 lead. The teams have split the last 10 games in the series. The Broncos and Waves have also split the last six games played in Malibu. Jared Brownridge scored a school freshman-record 38 points at Pepperdine on March 1, 2014, leading the Broncos to an 86-78 victory.

Radio/Live Stream: Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (color) will call the action vs. Pepperdine on KLIV AM-1590 in San Jose, California. All Broncos home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform or televised by BYUtv) will also be streamed through TheW.tv (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). KLIV AM-1590 is serving as the broadcast outlet for 25 Santa Clara games this season and a selected few can be heard on KSCU FM-103.3 and KDOW AM-1220.

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