Men's Basketball Travels to San Jose State Friday
Santa Clara travels 7.76 miles for a 7 pm match-up with San Jose State on Fri., Dec. 10. Santa Clara spent this week in final exams after falling 80-69 vs. UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 6 at the Leavey Center. San Jose State won 85-70 at UC Irvine the same night. After playing without Raymond Cowels III (funeral) and Chris Cunningham (concussion) vs. UCSB, Santa Clara is expected to be full strength vs. the Spartans. Santa Clara has seven players on its roster from California and San Jose State has 12 of its 14 players from the Golden State.
Santa Clara started the season by playing seven games in 15 days. It was the most games a Bronco squad had played since the 2003-04 team played seven games in 14 days. San Jose State's 5-2 record, which includes a 4-2 mark in November, marks the most wins by the Spartans in November since 1972-73 when the team began playing games in the 11th month of the year. Its three road wins at Eastern Washington, Oregon and UC Irvine make it one of 14 teams nationally to have three road wins by Dec. 6.
Santa Clara has won six of the last eight meetings vs. the Spartans. Santa Clara and San Jose State have won each other's home court the last four meetings. Prior to that, Santa Clara won five games straight against the Spartans from Dec. 3, 2003 - Dec. 8, 2007.
In the team's last meeting two days before Christmas last year, San Jose State won 74-68 in the Leavey Center. Santa Clara won at San Jose State, 59-56, on Dec. 3, 2008. The two split the series in 2007-08 with both winning on the other's floor. SCU won 73-63 at SJSU on Dec. 8, 2007 and then SCU lost 62-59 at home on Jan. 7, 2008.
Santa Clara leads the series against SJSU 71-29. Since 1980, Santa Clara has played San Jose State 28 times and Santa Clara has won 18 of those meetings.
Listen Up
The San Jose State game will be broadcast via the Bronco Radio Network on both KDOW 1220 AM and Broncos All-Access on the web at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com with the broadcast beginning at 6:45 pm. Anthony Passarelli is in his fourth season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer. Coach Kerry Keating can be heard on KDOW 1220 AM on Sunday evenings from 9:10-9:20 pm in his radio spotlight on The Sports Ramble, hosted by Chetan Chaudhari. If you are out of the listening area, KDOW is streamed online live at www.1220kdow.com.
Vs.
Santa Clara is looking for its first road win this year after falling at Southern California and vs. Arizona and vs. Ohio in Las Vegas. The Broncos are scoring 72.9 ppg while giving up 76.6 ppg. They are rebounding 33.2 to their opponents 30.6 and shooting 45.1 percent, including 36.5 percent beyond the arc. San Jose State is averaging 74.4 ppg while giving up 71.0 ppg. They are shooting 39.9 percent from the field, including 34.4 from beyond the three-point line and rebounding 39.9 boards, giving up 36.1.
Individually, Santa Clara has two players in double figures: Kevin Foster (17.8) and Marc Trasolini (12.3). Evan Roquemore has been hovering around double figures most of the season and is averaging 9.9 ppg headed into the SJSU game. Foster leads the WCC by making 3.5 threes per game, has a team-leading 3.75 apg and has scored double figures in seven of the eight games this season, adding nine vs. Rice. Trasolini leads the team with 6.6 rpg and .76 bpg. Trasolini collected his fifth career double-double vs. CSU Bakersfield and had a season-high three blocks in the Rice win, hitting a season-high 19 vs. Arizona and vs. Ohio in Las Vegas.
San Jose State has three players in double figures: Adrian Oliver (24.9), Justin Graham (15.0) and Keith Shamburger (11.1). Graham was the WAC Player of the Week this past week after he scored 41 points, adding 17 rebounds and 10 assists in two games. Wil Carter leads the team with 9.7 rpg and Graham passes a team-leading 3.7 apg.
Threes
Kevin Foster has had a career-high six threes twice this season: vs. Bethune-Cookman and vs. UC Santa Barbara. He is the first Bronco to hit six or more threes in a game twice in the same year since Kyle Bailey hit six vs. Gonzaga on Jan. 6, 2005 and then another six vs. Pepperdine on Feb. 17, 2005.
Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, a Bronco alum, and Mitch Burley both hit eight threes in a game once. Burley's came vs. Nevada-Reno on Dec. 14, 1988 and Nash's came at Gonzaga on Jan. 19, 1995. Nash hit seven threes in a game three times and Steve Ross accomplished the task last for the Broncos, scoring seven threes vs. Gonzaga on Jan. 11, 2002.
Wondering who holds the Leavey Center record: junior Dan Dickau of Gonzaga was nine of 13 from beyond the arc vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 22, 2001. He scored 39 points that day (11 of 18 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free throw line). But Santa Clara won the war that day, coming away with an 84-71 victory as Steve Ross hit 10 of 14 free throws to score 22 for the Broncos.
Starters
Santa Clara went with the same line-up for the eighth straight game vs. Santa Barbara. It is the second time in head coach Kerry Keating's four years at Santa Clara that he has started the same line-up eight straight games. In 2008-09, he started the same line-up nine straight games. From Jan. 17, 2009-Feb. 14, 2009 he started John Bryant, Marc Trasolini, Kevin Foster, James Rahon and Calvin Johnson.
Troy Payne started his 40th career-game after starting all 32 games last season when he transferred to Santa Clara after playing his first two years at Citrus College. Ben Dowdell has a chance to crack the top 10 this year in career games played. He has played in 98 career ganes and the top 10 begins with Mitch Henke, Brian Jones and Travis Neisen all playing in 117 games. Trasolini has a chance to hit that career list in the next two years and also career starts as he has started 55 of the 70 games he played in. The career starts top 10 list has Jens Gordon at No. 10 with 91 starts.
Conferences
Santa Clara is playing the second of three straight games against California teams, each from a different conference. After Santa Barbara (Big Sky, Dec. 4), Santa Clara will now travel to cross-town rival San Jose State (Western Athletic) on Dec. 10 for a 7 p.m. match-up. They will finish off the trio with a trip to Stockton to take on Pacific (Big West) on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
Santa Clara will then host a team from Texas, Houston Baptist (Great West) on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. before hosting Washington State (Pac-10) on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. Before breaking for a few days for the holidays, the Broncos will travel south to the Los Angeles area to play its second Big West team of the year, CSU-Northridge on Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.
Once a Season
Marc Trasolini scored zero points vs. UC Santa Barbara. It is only the third time in his career that he has failed to post at least one point in game. The first time was his freshman year when he scored zero at Portland on Jan. 7, 2009 and the second time was his sophomore year when he scored zero vs. San Diego on Jan. 8, 2010.
What did he do the next game? He played very well! His sophomore year he scored 18 points and nine rebounds vs. Saint Mary's on Jan. 10, 2010 and his freshman year he scored nine points with eight rebounds vs. USF on Jan. 23, 2009.
Free Webcasts!
Santa Clara will showcase each non-televised 2010-11 men's and women's home basketball game this season free of charge via Stretch Internet on www.SantaClaraBroncos.com.
With the help of the WCC, the Santa Clara University athletic department recently made several upgrades to its audio and video components in the Leavey Center and now has the ability to webcast games with a three-camera system. Radio feeds from the games will be integrated into the webcast when available.
Links to the webcast of each men's and women's basketball game can be found on either team's schedule webpage or on http://www.santaclarabroncos.com/livestats. You can also go directly to the Santa Clara Broncos portal on Stretch Internet by clicking http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/santaclara.portal?mode=link#.
Side Notes
** In a sign of what the Bronco coaches hope is to come, rookie John McArthur scored a career-high six points with a career-high six rebounds in a career-high 14 minutes.
** Kevin Foster hit six three-pointers in the first half of the UC Santa Barbara - a career-high - and he finished the game with 25 points. The six threes overall tied a career-high set vs. Buthune-Cookman on Nov. 21, 2010.
* Chris Cunningham, making some nifty post moves, tied a career-high with eight points, making a career-best of 4 of 4, vs. Ohio.
** Marc Trasolini scored 19 points in back-to-back games vs. Arizona and Ohio in Las Vegas. Trasolini has scored 15+ points 17 times in his career. He has scored double digits in five of Santa Clara's eight games this season after leading the team in ppg, rpg and bpg last season.
** Marc Trasolini hasn't blocked a shot in four games heading into the SJSU game. It is the first time since his freshman year he has gone four plus games without a block. He went five games spanning the end of his freshman year (four games: Feb. 21, - March 8) to the second game of his sophomore year (Nov. 16, 2009) when he collected three blocks.
** Evan Roquemore tied the Bronco freshman record when he hit made 10 free throws vs. UNC on Nov. 23. He was a perfect 10 of 10. Then-Bronco freshman Jordan Legge made 10 free throws for the Broncos on Nov. 27, 2001 in Santa Clara's 65-61 win vs. San Jose State.
** SCU and UNC combined for 171 points, but zero blocks on Nov. 23. The last time that happened: in Gonzaga's 80-64 win over the Broncos in Spokane on Feb. 28, 2004.
** Santa Clara has won three close games this year by five points or less. Since 2007-08, Santa Clara has won 18 close games.
** In its game with B-C, the bench out-rebounded the starters. Against UNC, led by a pair of Broncos collecting 18 points each, the bench outscored the starters. The starters, paced by Kevin Foster's 19 points and tying a career-high with seven assists, scored 42 points. The bench, led by Cowels and Roquemore, scored 45.
** Robert Smith and Foster both collected six assists and the Broncos had 23 assists in Santa Clara's 75-61 win over Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 21. It was the most assists for the Broncos since they collected 24 assists in an 83-80 win vs. Belmont on Dec. 29, 2008. The most under Keating?: Santa Clara had 29 assists vs. Pepperdine in the Broncos' 101-86 victory on Jan. 21, 2008.
** The Bronco bench collected 16 rebounds vs. Bethune-Cookman while the starters pulled down 13. That's the first time that happened this year.
School Records
After breaking Steve Nash's single season record for three-pointers made as a freshman in 2008-09 with 85, it's no surprise Kevin Foster is already climbing up the three point career lists. Foster also owns the record for three-pointers attempted with 232 shot his freshman season.
Foster is No. 6 with 373 three-pointers attempted. His next milestone is down the road: he needs 118 attempts to pass No. 5 Ethan Rohde at 490 (2002-05). Foster has made 135 career threes and is No. 8 on the career list. He needs two three-pointers to move to No. 7 and pass Nathan Fast (136, 1996-00).
The career record for three pointers made is Steve Nash's 263 from 1992-96. The career record for three-pointers attempted is 679 by Kyle Bailey from 2001-05. Foster will have a leg up on the competition, career-wise, as his six games last season will count towards his career totals as well.
Foster has quite a ways to go to reach Kurt Rambis' school record 1,736 points scored (1976-80). But, if he does collect the record, he can thank Southern California's big men for two points scored. The Trojans were whistled for a technical foul in pre-game warm-ups when a player dunked while the officials were out on the floor (against NCAA rules). Foster then shot and made two free throws prior to the start of the game.
Foster: 20 x 19+
Kevin Foster scored 19+ in five of eight games this season, hitting double-figures in seven of the eight games (scoring nine vs. Rice). Only playing in six games last year before breaking his foot, he scored 19+ points four times last season. Foster scored 19+ points 11 times in 2008-09, including five of the last eight games of the season. He hit a career-high five three-pointers four times before hitting a new career-high six three-pointers vs. Bethune-Cookman and six vs. UC Santa Barbara.
Foster was nicknamed 'Microwave' by his father during his youth the Detroit Piston's Vinnie Johnson. Johnson earned the nickname 'the Microwave' from Boston Celtics guard Danny Ainge for his ability to score many points in a short period of time, heating up the offense.
He has scored 15+ points in 27 of 47 career games. The 19+ games follow:
Opponent/Date Points (3s made)
vs. Arizona/Nov. 25, 2008 21 (5)
vs. Belmont/Dec. 29, 2008 24 (3)
at Harvard/Jan. 2, 2009 20 (4)
at Saint Mary's/Jan. 9, 2009 31 (5)
at Portland/Jan. 17, 2009 20 (3)
vs. LMU/Jan. 29, 2009 20 (3)
vs. Saint Mary's/Feb. 7, 2009 26 (4)
at LMU/Feb. 14, 2009 26 (5)
at USF/Feb. 21, 2009 20 (2)
vs. Gonzaga/Feb. 26, 2009 20 (3)
vs. San Diego/March 7, 2009 21 (4)
at CSUB/Nov. 13, 2009 21 (3)
vs. Menlo/Nov. 19, 2009 19 (4)
at Pacific/Nov. 22, 2009 22 (5)
vs. Fresno State/Nov. 28, 2009 25 (5)
vs. CSU Bakersfield/Nov. 12, 2010 19 (4)
at Southern California/Nov. 15, 2010 26 (4)
vs. Bethune-Cookman/Nov. 21, 2010 21 (6)
vs. Northern Colorado/Nov. 23, 2010 19 (4)
vs. UC Santa Barbara/Dec. 4, 2010 25 (6)