SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball finishes off the regular season on Saturday, facing nationally-ranked Saint Mary's on the road. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. from McKeon Pavilion.
The Broncos (11-18, 8-9) had their three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday with a home loss to Loyola Marymount on Senior Night.
The No. 22/20 Gaels (26-4, 15-2) are set as the No. 2 seed in next week's West Coast Conference Tournament.
The Broncos fell into a tie for sixth in the WCC standings with San Diego, which also lost on Thursday. The Toreros currently own the tiebreaker and the inside track on gaining an opening-round bye.
• Mattias Markusson posted a double-double with a career-high 19 points, including 15 in the second half, and 12 rebounds, and James Batemon scored 14, including four free throws in the final 25 seconds, to help LMU hold off the Broncos, 65-64. Junior guard KJ Feagin tallied 29 points, including 20 after halftime, and senior guard/forward Henry Caruso, one of four seniors playing for the final time at home, registered a double-double (11 points/14 rebounds) for Santa Clara.
• Feagin and Caruso each posted 18 points, and senior center Emmanuel Ndumanya scored 15 with nine rebounds to lead the Broncos to a 72-68 win over Pacific, which had won four of its previous five, on Saturday. Roberto Gallinat matched his career-high with 24 points and Mile Reynolds tallied 16 for the Tigers who made only one of their final 11 from the floor and were held to 32 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
• Feagin ranks second in the WCC in scoring (18.1 ppg), eighth in assists (4.2 pg) and seventh in 3-pointers (2.1 pg). Caruso is second on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg) and first with 7.0 rebounds per game (No. 7 in the league). Vrankic is third on the team in both scoring (10.5 ppg) and rebounding (4.6 pg), and first in blocks (24). Junior guard Matt Hauser, who has missed the last eight games with a foot injury, is averaging 9.8 ppg. Hauser was injured against San Diego (Jan. 25), playing only nine minutes.
• Caruso is one of only two players in the WCC to rank in the top 20 in scoring (18th), and top 10 in rebounds, steals (seventh - 1.2 pg) and FT percentage (fifth - 83.6). Guard Elijah Bryant of BYU is third in scoring (17.6 ppg), eighth in rebounding (6.5 pg), tied for fourth in steals (1.3 pg) and first in FT percentage (87.7).
GAMEDAY INFORMATION |
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| Tickets | Click Here |
| TV | NBC Sports CA, Spectrum SN, ROOT NW, AT&T SportsNet RM |
| Video Stream |
TheW.tv (out of market) |
| Radio | KDOW-AM 1220 |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| 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
• The Broncos have generally held on to the ball, registering just 11.2 turnovers per game and possessing a +1.4 turnover margin (first in the WCC). Saint Mary's averages a league-low 9.2 turnovers per game (No. 9 in the nation). While the Broncos struggle to rebound (-4.9 margin pg - ninth in WCC) Saint Mary's is second in the WCC (+5.6 margin pg).
• Saint Mary's is the second-best shooting team in the nation with a field-goal percentage of 51.6, including 40.7 percent (No. 13 in the nation) from behind the 3-point line.
• Saint Mary's senior center Jock Landale leads the WCC in both scoring (21.5 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 pg). Senior guard Emmett Naar is second in the nation with 8.4 assists per game.
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 224th time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Broncos lead the series 135-88. The Gaels have won seven of the last nine meetings, including the last five.
TRENDS
The Broncos are shooting just 43.6 percent from the floor this year, but have shown improvement in the last two weeks. Over the last four games, Santa Clara is shooting 49.0 percent from the floor after hitting only 38.9 percent (63 of 162) in the previous three ... KJ Feagin is averaging 23.5 points on 52.8 percent shooting from the floor (38 of 72) in the last four games ... Emmanuel Ndumanya has posted the four highest point totals of his career in the last nine games, including a career-best 23 vs. Portland (Feb. 10). He has shot 41 of 68 from the floor (60.3 percent) in the last 13 ... Santa Clara has posted 44 of its 70 blocks in the last 11 games, including a season-best seven vs. San Diego (Feb. 10) ... Feagin has reached double figures in all but three games (nine points vs. Gonzaga, Dec. 30; nine points vs. BYU, Jan. 13; nine points vs. San Diego, Jan. 25) ... Feagin has 11 of the team's 18 20-point scoring games this year ... Henry Caruso has been off the floor for only 13 minutes in the last 11 games.
RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) 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). During the season, 22 games are carried on KDOW AM-1220 or KTRB-AM 860. Saturday's game at Saint Mary's can be heard on KDOW-AM 1220. View the 2017-18 schedule for broadcast outlets.
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