Men's Basketball Faces Saint Mary's at Home on Thursday

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball closes out the regular season with a pair of home games, beginning with Thursday's matchup against Saint Mary's.

Tipoff between the Broncos and Gaels is set for 7 p.m. in Leavey Center.

Santa Clara (18-11, 5-9 West Coast Conference) has dropped its last five, including Saturday's 87-74 road loss to Pacific. Jahlil Tripp posted a game-high 29 points, including 21 in the first half, and Austin Vereen scored 14 to lead the Tigers to their sixth win in the last seven games. DJ Mitchell scored 18 off the bench and Trey Wertz recorded 17 points to lead five players in double figures for the Broncos.

Santa Clara was victorious last month at Saint Mary's (23-6, 10-4), which is 5-2 on the road this year. The Broncos have lost their last three at home after winning 17 in a row. They are currently in seventh place in the WCC standings while the Gaels are third.

The WCC Tourament kicks off on Thursday, March 5, in Las Vegas.

QUICK HITS...
• Seven players are averaging at least 7.0 points, including four in double digits led by Josip Vrankic (12.4 ppg),Trey Wertz (12.0), Guglielmo Caruso (10.3) and DJ Mitchell (10.1), Keshawn Justice is averaging 8.8 points, Tahj Eaddy 8.2 and Jalen Williams 7.6. Vrankic leads the team in rebounding (5.6) and Mitchell is second at 5.3. Wertz is averaging a team-high 4.0 assists per game and Vrankic is second at 2.9.
• With a victory over Pacific on Jan. 18, Santa Clara matched its win total from last season. The 16-4 start was the best since 1994-95 when the mark was the same. The 14-2 opening to the season was the best since beginning a school-record 21-0 in 1968-69 on the way to a 27-2 mark and a trip to the NCAAs. The Broncos won at least 14 of 16 to begin a season for only fourth time in school history: 14-2 in 1930-31 and 15-1 in 1946-47.

YEAR FOUR UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are heading into the their 113th year, including fourth 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. Having led the Broncos to winning records in two of his three seasons, he is in his 26th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES...
• Injuries are starting to take a toll and the one to Guglielmo Caruso (lower right leg) has been the most impactful. He has missed 12 of the last 14 games. He played five minutes in the loss to San Francisco (Feb. 13) and was on the floor for eight minutes against Pacific (Feb. 22), Ezekiel Richards (ankle), who played in 10 games as a reserve, and Miguel Tomley (knee), who has not seen action, have been ruled out for the season. Juan Ducasse (ankle) and Giordan Williams (ankle) each missed two games.
• Josip Vrankic has hit double figures in scoring in 10 of the last 12 games and averaged 16.4 points and 6.7 rebounds in that span. Vrankic has four double-doubles, including three in the last 12 contests.
• Jaden Bediako has taken over for Caruso in the starting lineup in 13 of the last 14 games. He has scored in double figures in five of the last six and averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in that span.

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 228th time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Broncos lead the series 136-91, but the Gaels have won 10 of the last 13. Santa Clara snapped an eight-game losing streak with last month's 67-66 win in Moraga. Saint Mary's has won nine of the last 10 in Leavey Center.

BY THE NUMBERS...
0...Number of seniors on the roster
1...Number of Santa Clara players (Josip Vrankic) who have suited up for the last three seasons.
3...Santa Clara ranks third in the WCC in field-goal percentage defense (42.1).
3...Santa Clara ranks third in the WCC in assists at 15.8 per game.
4...Number of returning starters - Tahj Eaddy, Trey Wertz, Josip Vrankic and Guglielmo Caruso
9...Number of underclassmen (four sophomores and five freshmen) scholarship players on the roster.
9...The Broncos have connected on at least 50 percent from the field in nine games this season. They did it seven times all last season.
35...Josip Vrankic became the 35th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points by scoring 20 vs. San Diego (Jan. 25).
62...Josip Vrankic's 62 straight starts lead the team.

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) call the action during the season on radio and through WCC Network at home. All Broncos home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform, CBS Sports Network or BYUtv) will also be streamed through WCC Network (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). As in the past two seasons, nearly all games can also be heard on either KDOW-AM 1220 or KTRB-AM 860. In addition, every game this year can also be heard on the Tunein app. Thursday's game can be heard on KDOW-AM 1220 and through Tunein. Listen to the pregame show with Passarelli and Stege, which starts at 6:45 p.m. and airing exclusively on TuneIn. Click here for the complete list of 2019-20 radio broadcast outlets.

TICKETS
There are a number of ticket options for 2019-20, which has two home games remaining. Single-game and game-plan packages are on sale. For questions, contact the Santa Clara Athletics ticket office at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. The ticket office and doors to Leavey Center open at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

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, the team leader of sales and service, at (408) 554-4628 or jpmoreno@scu.edu for further details.

Arrive early to Leavey Center for Thursday's matchup against @SaintMaryshoops and receive an #SCUBroncos �� t-shirt while supplies last!
�� Doors open ▶️ 6 p.m.
�� Game Info ▶️ https://t.co/vnWR30oIVb#TeamFirst | #StampedeAhead | #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/WWT4EQ23xV

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 26, 2020

PARKING
Parking is $10 in the main campus parking structure, which is located on Palm Drive through the main campus entrance (500 El Camino Drive). The Leavey Center parking lot is reserved for season-ticket holders. Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.

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