WCC Tournament Central | Bracket

VIDEO: Sendek, Justice Preview WCC Men's Basketball Tournament

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball closed out the regular season on Saturday against Portland and now begins West Coast Conference Tournament play against the Pilots on Thursday in Las Vegas in first-round action.

Tipoff between the Broncos and Portland is set for 8 p.m. in Orleans Arena.

DJ Mitchell posted a career-high 25 points, including four free throws in the final 12 seconds, and Keshawn Justice scored 20 to help the Broncos (19-12, 6-10) snap their six-game skid with a 73-68 win over Portland, which dropped its 14th in a row.

Santa Clara, seeded seventh, will be playing its first neutral site game of the season. The Pilots (9-22, 1-15) are the 10th seed. The winner plays No. 6-seeded Pepperdine on Friday.

QUICK HITS...
• Seven players are averaging at least 7.0 points, including three in double digits led by Josip Vrankic (12.4 ppg), Trey Wertz (12.0) and DJ Mitchell (10.4). Guglielmo Caruso (10.2) is averaging 9.9 points, Keshawn Justice 9-2, Tahj Eaddy 8.8 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 Broncos are seeking their first 20-win campaign since 2012-13. 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 taking a toll with three starters missing multiple games in West Coast Conference action where seven players have combined to sit out 52 contests. The injury to Guglielmo Caruso (lower right leg) has been the most impactful. He has missed 12 of the last 16 games and been limited to only 31 minutes in the other four. Josip Vrankic (ankle) and Trey Wertz (concussion protocol) are the latest additions. They were injured against Pacific (Feb. 22) and missed the last two games. 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.
• Over the last six games, Keshawn Justice is averaging 10.2 points on 48 percent shooting from the field (24-for-50), including 46 percent (13 of 28) from behind the 3-point line, and 5.3 rebounds.
• During the last three contests, DJ Mitchell is averaging 15.7 points on 51.7 percent shooting from the floor (15 of 29), including 5-for-10 from beyond the 3-point line. He started for Vrankic the last two games
• In his two starts in place of Wertz, Tahj Eaddy averaged 17.5 points and 2.5 steals.

THE PORTLAND SERIES...
In a series that began in 1946, Santa Clara leads 68-33. The Broncos have captured the last 10 meetings, which followed a three-game winning streak for Portland. Santa Clara has a 3-2 mark in the conference tournament, including a 91-60 triumph in the first-ever tourney game for both programs on Feb. 28, 1987. The Broncos went on to win the title.

BRONCOS IN THE WCC TOURNEY
Santa Clara has a 28-31 all-time record in the West Coast Conference tournament, which began with the 1986-87 season. The Broncos have won two tournament titles, at the conclusion of the inaugural year and at the end of 1992-93.

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 (42.5).
3...Santa Clara ranks third in the WCC in assists at 15.7 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.
72...Number of games lost to injury for seven players this season.

Head coach Herb Sendek and Keshawn Justice preview the 2020 @WCCSports Men's Basketball Tournament! Santa Clara begins play tonight at 8 p.m. vs. @PilotHoops.#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/LN9aNuioUa

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) March 6, 2020

RADIO
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) call the action during the season on radio and through WCC Network at home. As in the past two seasons, nearly all games were heard on either KDOW-AM 1220 or KTRB-AM 860. In addition, every game this year can also be found on the Tunein app. Thursday's game can be heard on KDOW-AM 1220 and through Tunein. Click here for the complete list of 2019-20 radio broadcast outlets.

TICKETS
The Santa Clara allotment for the men's tournament is sold out as is the full ticket package. Men's and women's single session tickets are available as are women's all session tickets. Click here for details. Tickets are also available through TicketSmarter.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (Times are Pacific)

Thursday, March 5
FIRST ROUND
• Game 1: No. 8 LMU vs No. 9 San Diego, 6 p.m. (Spectrum SportsNet, NBCSports Bay Area+, ROOT Northwest, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, BYUtv, WCC Network)
• Game 2: No. 7 Santa Clara vs No. 10 Portland, 8 p.m. (Spectrum SportsNet, NBCSports Bay Area+, ROOT Northwest, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, BYUtv, WCC Network)
 
Friday, March 6
SECOND ROUND
• Game 3: No. 5 San Francisco vs Game 1 Winner, 6 p.m. (NBCSports California, Root Northwest, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, BYUtv, WCC Network)
• Game 4: No. 6 Pepperdine vs Game 2 Winner, 8 p.m. (NBCSports California, Root Northwest, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, BYUtv, WCC Network)
 
Saturday, March 7
THIRD ROUND
• Game 5: No. 4 Pacific vs Game 3 Winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN app)
• Game 6: No. 3 Saint Mary's vs Game 4 Winner, 9 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN app)
 
Monday, March 9
SEMIFINALS
• Semifinal: No. 1 Gonzaga vs Game 5 Winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN app)
• Semifinal: No. 2 Brigham Young vs Game 6 Winner, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN app)
 
Tuesday, March 10
CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Championship Game, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN app)

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