Men's Hoops Heads to the Northwest to Play Portland and Gonzaga

Posted: Feb 27, 2008

Feb. 27, 2008

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos head to the Northwest for their final two games of the regular season this weekend. SCU takes on the Portland Pilots on Saturday, Mar. 1 at the Chiles Center. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and fans can catch the game on Comcast SportsNet and 1220 KNTS. The Broncos pulled out a 52-50 win over the Pilots on Feb. 4 at the Leavey Center. SCU then takes on Gonzaga on Monday, Mar. 3 in their final regular season game. The Broncos swept the Northwest road trip in 2007.

Last Game
Santa Clara burst out to a big lead early on and cruised to an 87-55 victory over the visiting San Francisco Dons on Feb. 25. Freshman Ben Dowdell led four Broncos in double figures on Senior Night with 21 points. Senior Josh Higgins started his first game of the year and scored nine points for SCU, which led 48-20 at halftime. The Broncos had not won a conference game by 30 points since Feb. 15, 1989 when they defeated USF 88-50. John Bryant had his 14th double double of year in the victory with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Head Coach Kerry Keating
Santa Clara University named Kerry Keating head coach on April 6, 2007. Keating, 36, comes to SCU with a long coaching backgroud at a number of top programs. He is the 14th head coach in the 101 years of Bronco basketball and he is the first coach hired since Harlan Dykes in 1926 that had not previously attended SCU or served as an assistant coach on the Mission Campus. Most recently, Keating helped UCLA reach back-to-back Final Fours as an assistant coach on Ben Howland's staff in Westwood. He has also served as an assistant at Tennessee, Tulsa, Appalachian State, Seton Hall, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. He is off to a 14-13 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Portland
Series Record: Santa Clara leads 53-22
First Meeting: SCU 56-37 win on Dec. 27, 1946
2006-07 at SCU: SCU won 57-41
2006-07 at Portland: SCU won 76-53
Record at SCU: SCU leads 32-6
Record at Portland: SCU leads 20-15
Record at Neutral Site: Series tied 1-1
Biggest SCU Win: 103-59 (44) on Jan. 14, 1978
Biggest Portland Win: 72-47 (25) on Jan. 30, 2003
Notes: Santa Clara has won six straight games in the series and 19 of the last 23 meetings ... The longest SCU win streak in the series was 10 from 1998-2002 ... SCU is 8-1 against Portland in the Leavey Center (renovated in 2001) ... SCU assistant coach Sam Scuilli spent two seasons as an assistant at Portland St. in 1999-00 ... Most points scored by a Bronco against the Pilots was 38 by Mark McNamara in 1979.

Last Game vs. Portland
Th e Santa Clara Broncos pulled out a close 52-50 decision against the Portland Pilots on Feb. 4 at the Leavey Center. The win was the sixth straight by the Broncos against Portland. SCU's Brody Angley became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 points on his way to 14 points. He also had five assists in the win. John Bryant posted his 10th double double of the year with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while adding five blocks.

Strong D Against Pilots
Santa Clara has held Portland below 60 points in three straight games and four out of the past five games in the series. Portland scored 41 and 55 last season vs. SCU and 50 against the Broncos earlier this season on Feb. 4.

Double Figures in Assists
Brody Angley recorded 10 assists against San Francisco on Feb. 25. He has now reached double figures in assists four times during West Coast Conference play this year. He also accomplished the feat against Pepperdine on Jan. 21 (13), USF on Jan. 25 (10) and Pepperdine on Feb. 16 (11). His career high was nine assists in one game coming into this season.

Higgins Impressive
Senior Josh Higgins, a 7-0 center, started his first game of the season on Senior Night against USF on Feb. 25. He made the most of his opportunity, scoring a season high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and notching a career high three assists. He also hit his first career three-pointer early in the first half.

Assists
Santa Clara recorded 25 assists in their 87-55 victory over the San Francisco Dons on Feb. 25. The team has now reached or passed 25 assists twice this season. The Broncos had 29 against Pepperdine on Jan. 21. Last season, SCU only reached 25 assists once, Nov. 18, 2006 vs. Utah.

From Long Range
Santa Clara shot 11-for-20 from 3-point range on Feb. 25 against San Francisco, marking the eighth time this year the team has shot at least 50 percent on threes. The Broncos also reached double figures in three-pointers made for the fourth time this season. They made a season high 12 against Pepperdine on Jan. 21. In two games against San Francisco this year, SCU has shot 21-of-40 from beyond the arc.

Dowdell On The Rise
Freshman Ben Dowdell stole some of the seniors' thunder on Senior Night against USF on Feb. 25. The Australian forward scored 21 points, one shy of his career high, grabbed three rebounds and picked up two steals. He is making a strong case for a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team. He is averaging 9.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in conference games, while recording 22 assists, five blocks and eight steals. He is also averaging nearly 31 minutes a game during conference games and shooting 56 percent from the floor.

30-Point Wins
The Broncos 32-point margin of victory over the Dons on Feb. 25 was the largest of the season. SCU's last 30-point win came on Nov. 14, 2006 against Holy Names University, an 83-51 win. The Broncos last conference win by over 30 points came on Feb. 15, 1989 when they defeated USF 88-50.

Points in the Paint
Led by John Bryant, the Broncos have dominated the paint this season. SCU has won the points in the paint battle 19 times in 27 games. The team is 13-6 when scoring more points in the paint, 1-4 when losing the paint battle and 0-3 when both teams have an equal number of points in the paint.

Angley Hits 1,000
Santa Clara senior Brody Angley reached 1,000 points for his career with a second half free throw on Feb. 4 against the Portland Pilots. He is the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000. With 1,049 points following the Broncos game on Feb. 25, he is now 23rd on the all-time scoring list. He is 21 points behind Dan Weiss (1984-88) for 22nd all-time.

Bryant Nearing 1,000
Center John Bryant reached 1,000 points in his junior season for the Broncos with 18 points on Feb. 23 vs. San Diego. He is the 27th player in school history to accomplish the feat. He hit the 1,000-point barrier with a put back against San Diego for his last basket of the game. He is currently at 1,015 points, one behind Jim Young (1951-54) for 25th all-time.

Bryant Rebounding
Junior John Bryant now has 262 rebounds this season after pulling down 11 on Feb. 25. He also has 649 career rebounds. He is 11 rebounds away from entering the top 10 for single season rebounds and 13 away from entering the top 10 all-time in career rebounds at Santa Clara.

Four in Double Figures
Four Broncos scored in double figures in back-to-back games for SCU for the first time this season on Feb. 23 anad 25. Against San Diego on Feb. 23, Brody Angley (14), John Bryant (18), Ben Dowdell (11) and Mitch Henke (16) all hit double digits. The Broncos accomplished the feat against San Franicsco on Feb. 25 with Ben Dowdell (21), Mitch Henke (17), John Bryant (15) and Jonathan Gunderson (12) all reaching double figures.

Shooting Percentage
After shooting 62 percent from the floor against San Francisco on Feb. 25, SCU has broken the 50 percent barrier 14 times this season. Santa Clara shot .667 from the floor on Jan. 21 against Pepperdine, tying for the seventh best shooting performance in school history. The season high of .718 was set on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State. That performance at Sacramento State was the second best shooting percentage in Santa Clara history. For the game, SCU hit .718 percent from the field and in the second half, the team hit .864 percent (19-of-22). The all-time program record for shooting in a game is .719, set on Jan. 4, 1980 against Pepperdine.

Angley Racks Up The Minutes
Senior Brody Angley is used to playing a lot of minutes, as he was averaging 28.4 minutes per game for his career coming into this season. However, this year, Angley has been an iron man, playing 36.1 minutes per game to lead the Broncos in that category. In the seven games prior to the Saint Mary's game on Jan. 12, he did not play fewer than 35 minutes in any game. Against Saint Mary's on Jan. 12, foul trouble forced him to play just 31 minutes, his lowest total since he played 31 on Dec. 8 against San Jose State. In the seven games from Jan. 19-Feb. 11, Angley averaged 39.1 minutes per game. He played the entire 40 minutes on Feb. 23 against San Diego.

Bryant's Monster Weekend
Santa Clara junior center John Bryant had one of the best weekends in Bronco basketball history on Feb. 16 and 18. The San Pablo native started the weekend by shooting 11-for-11 on Feb. 16 against Pepperdine and scoring 25 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. He ended the night with a streak of 17 straight field goals without a miss. He made his last six shots on Feb. 11 against Saint Mary's to start the streak. He stretched that streak to 19 by making his first two shots against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18. He would miss his next shot, but finish 15-for-20 against the Lions for 36 points. He also pulled down 15 rebounds and recorded three blocks. The last time a Bronco player scored 36 points was Feb. 21, 1998 when Brian Jones scored 36 against Saint Mary's. Bryant tied for the 14th highest scoring game in school history. The last time any Bronco reached 30 points prior to Bryant was Feb. 20, 2006 when Travis Niesen scored 31 against San Francisco.

Injury Update
Sophomore Zac Tiedeman suffered a left knee sprain on Saturday, Jan. 26 at San Diego. He has missed the past eight games and could be out for the remainder of the season. Andrew Zimmermann was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen two weeks ago and has missed the past four games. He is doubtful for the final regular season games this weekend.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Feb. 25 against San Francisco. Overall, he has notched 14 double doubles this season. He has had nine double doubles in 12 conference games. He has earned them against Saint Mary's (2), Loyola Marymount (2), at San Diego, San Francisco (2), vs. Portland and at Pepperdine, but just missed a double double on Jan. 21 vs. Pepperdine with 14 points and nine rebounds. Bryant is now averaging a double double in conference games, 19.5 ppg and 10.9 rpg. He also has had double doubles against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 9, Sacramento State on Nov. 25, San Jose State on Dec. 8, Montana on Dec. 17 and Denver on Dec. 28. Bryant had five double doubles in 2006-07 and four double doubles as a freshman during the 2005-06 season. He now has 23 career double doubles.

Angley Double Double
Senior point guard Brody Angley notched his fourth career double double and third of the season on Jan. 28 at San Francisco. Angley scored 11 points and had 10 assists against USF. He also had double doubles on Jan. 21 vs. Pepperdine, notching career highs in points (24) and assists (13), and Dec. 29 vs. Niagara, scoring 10 points and tying his career high with 11 rebounds. His only previous double double came on Nov. 26, 2005 against Pacific when he scored 12 points and grabbd a career high 11 rebounds.

Bryant's Consistency
Junior center John Bryant has had an impressive season so far for Santa Clara. He has scored in double figures in 26 out of 27 games, including a career high 36 at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18. He has also scored over 20 points 12 times. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in every game. The San Pablo, Calif. native has recorded seven or more rebounds 20 times.

Conference Stats
The 2007-08 Broncos are among the leaders in a number of statistical categories in the West Coast Conference. SCU is first in field goal percentage (.494), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.392), first in scoring defense (61.1), first in rebounding defense (27.4) and second in rebounding margin (+4.7). Individually, John Bryant is second in scoring (18.6), first in rebounding (9.7), first in field goal percentage (.604) and first in blocked shots (2.26). He is also first in double doubles with 14. Brody Angley is second in assists (5.67), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.68), fifth in 3-point percentage at .409 and seventh in free throw percentage (.783). Jonathan Gunderson and Calvin Johnson are fourth and tied for seventh in 3-point field goal percentage at .427 and .400 respectively.

Conference Only Stats
In West Coast Conference games, the team has also been strong. SCU is second in field goal percentage (.500), second in 3-point field goal percentage (.378) and first in free throw percentage (.720). John Bryant and Brody Angley have been dominant as well. Bryant is second in scoring at 19.5 points per game, first in rebounding (10.9) and first blocked shots (2.58). He is also tied for first in field goal percentage (.628). Angley is sixth in scoring at 12.9 points per game and second in assists at 6.50 per game. Bryant and Angley are also fifth and seventh in free throw percentage at .776 and .758 respectively.

Angley Assists
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 153 assists in the first 27 games he has passed Eddie Joe Chavez (1974-78), who had 482 assists, for third all-time and has 495 career assists. He is now 15 assists behind Steve Nash (1992-96) for second all-time in assists. His 153 assists this season are a career high for a season for Angley, surpassing his 142 in 2005-06. He is now tied for fifth place all-time in single season assists with 153.

Angley Threes
Brody Angley has made 121 three pointers on 342 attempts in his Santa Clara career. He is seventh all-time in makes and needs 15 to tie Nathan Fast (1996-00) for sixth. He trails Brandon Rohe (2002-07) by 14 for seventh in attempts. He has made a career high 47 this season.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 163. He passed Steve Nash (1992-96) for fifth all-time with a steal on Jan. 7. Next on the list is John Woolery (1990-94) with 192. Along with steals, Angley now finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in games started as well. After starting against San Francisco, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 107 starts to tie Kurt Rambis (1976-80) for second all-time. The all-time leader is Brian Jones (1996-01) with 116 starts. Angley has now also reached the Top 10 in minutes played as well with 3,555 all-time. That number places him third on Santa Clara's all-time list. Next on the list is Steve Kenilvort (1982-86), who racked up 3,633 minutes.

Bryant Moving Up
Center John Bryant blocked 49 shots last season, surpassing his 37 from the 2005-06 season. Bryant's 49 blocks were the third highest single season total in school history. He surpassed Jens Gordon (1987-88), who had 48. After 61 blocks in the first 27 games this year, Bryant now has 147 career blocks, moving him past Jens Gordon (1985-89) into second all-time in blocks. Nick Vanos (1981-85) is first with 159 blocks. His 61 blocks this season rank second all-time for blocks in a single season. The record is 67, set during the 1983-84 season by Nick Vanos.

The Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has now appeared in 118 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against San Francisco on Feb. 25. He is now sixth all-time in appearances, just one behind Dan Weiss (1984-88) for fifth all-time. The school's all-time record of 127 is held by Kyle Bailey (2001-05.) Fellow senior Mitch Henke also reached 100 games played after starting against Niagara in the Cable Car Classic and has now appeared in 113 in his career.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 17 of its 27 games this season and have been outrebounded in six games, Stanford on Dec. 19, Niagara on Dec. 29, San Jose State on Jan. 7, Saint Mary's on Jan. 12, at San Diego on Jan. 26 and vs. Portland on Feb. 4. Santa Clara and Utah State each had 26 boards on Dec. 1 and SCU and Pacific each had 32 on Dec. 12. SCU and Pepperdine tied in rebonding with 33 apiece on Feb. 16 as did the Broncos and Dons with 30 apiece on Feb. 25. Overall, the Broncos have outrebounded opponents 868-741 for a +4.7 margin.

Free Throw Line
SCU has improved significantly at the free throw line this season through 27 games. The Broncos are shooting 71 percent from the charity stripe this year after shooting 67 percent last season.

Threes
Senior Brody Angley, junior Calvin Johnson and sophomore Jonathan Gunderson are all shooting well from 3-point range this year. Gunderson is now shooting .427 (38-for-89), followed by Angley at .409 (47-for-115) and Johnson at .400 (32-of-80). The record for 3-point percentage for a season is .454, set by Steve Nash in 1994-95. SCU is shooting .392 from beyond the arc as a team. The season record at Santa Clara is .390, set in 1994-95.