SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The rematch with San Francisco did not go Santa Clara men's basketball's way as the Broncos were unable to find much success down the stretch and fell 74-58 to the Dons to put an end to their four-game winning streak.
Jalen Williams led the Broncos in scoring with 16 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Josip Vrankic finished with 14 points to climb a bit higher on the Santa Clara all-time scoring list, surpassing Steve Nash for seventh place with 1,694 points.
Santa Clara (17-9, 7-4) was held to just 36.2 percent shooting (21-of-58) while San Francisco (21-6, 8-4) didn't fare much better with a 43.1 percent clip (25-of-58).
The first half saw San Francisco jump out to an early nine point lead thanks to a 9-0 run that stretched into the under-12 media timeout. Santa Clara answered with six unanswered to cut it back to two points, but USF quickly pushed the lead back up to nine at 25-16. The Broncos had another answer, using an 8-0 run to cut the deficit back to one at 25-24 with 5:19 remaining in the half. The Dons would go on to outscore Santa Clara 15-4 over the remainder of the period to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, San Francisco was able to maintain at least an eight-point lead for the entirety of the second half, hitting 10-of-24 from the field in the half to distance themselves down the stretch. Santa Clara made it an eight-point game at 50-42 with just over 10 minutes remaining, but that was as close as they would get.
PJ Pipes and Giordan Williams each finished with seven points while Carlos Stewart pulled down a career-best six rebounds.
San Francisco's Yauhen Massalski, the WCC leader in double-doubles, tallied another with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Khalil Shabazz also posted a double-double for the Dons with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
NOTES
- Jalen Williams went over 10 points for the 24th time this season. It was his 18th game with at least 16 points.
POSTGAME VIDEO
Here are the thoughts of Coach @HerbSendek after Saturday's loss to USF.#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/xohqv74Xgk
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 13, 2022
NEXT UP
- The Broncos hit the road for three-straight games beginning Thursday, Feb. 17, against LMU.
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