Men's Basketball Begins Three-Game Homestand Thursday Against Northern Arizona

Game Notes | 2017-18 Basketball Tickets

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball looks to get back on the winning track when it opens a three-game homestand on Thursday against Northern Arizona. Tipoff against the Lumberjacks (0-6) is set for 7 p.m.

After suiting up for three games in four days during bracket play at the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, the Broncos (1-5) have four days between contests.

The Broncos fell to Sam Houston State, 73-59, on Saturday in the finale in Anchorage, Alaska, behind Chris Galbreath Jr. (17 points) and John Dewey III (13) who led a balanced offensive attack for the Bearkats. Junior guard KJ Feagin scored a game- and season-high 24 points, including 16 in the second half when the Broncos cut a 20-point deficit to 14 three times and then 10 in the final minute, but Sam Houston State shot 52 percent from the floor, including 9-for-20 from behind the 3-point line.

The Broncos, who dropped all three games in Alaska, will enjoy some home cooking through the end of the year as six of the next seven games will be played in Leavey Center.

Feagin leads the team and ranks second among WCC players in scoring (18.5 ppg) on 51 percent shooting from the field. Senior guard/forward Henry Caruso is second in scoring at 13.3 ppg and first with 8.4 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the league. Freshman forward Josip Vrankic is third on the squad in scoring (10.8 ppg) on shooting 51 percent from the field. Junior guard Matt Hauser is averaging 8.8 ppg and a team-high 4.3 assists per game.

The Broncos have held on to ball, surrendering just 11.0 turnovers per game and posting a +3.2 turnover margin, as well shooting the ball from the floor (45.6 percent) at a decent clip, but opponents are shooting 47 percent behind the 3-point line and own a 4.9 rebounding margin per game.

 

YEAR TWO UNDER SENDEK
The Broncos are in their 111th year of existence, including second under Herb Sendek, who has been successful in each of his three previous head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek, was one of the three youngest coaches with 400 or more career victories He is in his 24th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

QUICK HITS
• Santa Clara and Northern Arizona are playing each other for the fourth time. The Lumberjacks have three players scoring in double figures: Chris Bowling (11.8 ppg), JoJo Anderson (11.5) and Torry Johnson (11.5).
• KJ Feagin, a 2016-17 all-league pick last season, was selected to the preseason All-WCC team. Last season when he missed 14 games, he was one of the most accurate shooters in the WCC. He shot a team-high 49.0 percent from behind the 3-point line, as well a team-best 87.9 percent on free throws. He also shot 49.0 percent from beyond the 3-point line in WCC games, which ranked second.
• In the first three games, the Broncos started three seniors in Jarvis Pugh, Henry Caruso and Emmanuel Ndumanya and a pair of juniors in Feagin and Matt Hauser. Freshman Josip Vrankic was inserted for Pugh the last three games.

THE NORTHERN ARIZONA SERIES
Santa Clara holds a 2-1 lead in the series with each of those meetings occuring in a tournament. The Broncos defeated Northern Arizona, 72-61, in the 1985 Cable Car Classic and 67-64 in the 2016 Cable Car Classic, which was the coaching debut of Herb Sendek. The Lumberjacks knocked Santa Clara, 88-72, in the 2009 West Coast Classic.

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) will call the action during the season on radio and through TheW.tv at home. 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). There will be 22 games, including the Northern Arizona matchup, on KDOW AM-1220 or KTRB-AM 860 this season. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

TICKETS
Season tickets for the 2017-18 season remain on sale (pro-rated once the season starts), but single-game and mini-plan options are also available. The Broncos will play 17 regular-season home games, including nine West Coast Conference tilts. Purchase options are available online or by contacting the Santa Clara ticket office weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Doors to Leavey Center will be open 60 minutes prior to the start of the game.

FAN EXPERIENCE PACKAGES
Group-ticket options and Fan Experience Packages are available through the Santa Clara ticket office, which is open weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Contact Jesse Moreno, one of our sales and service consultants, at (408) 554-4628 or jmoreno@scu.edu for further details.

PARKING
Parking is $10 in the main campus parking structure, which is located on Palm Drive through the main entrance (500 El Camino Drive). 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.

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