SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After having its first two West Coast Conference games called off, Santa Clara men's basketball is set to open league play at Saint Mary's on Saturday.

Tipoff between the Broncos and Gaels is set for 4 p.m. in University Credit Union Pavilion in a nationally-televised game.

Santa Clara (6-2) will have 11 days off between games. Last time out, Santa Clara lost to USC, 86-63, in Los Angeles. The last three scheduled contests for the Broncos have either been postponed or canceled.

Saint Mary's (9-2), which also had its first two WCC games postponed, will have a 10-day break since its last contest. The Gaels downed Sacramento State, 63-45, on Dec. 30.

QUICK HITS...
• Santa Clara's 6-0 start to the season was tied for the eighth-best in school history.
• The Broncos and Gaels have one common nonconference opponent. Saint Mary's defeated Colorado State, 53-33, on Dec. 19. Three days later, the Rams downed Santa Clara, 70-57.
• Santa Clara has won 23 of its last 29 home games, including its first 15 last season in Leavey Center.
• The Broncos are coming off a 20-13 mark last season, their first 20-win campaign in seven years and just fourth occurrence in the last 19.
• Santa Clara returns four starters and seven of its top nine scorers from last season, including preseason All-West Coast Conference performer Josip Vrankic, a three-year starter. The senior ranked first on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 pg) last season. DJ Mitchell was third in scoring (10.7 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.2 pg).
• Before his injury at the beginning of league play last year, junior Guglielmo Caruso was among the most productive and efficient big men in the WCC. He would have ranked first in the league in field-goal percentage (66.1) and third in blocked shots (1.1 pg) but did not appear in enough games to qualify.
• Mitchell and junior Keshawn Justice were two of the top three 3-point shooting threats in the league in 2019-20. They each shot 38 percent from behind the 3-point line.
• The Broncos had two of more productive first-year players in the WCC a year ago. Jaden Bediako was a member of the WCC All-Freshman team and Jalen Williams proved to be one of the most explosive first-year players in the league. Bediako was inserted into the starting lineup for Caruso as conference play opened and went on to average a team-best 11.9 rebounds per 40 minutes of play. Williams started the final 23 games and tallied the third-most steals (44) by a freshman in school history.
• Newcomers include freshman guard Trent Hudgens Jr. and three transfers in Christian Carlyle (Florida Gulf Coast), Joe Foley (Lehigh) and Vittorio Reynoso-Avila (Princeton). Carlyle and Reynoso-Avila are graduate transfers.

YEAR FIVE UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are in their 114th year, including fifth under Herb Sendek, who has been successful in each of his four head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek has led the Broncos to three winning seasons, including a 20-13 mark in 2019-20. The Broncos had only three winning records in the previous 15 seasons, and the program had not recorded three winning campaigns during a four-year stretch since Dick Davey led it to seven in a row from 1994-95 through 2000-01. Sendek is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

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 229th time, the most common opponent in Santa Clara history. The Broncos lead the series 136-92, but the Gaels have won 11 of the last 14. Santa Clara snapped an eight-game series losing streak with last year's 67-66 win in Moraga. The Gaels won the second matchup, 78-72.

TEAM NOTES...
• The Broncos have played three home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena due to COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County. There have been four cancellations (Dec. 5 vs. New Mexico State; Dec. 12 vs. Sacramento State; Dec. 18 vs. San Jose State; Dec. 23 vs. Bethesda) and one postponement (Jan. 2 vs. LMU) in games scheduled for the facility. The team is also practicing in Santa Cruz.
• Santa Clara has held the opposition to 36.5-percent shooting from the floor (No. 7 in the NCAA) and 63.2 points per game (No. 38 in the NCAA). However, USC shot 45.7 percent from the floor in the last game, the highest mark this season by a foe. The Broncos have struggled shooting from outside, connecting on just 23.6 percent from behind the 3-point line.
• The Broncos are averaging 5.0 blocks, which ranks 23rd in the nation, and hold a +5.8 rebounding edge per game. They have outrebounded all but two opponent (CSU Bakersfield, Dec. 2; USC, Dec. 29). Santa Clara leads the WCC in defensive rebounding percentage (78.5), trailing only Saint Mary's (79.5).
• The Broncos ranked third in the WCC in free-throw shooting (74.2 percent) in 2019-20, but have struggled this season, connecting on only 63.6 percent. One game after a season-high 73.3 percent (22 of 30) vs. Fresno Pacific (Dec. 15), Santa Clara hit only 4 of 9 attempts (44.4 percent) against Colorado State (Dec. 22).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES...
• Josip Vrankic ranks eighth in the WCC in scoring (16.1 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.4 pg). Vrankic is the only player in the WCC averaging at least 16.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Jaden Bediako is sixth in the league in rebounding (7.6 pg) and second in offensive rebounding (3.1 pg). Along with having 25 of the team's 90 offensive boards (28 percent), Bediako has two or more blocked shots in six games. His 2.0 blocks per contest rank No. 38 in the NCAA.
• Christian Carlyle, a graduate transfer Florida Gulf Coast, is second on the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) and first in assists (2.3 pg). Keshawn Justice is third on the team in both scoring (8.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 pg).
• Carlyle has averaged 15.0 points on 13 of 22 from the field over the last two games after missing the previous two due to concussion. Jalen Williams (foot) missed the same two contests (Cal Poly, Dec. 9; Fresno Pacific, Dec. 15), but hasn't found his shooting stroke, connecting on just 2 of 14 from the floor in the last two contests. Williams averaged 13.5 points in the first two games of the season.
• Giordan Williams has given the team a boost off the bench, especially over the last three games by averaging 8.3 points and connecting on 5 of 11 3-pointers.

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�� @SantaClaraHoops x @WCCSports action#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/LlicMAMZxh

— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) January 8, 2021

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) calls the action for his 14th season. All Santa Clara home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform, CBS Sports Network or BYUtv) will be streamed through WCC Network (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). In addition, audio for all home and most road games can be heard on the TuneIn app. The Lunardi's Market's Pregame Show begins 10 minutes prior to tipoff on TuneIn.

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