Men's Basketball Caps Southern California Trip Saturday Against Pepperdine

Santa Clara Tickets | Game Notes | AUDIO: Chatting with Coach Sendek on KDOW AM-1220 (Jan. 24, 2018)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball closes out its Southern California road trip on Saturday, facing Pepperdine. Tipoff between the Broncos and Waves is set for 3 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Broncos (7-14, 4-5) split a pair of games last week then lost at San Diego on Thursday. The Waves (4-17, 1-8), riddled with injuries this season, posted a thrilling 71-70 home win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday.

• Isaiah Wright tallied a game-high 21 points, including 15 in the second half, and Juwan Gray scored 14 for the Toreros who never trailed in knocking off the Broncos, 66-58. Senior center Emmanuel Ndumanya came off the bench to post a career-high 15 points, including 12 in the second half, for Santa Clara, which was held to 37 percent shooting from the floor by the top defensive team in the West Coast Conference. Santa Clara's starting guards had a tough night as junior KJ Feagin was held to nine points before fouling out and junior Matt Hauser missed all but the first 9 minutes with a foot injury.
• Gonzaga's balanced scoring attack and second-half surge helped it pull away from Santa Clara. Josh Perkins scored 17 while Zach Norvell Jr. and Rui Hachimura added 16 points apiece for the Bulldogs who shot 60 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes before a near record crowd at Leavey Center. Feagin posted a game-high 21 points and senior guard/forward Henry Caruso added 11 for the Broncos.
• Feagin ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and ninth in assists (3.7 pg). Caruso is second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and first with 6.8 rebounds per game (No. 7 in the league). Freshman forward Josip Vrankic is third on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.1 pg). Hauser is averaging 9.8 ppg and ranks fourth in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2-to-1). Feagin (2.2) and Hauser (2.0) rank seventh and ninth, respectively, in the WCC in 3-pointers per game.
• Caruso is one of only two players in the WCC to rank in the top 25 in scoring (22nd), and top 10 in rebounds, steals (eighth - 1.2 pg) and FT percentage (10th - 81.2). Guard Elijah Bryant of BYU is second in scoring (17.8 ppg), eighth in rebounding (6.5 pg), tied for sixth in steals (1.3 pg) and first in FT percentage (89.5).

 

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).

THE PEPPERDINE SERIES
The series began in 1956 and the Broncos hold a 76-59 lead, including wins in the last three, though the series has been even in recent years. Entering last season, the teams had split the previous 10 games. The Broncos have won three of the last five games in Firestone Fieldhouse, including a 75-61 victory last season.

TRENDS
In the last nine games, the Broncos have posted five of their six fewest foul totals of the year, including a season-low 10 vs. Portland (Jan. 6). However, Santa Clara was whistled for 23 fouls, tied for its third-highest total of season, vs. San Diego on Thursday ... the Broncos are 6-4 this season when shooting more than 40 percent from the floor ... Santa Clara has posted 13 of its 39 blocks in the last three games, including a season-best five vs. both San Francisco (Jan. 18) and Gonzaga (Jan. 20)a season-best five blocked shots in two games ... KJ Feagin has reached double figures in 18 of the team's 21 games (nine points vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 30; nine points vs. BYU, Jan. 13; nine points vs. San Diego, Jan. 25) ... Feagin has eight of the team's 13 20-point scoring games this year ... Feagin has connected on 33 of his last 37 free-throw attempts (89.2 percent) ... a career 53 percent free-throw shooter, Ndumanya has made 20 of his last 24 from the line (83.3 percent) ... after connecting 61 of 78 (78.2) from the free-throw line in the previous five outings, including a season high 88.2 percent (15 of 17) against Pepperdine (Dec. 28), the Broncos went 4-for-11 against BYU (Jan. 13). But Santa Clara rebounded by connecting on 46 of 64 (71.8 percent) in the last three games.

HIGHLIGHT | It's safe to say these were the LOUDEST of Emmanuel Ndumanya's 15 points from last night's @WCCSports contest at San Diego. FULL HIGHLIGHTS ▶️ https://t.co/zyXAmUpDIq #StampedeAhead #SCUBroncos #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/DwGmhwxiUK

— Santa Clara Hoops (@SantaClaraHoops) January 27, 2018

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 at Pepperdine can be heard on Livestream.com. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets are available for contests at Leavey Center. The Broncos have four home contests remaining - Feb. 1 vs. Pacific; Feb. 3 vs. San Francisco; Feb. 10 vs. San Diego; Feb. 22 vs. LMU. 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.

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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