Nov. 29, 2008
After playing four straight games as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament, Santa Clara will travel to Missoula, Montana to play the Montana Grizzlies on Sun., Nov. 30 at 1:05 pm (Pacific). It's the Broncos' fifth straight game away from the Leavey Center with the schedule pitting Santa Clara at San Jose State on Wed., Dec. 3 for its sixth straight away before it returns to Santa Clara to play Sacramento State Sat., Dec. 6 at 7 pm.
Montana lost 78-58 at No. 10 Duke Sun., Nov. 23 and then lost 82-75 at Utah Valley on Nov. 25. Montanta had won its last two games averaging 78.5 ppg before turning the ball over 20 times with the Blue Devils scoring 31 points on those Grizzly turnovers.
LISTEN!
The Santa Clara-Montana game will be broadcast live at 1:05 pm (Pacific) on Sun., Nov. 30 via the Bronco Radio Network, which consists of KDOW-AM 1220 and Broncos All-Access on the web at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. Anthony Passarelli is in his second season as the Santa Clara men's basketball play-by-play announcer after six seasons of handling those duties for SCU women's basketball.
vs. Montana
Santa Clara will be playing Montana for the eighth time with the Broncos holding a 5-2 advantage. The first two meetings between the two teams were held in Montana on back-to-back days in 1947 with SCU winning both. John Bryant knocked down a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in last year's 60-49 win in the Leavey Center (Dec. 17, 2007).
Date Site W/L Score
Jan. 3, 1947 at Montana W 69-48
Jan. 4, 1947 at Montana W 58-46
Jan. 2, 1987 vs. Montana W 78-70
Dec. 19, 1987 at Montana L 74-82
Dec. 4, 2004 at Montana W 77-75
Dec. 22, 2005 vs Montana L 56-67
Dec. 17, 2007 vs. Montana W 60-49
The Grizzlies, 14-16 last year, were picked to finish xxx in the Big Sky Conference this season after finishing 8-8 in the Big Sky last season and tied for fourth. They return five letterwinners and three starters.
Leading the way
Bronco senior John Bryant is averaging a double-double this year with 19.4 ppg and 10.8 rpg. He has 26 double-doubles in his career, including three this season (vs. CSU East Bay, vs. UAB).
Bryant leads the team with 10.8 rpg with Ben Dowdell averaging 3.6 rpg as the second-best. Bryant leads the Broncos with 2.0 bpg. Leading the shooters is Bryant's 67% from the field and Kevin Foster knocking down 39% from beyond the arc.