Men's Basketball Continues Homestand, Welcomes Saint Mary's Thursday

Ruff Riders, students section in Leavey Center
Ruff Riders, students section in Leavey Center

Single-Game Tickets | Game Notes | AUDIO: Chatting with Coach Sendek on KDOW AM-1220 (Jan. 10, 2018)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball looks to continue its modest winning streak when Saint Mary's visits Leavey Center for the continuation of a three-game homestand. Tipoff for the game, which is presented by One Workplace, is set for 8 p.m.

The Broncos (6-10, 3-1) won both games last week, defeating Loyola Marymount, 65-49, on Thursday in Los Angeles, and holding off Portland, 70-68, two days later at home. The Gaels (15-2, 4-0), the preseason pick to capture the West Coast Conference title, have won their last 10 games, including a 70-63 home victory over San Diego on Saturday.

• Junior guard Matt Hauser scored a career-high tying 22 and freshman forward Josip Vrankic posted a career-best 19 points helping the Broncos edge the Pilots. Junior guard KJ Feagin was held to 10 points, but had six assists for Santa Clara. The Broncos shot just 42 percent from the floor, but forced 14 Portland turnovers and only committed seven. Senior guard/forward Henry Caruso made a steal with 1.2 seconds left to prevent a potential game-winning shot attempt.
• Feagin scored a game-high 22 and 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 was only 8-for-15 from the free-throw line. Vrankic tallied 13 points and Hauser scored 11 and distributed six assists.
• Feagin leads the team and ranks second in the WCC in scoring (17.8 ppg) on 46.6 percent shooting from the floor. Caruso is second on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg) and first with 6.9 rebounds per game, No. 7 in the league. Vrankic (11.4 ppg) and Hauser (11.4) 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 3.9 assists pg, No. 8 in the league. Hauser (2.5) and Feagin (2.4) and rank fifth and seventh, 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 (sixth - 1.4 pg). Elijah Bryant of BYU is tied for third in scoring (17.5 ppg), eighth in rebounding (6.2 pg) and ninth in steals (1.4 pg).

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Tickets Click here
TV ESPNU
Video WatchESPN
Audio KDOW-AM 1220
Live Stats StatBroadcast
Promotions Click here
Game Notes Santa Clara | Saint Mary's

 

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 SAINT MARY'S SERIES
Santa Clara and Saint Mary's are longtime rivals and original West Coast Conference members. The series began in 1910 and the teams will be playing for the 223rd time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Broncos lead the series 135-87. The Gaels have won six of the last eight meetings, including the last four.

TRENDS
The Broncos have posted their two lowest foul totals of the season in the last two games ... KJ Feagin has reached double figures in 15 of the 16 games (nine points vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 30) ... Feagin has six of the team's 11 20-point scoring games this season ... Henry Caruso, who has scored in double figures in all but four games, has 12 of his team-high 23 steals in the last five games ... Matt Hauser has connected on 22 of 46 field-goal attempts (47.8 percent) 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 made 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 49 of 63 (77.8) in the last four 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 five games ... Caruso, a 76-percent free-throw shooter at Princeton, has connected on 83.3 percent from the line this season ... Hauser has started the last 26 games, most on the team.

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. Thursday's game can be heard on KDOW-AM 1220. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
The first 500 Ruff Riders though the doors on Thursday will receive a Ruff Riders fan flag sponsored by One Workplace. Click here to view remaining game promotions.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets 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.

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