Men's Hoops Looks To Bounce Back Monday Night Against Utah

Posted: Nov 19, 2007

Nov. 19, 2007

Next Game
Santa Clara plays its third game of seven straight on the road on Monday, Nov. 19 against the University of Utah Utes. The game tips off at 6 p.m. PT from the Hunstman Center in Salt Lake City. Both teams enter the game with 2-1 records following their first losses of the season. The Broncos and Utes will meet for the ninth time with the overall series tied at 4-4. Santa Clara won last year's meeting 83-72 at the Leavey Center. The game will be available on the radio at 1220 KNTS and SantaClaraBroncos.com.

Last Game
Santa Clara hung tough with Nevada throughout much of the game, but Wolf Pack pulled away with a big run in the second half to capture a 67-54 win at the Lawlor Events Center. John Bryant led the Broncos with 20 points in the losing effort, while Calvin Johnson made his season debut and scored 14. SCU trailed by just one at halftime, but Nevada proved too tough in the second half. The Broncos held the rebounding edge 27-25 and shot 47 percent from the floor in the game.

Head Coach Kerry Keating
Santa Clara University named Kerry Keating head coach on April 6, 2007. In his first season on the Mission Campus, Keating, 36, comes to SCU with a long coaching backgroud at a number of top programs. 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 2-1 start in his career.

SCU vs. Utah
Series Record: Series tied 4-4
First Meeting: Santa Clara 51-50 win on Jan. 4, 1936
Record at SCU: SCU leads 3-0
Record at Utah: Utah leads 4-0
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 1-0
Biggest SCU Win: 83-72, Nov. 18, 2006
Biggest Utah Win: 76-71, Dec. 4, 1985
Kerry Keating vs. Utah: 0-0
Notes: Utah has two Australian players, Luke Nevill and Stephen Weigh to go up against the Broncos Ben Dowdell, who is also from Australia ... Utah guard Johnnie Bryant is from Oakland and played for Bishop O'Dowd High School and Ohlone College in the Bay Area ... Santa Clara has never won at the Huntsman Center, losing twice in the building ... SCU has won two straight games in the series, both at Santa Clara and have not lost to Utah since 1985 ... Santa Clara freshman walk-on Nate Mensah is from Salt Lake City and starred at West High School.

Last Game vs. Utah
In the second game of the 2006-07 season on Nov. 18, 2006 at the Leavey Center, the Broncos earned an impressive 83-72 win over the Utah Utes. Sean Denison scored 20 points for the Broncos and Calvin Johnson hit five threes and scored 18 points in the victory. After getting out to a 10-point halftime lead, SCU held off the Utes in the second half for the win. The Broncos shot 60 percent from the floor in the win. Luke Nevill had 17 points for the Utes and Stephen Weigh added 15 points in the loss. Santa Clara shot 8-for-16 from beyond the arc as the Broncos earned an early season victory.

Last Game at Huntsman Center
The last time Santa Clara played at the Jon M. Huntsman Center was Mar. 18, 1993 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That Broncos team, seeded 15th, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history, defeating the second-seeded Arizona Wildcats, 64-61. The Broncos became just the second 15 seed to beat a two seed. SCU, led by freshman Steve Nash, along with John Woolery, Pete Eisenrich and Dewayne Lewis overcame a second half deficit to pull out the win. Arizona was led by Chris Mills, Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves. Nash made six clutch free throws down the stretch to help secure the win.

Shooting the Three
Santa Clara shot 7-for-14 on 3-pointers against Nevada on Saturday night, the team's best performance of the season beyond the arc. Calvin Johnson led the way with a 4-for-7 performance from downtown.

Angley In Top 10
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 10 assists in the first three games he has now passed Harold Keeling (1981-85) for seventh all-time with 352 career assists. John Woolery (1990-94) is sixth on the list with 422.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 127. He is ninth all-time, five behind Lacoby Phillips (1988-92). Along with steals, Angley should find himself in the Top 10 all-time in games started as well. The Redding, Calif. native now has 83 starts, three shy of Londale Theus (1976-80), who is in 10th all-time with 86 games started. Angley has an opportunity to end his career second all-time if he starts 28 games this season. The all-time leader is Brian Jones (1996-01) with 116 starts. Kurt Rambis (1976-80) is second with 107.

Bryant Moving Up
Center John Bryant blocked 49 shots last season, surpassing his 37 from the 2005-06 season. Bryant's 49 blocks are the third highest single season total in school history. He surpassed Jens Gordon (1987-88), who had 48. After six blocks in the first three games, Bryant now has 92 career blocks, a total that places him fourth all-time in blocks in SCU history. He is one behind Kurt Rambis (1976-80), who had 93 in his career.

Johnson Strong First Game
Junior Calvin Johnson missed the first two games of the season with a lower back injury against Cal State Monterey Bay and Simpson University. In his season debut against Nevada on Nov. 17, Johnson hit his first shot of the night and ended up with 14 points on 4-for-7 from the floor. He made four 3-pointers for the Broncos in their loss to the Wolf Pack.

First Half/Second Half
Santa Clara's season has been a tale of two halves so far. In the first half, SCU is outscoring its opponents 98-67, but in the second half of its three games, the Broncos are dead even with their opponents at 104 points apiece.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in all three of its games this season. Overall, the Broncos have outrebounded opponents 112-78 for a +11.3 margin. Against Nevada, the Broncos were outrebounded in the early stages of the game 9-3, but bounced back to win the battle of the boards 27-25.

Bryant Another Career High
Junior center John Bryant has gotten out to a great start this season. He tied his career high with 26 points in the Broncos' season-opening win over Cal State Monterey Bay. Against Simpson on Nov. 13, he went for 29 points to set a new career high. The Broncos center also pulled down 14 rebounds and had four blocks against CSUMB. It was Bryant's first double-double this year after posting five in 2006-07. In Saturday's game against Nevada, Bryant got off to a slow srart with six first-half points, but he poured in 14 in the second half for SCU to finish with 20 points.

Road Trip
Santa Clara is in the middle of a stretch of seven games away from home. The Broncos have not had a road stretch this long since the 1996-97 season when the team also played seven in a row away from home. This year, SCU plays Simpson, Nevada, Utah, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Utah State and San Jose State during the road trip. In 1996-97, the Broncos faced San Jose State, Fairfield and New Orleans at the MetLife Classic in San Francisco, Eastern Illinois and Indiana at the Indiana Classic in Bloomington, Ind., and finished up with games at Eastern Washington and Pacific. The 1996-97 Broncos went 4-3 on that trip.

Gunner Heats Up
Sophomore Jonathan Gunderson averaged 1.5 points per game last year as a freshman. However, this season he has gotten off to a good start, scoring 14 points against Cal State Monterey Bay and eight against Simpson. He is now averaging 7.3 points per game this year.

Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Freshman Ben Dowdell has displayed a great all-around game in the Broncos' first three contests. Through three games, he is averaging a team-leading 4.3 assists per game, while also grabbing 5.0 rebounds and scoring 4.3 points per game. He also has two steals and one block so far this year and has started his first three collegiate games.

Firsts
Freshmen Michael Santos and Dominic Johnson scored their first collegiate points against Simpson on Nov. 13. Santos collected six points, while Johnson made two free throws for his first two career points.

Angley Returns Home
Senior Brody Angley returned to his hometown of Redding, Calif. Nov. 13 for the game against Simpson University. The game was played at Shasta College against Simpson. Angley was a standout basketball and football player at Enterprise High School in Redding. He helped lead Enterprise to four league and section championships and two state semifinal appearances in his high school career. He was a four-time league MVP and a two-time section MVP during that time. He also set the Northern Section record for career rushing yards with 4,650 yards as a running back. He scored 74 touchdowns during his career at Enterprise. The game will be the first ever between Simpson and Santa Clara.

Newcomers
The 2007-08 Broncos are young team. The team features 10 newcomers and eight freshmen on the roster. Only four players on the team averaged more than 10 minutes a game in 2006-07, Brody Angley, John Bryant, Mitch Henke and Josh Higgins.

Injury Update
Santa Clara has been hit by the injury bug during the early part of the season, as a number of players have missed practice time and games due to injuries. Right now, the team has three players out of action due to injury. Senior Josh Higgins has a left knee injury that will keep him out of the lineup for 4-5 weeks. Freshman Andrew Zimmermann has been battling a back problem and is also out for SCU. He has been practicing lightly, but is not ready to get into a game. Freshman Scott Thompson is still recovering from an appendectomy and is unavailable for the Broncos. Junior Calvin Johnson had been out with a lower back injury, but he played his first game on Nov. 17.

First Australian
Santa Clara has had players from many different parts of the world during its long basketball history. However, freshman Ben Dowdell is the first Australian to suit up for the Broncos. Dowdell is from North Nowra, New South Wales in Australia.

Assistant Coaches: Young and Experienced
Santa Clara's assistant coaches, Lamont Smith, Sam Scuilli and Sam Scholl are all under 40 years old, but they are some of the most experienced coaches when it comes to the West Coast Conference. The trio has over 30 years of combined coaching and playing experience in WCC games.