Men's Basketball Plays Next Two on the Road, Faces No. 20 Gonzaga on Saturday

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After winning its West Coast Conference opener, Santa Clara men's basketball hits the road for its next two games.

The Broncos, who downed Pepperdine on Thursday to snap a four-game skid, play at 20th-ranked Gonzaga on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. from McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Bulldogs, who reached the 2017 NCAA title game, cruised past Pacific, 81-48, at home on Thursday.

• Junior guard Matt Hauser (19), senior guard/forward Henry Caruso (16) and junior guard KJ Feagin (15) combined for 50 points to help send Santa Clara to a 72-65 win over the Waves who shot 52 percent from the floor, but committed 16 turnovers. After falling behind after leading at the half, the Broncos regained their footing behind Hauser (5 of 9 3-pointers) and Feagin (11 second-half points) midway through the final 20 minutes and hit eight free throws in the final 24 seconds to close it out. Santa Clara registered 11 steals, one off its season high and out-scored Pepperdine, 18-6, off turnovers.
• Santa Clara snapped a four-game losing streak in WCC openers though all of those occurred on the road.
• In their previous outing, the Broncos fell in the annual Cable Car Classic on Dec. 21. Ryan Welage tallied 21 points and Keith Fisher posted a double-double (15 points/13 rebounds) to lead San Jose State to a 75-63 win over Santa Clara. Feagin posted a game- and season-high tying 24 points and Caruso added 13 for the Broncos who shot just 30 percent from the floor, including 5 of 28 in the opening half. They trailed by 26 before making a furious rally to pull within five with five minutes left, but the Spartans scored 18 of their final 20 points at the free-throw line to close it out.
• Feagin leads the team and ranks second in the WCC in scoring (18.7 ppg) on 47.3 percent shooting from the floor. Caruso is second on the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and first with 6.9 rebounds per game, No. 7 in the league. Freshman forward Josip Vrankic (11.0 ppg) and Hauser (10.8) are also scoring in double figures. Vrankic ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.3 pg) and Hauser is second in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7-to-1) and averages 4.1 assists pg, No. 8 in the league.

 

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
• The Broncos have generally held on to the ball, registering just 10.8 turnovers per game and possessing a +3.8 turnover margin per game (first in the WCC). They have posted less than 10 turnovers in three of the last four games.
• The Bulldogs are 50.3 percent from the floor (second in the WCC) and allow opponents to shoot just 41.0 (second in the WCC). Opponents shoot the ball well against Santa Clara - 50.0 percent from the floor, including 43.5 on 3-pointers. Gonzaga is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with a +9.2 margin per game - 16th in the nation.
• Senior forward Johnathan Williams, one of four Gonzaga players scoring in double figures, is the leading point producer (14.3 pg) and rebounder (7.6 pg). Junior guard Josh Perkins is averaging 14.1 ppg and 5.2 assists per game (No. 4 in the WCC).

THE GONZAGA SERIES
In a series which began in 1946, Gonzaga leads, 59-30. The Bulldogs have won the last 15 meetings. Santa Clara's last victory occurred on Jan. 20, 2011, when the Broncos downed the Bulldogs, 85-71, in Leavey Center.

TRENDS
KJ Feagin has reached double figures in scoring in all 13 games and Henry Caruso in 11 ... after connecting on just 29 of 45 (64.4 percent) from the free-throw line in the previous two games, the Broncos were a season high 88.2 percent (15 of 17) against Pepperdine (Dec. 28) ... Matt Hauser has 18 assists and just three turnovers in the last four games ... after scoring 18 points in the previous three games, Hauser posted 19 against Pepperdine (Dec. 28) ... Emmanuel Ndumanya has posted eight of his 12 steals this season in the last two games ... Caruso, a 76-percent free-throw shooter at Princeton, has connected on 86.7 percent (52 of 60) from the line this season ... Hauser has started the last 23 games, most on the team ... Josip Vrankic had his streak of eight straight starts snapped vs. San Jose State (Dec. 21) has scored in double figures in six of his last eight appearances ... Vrankic averaged 19.0 minutes in the four games and 31.0 in his last seven ... Caruso played all but 1 minute, 34 seconds in a three-game stretch (Cal Poly on Nov. 18, through Alaska-Anchorage, Nov. 23). He was subbed out for 17 seconds in the second half of the Idaho contest (Nov. 22) and for 1:17 in the first half vs. Alaska-Anchorage (Nov. 23).

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 on KDOW AM-1220 or KTRB-AM 860 this season. Saturday's game vs. Gonzaga can be heard through Livestream.com with former player Phil Von Buchwaldt joining the broadcast. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

TICKETS
Single-game and mini-plan options are 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.

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