Men's Basketball Opens Three-Game Homestand, Faces Portland Saturday

Single-Game Tickets | WCC Ticket Mini-Plans | Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After splitting a pair of West Coast Conference road games, Santa Clara is back at home for its next three contests.

The Broncos (5-10, 2-1) face Portland (6-10, 0-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the DICK'S Sporting Goods Youth FREE Game.

The Broncos registered their first win away from Leavey Center on Thursday, defeating Loyola Marymount, 65-49. The Pilots won three of their final four nonconference games, but have lost their opening three WCC outings, including a 81-74 home defeat to San Diego on Thursday.

• Junior guard KJ Feagin scored a game-high 22 and senior guard/forward Henry Caruso posted 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Broncos in their win over mistake-prone Loyola Marymount, which committed 19 turnovers and were only 8-for-15 from the free-throw line. Freshman forward Josip Vrankic tallied 13 points and junior guard Matt Hauser scored 11 and distributed six assists.
• On Saturday, Silas Melson tallied a game-high 19 points and Zach Norvell Jr. scored 14 to lead seven players in double figures for Gonzaga, which cruised to a 101-52 victory over Santa Clara. Josh Perkins posted 12 points and eight assists for the Bulldogs, which shot a blistering 55 percent from the floor. Senior center Emmanuel Ndumanya had a career-high 12 points for the Broncos who suffered a season-high 21 turnovers and were out-scored 44 to 9 by the Gonzaga bench.
• Feagin leads the team and ranks second in the WCC in scoring (18.3 ppg) on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor. Caruso is second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and first with 6.7 rebounds per game, No. 7 in the league. Vrankic (10.9 ppg) and Hauser (10.7) are also scoring in double figures. Vrankic ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.1 pg) and Hauser is fourth in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4-to-1) and averages 4.1 assists pg, No. 8 in the league. Feagin (2.5) and Hauser (2.3) rank fifth and eighth, respectively, in the WCC in 3-pointers per game.
• Caruso is one of only two players in the WCC to rank in the top 20 in scoring (15th), and top 10 in both rebounding and steals (eighth - 1.4 pg). Elijah Bryant of BYU is fifth in scoring (16.8 ppg), tied for 10th in rebounding (6.2 pg) and tied for ninth in steals (1.4 pg).

 

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 Portland had two common nonconference opponents. Each team lost to Portland State, but the Pilots knocked off San Jose State and the Broncos lost to the Spartans.
• The Broncos have generally held on to the ball, registering just 11.8 turnovers per game and possessing a +2.6 turnover margin pg (first in the WCC).
• Santa Clara and Portland have both struggled to rebound, but they connect from long range. The Broncos are -4.8 per game (ninth in WCC) and the Pilots -5.3 (10th) in rebounding. Portland is averaging 8.94 3-pointers per game (second in WCC) and the Broncos hit 8.87 pg (fourth). The Pilots connect at a 39.2 percent clip on 3-pointers (second in WCC).
• Sophomore guard Josh McSwiggan (13.4 ppg) leads three Portland players in double-figure scoring.

THE PORTLAND SERIES
In a series that began in 1946, Santa Clara leads 62-33. It has been a series of streaks in recent years. The Broncos have captured the last four meetings, which followed a three-game winning streak for Portland. Santa Clara had been victorious in the previous three.

TRENDS
KJ Feagin has reached double figures in 14 of the 15 games (nine points vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 30) ... Feagin has six of the team's 10 occurences of 20-point scoring games this season ... Henry Caruso, who has scored in double figures in all but three games, has 10 of his team-high 21 steals in the last four games ... Feagin has connected on his last 16 free-throw attempts ... a career 52 percent free-throw shooter, Emmanuel Ndumanya has connected on 11 of his 12 from the line ... after connecting on just 29 of 45 (64.4 percent) from the free-throw line in the previous two games, the Broncos are 37 of 45 (82.2) in the last three outings, including a season high 88.2 percent (15 of 17) against Pepperdine (Dec. 28) ... Ndumanya has posted nine of his 13 steals this season in the last four games ... Caruso, a 76-percent free-throw shooter at Princeton, has connected on 85.3 percent from the line this season ... Hauser has started the last 25 games, most on the team ... Josip Vrankic had his streak of eight straight starts snapped vs. San Jose State (Dec. 21) after suffering a concussion vs. Valparaiso (Dec. 18), but has been in the opening lineup the last three.

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 can be heard on KTRB-AM 860. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

DICKS SPORTING GOODS FREE YOUTH DAY
Saturday's game vs. Portland will serve as the DICK'S Sporting Goods FREE Youth Day. Children 12 and under gain free entry to Leavey Center. For additional tickets for family and friends, click here and use promo code DSG1718 for discounted general admission seating. For questions, contact the Santa Clara ticket office at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. 

Three-game homestand opens Saturday against @PilotHoops with a special promotion - @DICKS Youth Free Day. Free admission to Leavey for children 12 and under. Details ▶️ https://t.co/lJxbOJDp9j #SCUBroncos #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/V7HVSbAge1

— Santa Clara Hoops (@SantaClaraHoops) January 6, 2018

TICKETS
Single-game and mini-plan ticket options for WCC home games are available for purchase. For questions, contact 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.

Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
• Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
• Men's Basketball: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Snapchat