SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball couldn't have scripted a better time to get hot. The Broncos closed out their regular season on Saturday evening with an 81-63 thumping over San Diego to pick up their seventh-straight victory, and will carry that streak into next week's WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.
Santa Clara has locked up the No. 3 seed in the tournament by finishing with an 11-5 overall record to finish third in the WCC behind co-regular season champions Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. It's the Broncos' second-straight season finishing third in the final standings, something that had not been achieved previously since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
The Broncos complete the regular season with a 23-8 mark, their fourth-most wins in program history and most since 2012-13 (26). Their 23 regular-season wins are the most since 1968-69 when SCU won 25 in the regular season en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Lastly, their 11 wins in conference play is SCU's highest total since 1996-97 when the Broncos were regular-season champions with a 12-2 record.
Saturday's game against the Toreros saw much of the same as we've seen from the Broncos throughout their seven-game win streak – a high-scoring offensive attack, solid defense and great rebounding.
Santa Clara shot 52.5 percent while holding San Diego to just 33.9 percent, with four players finishing in double-figure scoring. Once again, it was Brandin Podziemski who led the way as he connected on 10-of-13 attempts (5-of-7 from 3-point range) for a game-high 26 points. The sensational sophomore also pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out five assists and tallied a steal as part of his WCC-leading 12th double-double (fourth-straight).
Camaron Tongue continued his high level of play by tallying a career-high for the second-straight outing. The Medfield, Mass. product scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 16 minutes of game time. Fellow big man Christoph Tilly scored 12 points and tallied three blocks, two assists and two steals while senior Parker Braun nearly turned in a double-double of his own with 11 points and eight rebounds to go with three blocks.
Keshawn Justice chipped in seven points, six rebounds and three assists in his 142nd career appearance in the red and white. Carlos Stewart tied his career-high of six rebounds to go with three assists and five points while Brenton Knapper turned in yet another efficient performance from off the bench with four assists against zero turnovers.
The Broncos came out firing on all cylinders in what would prove to be a wire-to-wire victory, quickly mounting a 10-piont lead on a Tongue trey that made it 18-8 midway through the first half. The triple was part of an 18-3 run that helped blow the game wide open at 31-11 with just under three minutes to play in the half. SCU ultimately took a 20-point lead into the locker room at 41-21. The second half action saw little change as the Broncos extended the lead to as much as 27 at 66-39 and never let their lead dip below an 18-point margin behind an outstanding 62.5 percent shooting clip for the period (15-of-24).
Santa Clara finished the night 31-for-59 overall from the floor with eight triples and edged the Toreros out on the boards at 39-37. The Broncos committed a season-low six turnovers while dishing out 18 assists.
San Diego (11-19, 4-12) was held to a 21-for-62 mark from the field and was just 3-for-25 from beyond the arc (12 percent). Senior Marcellus Earlington scored his season average with 17 points to led the way while Jase Townsend chipped in 11 points as the only other Torero to reach double figures.
With another historic regular season in the books, Santa Clara will turn full attention to the WCC Tournament. They will receive an automatic bye and will open play in the quarterfinal round at 9:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Sendek discusses the Broncos' win over San Diego#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/XO0Hdnmpkv
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 26, 2023
A big day for @brandinpodziem2:
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 26, 2023
- celebrated a birthday
- turned in his 4th straight double-double
- got to join @PassarelliVoice for the postgame show#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/u8dWeiSNyF
GAME NOTES
- The seven-game win streak over conference opponents is SCU's longest since winning nine-straight in 1994-95.
- The Broncos have won their last four road games, their longest win streak on the road since also winning four-straight in 2006-07.
- Santa Clara recorded season sweeps of San Diego, San Francisco, Pepperdine and BYU.
- The Broncos are 13-1 when scoring at least 80 points.
- Podziemski's 12 double-doubles are the most by a Bronco since John Bryant tallied 15 in 2008-09.
- Herb Sendek picked up career win No. 533 to tie Ben Howland for 60th on the NCAA D1 all-time wins list.
