Men's Basketball Faces San Diego Saturday at Home

Single-Game Tickets | Game Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball plays one of its final two home games on Saturday afternoon against San Diego. Tipoff, in a game presented by Lunardi's, is set for 1 p.m. in Leavey Center.

The teams met last month with the Toreros (16-9, 7-6) winning 66-58. The short-handed Broncos (8-17, 5-8) played well enough on the road for 25 minutes on Thursday, but BYU pulled away for the victory.

The Toreros picked up their second West Coast Conference road win of the season on Thursday, squeaking past Pepperdine, 68-66.

San Diego is sitting in a tie for fourth with Pacific in the WCC standings, while the Broncos are seventh.

• Yoeli Childs posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Elijah Bryant and TJ Hawes scored 14 apiece to help BYU defeat the Broncos, 80-58. Senior guard Kai Healy led Santa Clara, playing without three rotation players, with a season-high 12 points with senior guard KJ Feagin and freshman forward Josip Vrankic chipping in 11 each.
• On Saturday, Frankie Ferrari (19) and Jordan Ratinho (17) combined for 36 points and San Francisco held off a second-half rally from Santa Clara to claim a 70-59 win. After trailing by as many as 14 early in the second half, the Broncos made multiple rallies, but were never able to forge ahead. Feagin had his first-career double-double with 15 points (all in the second half) and a career-high 10 assists.
• Feagin ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring (17.2 ppg) and seventh in assists (4.1 pg). Caruso is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and first with 6.6 rebounds per game (No. 7 in the league). Vrankic is third on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg), second in rebounding (5.0 pg) and first in blocks (20). Junior guard Matt Hauser, who has missed the last four games with a foot injury, is averaging 9.8 ppg and ranks fourth in the WCC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2-to-1). Hauser was injured in the first matchup with San Diego (Jan. 25), playing only nine minutes. Feagin (2.2) and Hauser (2.0) rank fifth 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 20 in scoring (17th), and top 10 in rebounds, steals (fifth - 1.3 pg) and FT percentage (ninth - 81.0). Guard Elijah Bryant of BYU is second in scoring (17.9 ppg), tied eighth in rebounding (6.3 pg), tied for ninth in steals (1.2 pg) and first in FT percentage (88.7).

 

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 coaches will wear pins vs. San Diego to recognize 'Autism Speaks Coaches Powering Forward' an NABC initiative.
• The Broncos have generally held on to the ball, registering just 11.4 turnovers per game and possessing a +1.8 turnover margin (first in the WCC).
• Neither Santa Clara (66.1 ppg) nor San Diego (69.8) possess high-scoring offenses, but the Toreros have one of the top defenses in the nation. San Diego ranks second in the NCAA in opponent 3-point field-goal percentage (28.5) and 23rd in defensive field-goal percentage (40.0).
• Forward Isaiah Piniero and guard Isaiah Wright and, a pair of transfers, have paced the San Diego offense. Piniero is leading the team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 pg). Wright is averaging 14.2 ppg and 5.4 assists (third in the WCC).

THE SAN DIEGO SERIES
In a series that began in 1953, Santa Clara leads, 46-37, after San Diego won the first matchup this season. Santa Clara has won seven of the last 11 meetings, though the teams split last year. In 2015-16, the Broncos won both meetings, but the teams split a pair of matchups in each of the previous two seasons. The teams have not met in the WCC Tournament since 2010.

TRENDS
Emmanuel Ndumanya has posted the two highest point totals of his career in the last five games (career-high 15 vs. San Diego, Jan. 25; 13 vs. Pepperdine, Jan. 27). He has shot 25 of 45 from the floor (55.6 percent) in the last 10 ... Santa Clara has posted 30 of its 56 blocks in the last seven games, including a season-best six vs. Pacific (Feb. 1) ... KJ Feagin has reached double figures in 21 of the team's 24 games (nine points vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 30; nine points vs. BYU, Jan. 13; nine points vs. San Diego, Jan. 25) ... Feagin has nine of the team's 15 20-point scoring games this year ... a career 54 percent free-throw shooter, Ndumanya has made 25 of his last 33 from the line (75.8 percent) ... Henry Caruso has been off the floor for only 12 minutes in the last six games. He and Kai Healy played all 40 minutes in back-to-back games (San Diego, Jan. 25; Pepperdine, Jan. 27).

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 or BYUtv) 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 KDOW-AM 1220. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.

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.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS VS. SAN DIEGO
The first 1,000 fans in Leavey Center on Saturday will receive a Santa Clara Athletics black t-shirt. Doors open at noon.

Tomorrow at 1pm, come on down to the Leavey Center to watch Men's Basketball take on USD! While you're there, make sure to pickup your blackout t-shirt! This'll be a great game you won't want to miss! #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/BZ6aV2KuoO

— Ruff Riders (@RuffRidersSCU) February 9, 2018

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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