Men's Basketball Finishes Nonconference Play Saturday, Faces Washington State on the Road

Team celebration.
Team celebration.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Carrying a four-game winning streak, Santa Clara men's basketball will finish off nonconference action with a matchup against Washington State on Saturday in Spokane.

Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. at Spokane Arena.

Last time out, the Broncos (7-6) capped off a season-long seven-game homestand with a convincing 77-56 win over Idaho as Josh Martin and Josip Vrankic each posted 13 points, and Trey Wertz had a double-double (10 points and 10 assists).

Washington State (7-5) is also playing its final nonconference tilt. The Cougars have won all seven home games this season, but this will be their first contest of the season in Spokane, which is located roughly 75 miles north of Pullman.  

QUICK HITS...
Tahj Eaddy (15.8 ppg) leads four players scoring in double figures. Josip Vrankic is averaging 13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds (second on the team) per game. Trey Wertz (12.6) ranks first in the West Coast Conference on the freshman scoring list. Keshawn Justice, another freshman, is scoring at a 10.3 point-per-game clip. Josh Martin is the leading rebounder at 9.9 per contest, which ranks second in the WCC. Martin is also the second-most efficient 3-point shooter (45.9 percent) in the league.
• The Broncos have improved both offensively and defensively. They have averaged 81.6 points in the last seven games after posting 64.0 in the first six. In addition, Santa Clara opponents have been held to 25.0 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line in the last seven contests.
• The current stretch of six victories in the last seven games is the best stretch since 2012-13 when the team won seven of eight (Dec. 8 through Jan. 2).
• Injuries have plagued the Broncos and shrunk the rotation to eight players. Five players have miss games this season, including three currently on the shelf. Two-time All-WCC guard KJ Feagin (hand) and Fallou Ndoye (foot) are out of action indefinitely, and Juan Ducasse (knee) is done for the season.
• 75.0 percent (716 of 955 points) of the team's offensive production has come from first-year players
• Wertz has 136 points in the last eight games (17.0 pg) after registering 28 in the first five (5.6 pg) of the season ... Martin is averaging 12.3 rebounds over the last eight games ... Eaddy has hit 25 of his last 28 (89.3 percent) from the free-throw line ... Vrankic is averaging 2.3 blocks over the last six games. 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Tickets Click here
TV Pac-12 Networks
Video Pac-12 Networks
Radio/Audio KTRB-AM 860
Live Stats StatBroadcast
Game Notes Santa Clara | Washington St.

 

YEAR THREE UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are in their 112th year of existence, including third 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 25th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

NEW-LOOK ROSTER...
• Guard KJ Feagin, and forwards Henrik Jadersten and Josip Vrankic are the only returning rotational players this season. Feagin, a three-year starter, is a two-time All-West Coast Conference selection who averaged 17.5 points per game (fifth in the league) and 4.0 assists pg (ninth in the league) in 2017-18. Jadersten, a senior, appeared in 84 games his first three years and Vrankic was one of the more productive freshmen in the WCC during 2017-18. Vrankic was third on the team in both scoring (10.4 ppg) and rebounding (4.6 pg).
• Sophomore guard Tahj Eaddy is eligible this season after sitting out 2017-18. He transferred from Southeast Missouri last summer.
• There are eight additions to the 2018-19 squad, including five true freshmen in Guglielmo Caruso (Naples, Italy), Juan Ducasse (Montevideo, Uruguay), Keshawn Justice (Madison, Wisconsin), Zeke Richards (Oak Park, California) and Trey Wertz (Charlotte, North Carolina). Fallou Ndoye, DJ Mitchell and Josh Martin are transfers. Ndoye (CSU Bakersfield) and Martin (Cal Poly) are graduate transfers. Mitchell played the last two seasons at Wake Forest and will sit out 2018-19.

THE WASHINGTON STATE SERIES...
The Cougars own a 5-1 record in the series, including wins in all three at home. The teams will be meeting for the fifth time in the last nine years. In the matchup two years ago, the Cougars rallied from an 11-point deficit with 7 minutes left for a 69-68 win.

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) call the action during 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). This season at least 25 games will air on either KDOW-AM 1220 or KTRB-AM 860. The remainder can be heard on Livestream.com. The Washington State game can be heard on KTRB-AM 860. Click here to view broadcast outlets for the season.

TICKETS
Single-game and gameplan options are available for remaining games. In addition, there is a buy one, get one FREE Holiday ticket special available for the West Coast Conference opener vs. San Diego (Jan. 3). For questions, contact the Santa Clara Athletics ticket office 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.

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