Portland here on Saturday at 3 pm; Re-broadcast of Santa Clara's win over Gonzaga on ESPNU tonight
Santa Clara (11-9, 2-2 WCC) hosts Portland (14-5, 2-2 WCC) on Sat., Jan. 22 at 3 pm. The Portland game will be televised on COMCAST with Ted Robinson and Kris Weems making the call. It is the 80th career meeting between the two teams with Santa Clara leading 33-7 at home. Portland swept the season series last year with the two teams splitting it the year before.
ESPNU will rebroadcast Santa Clara's 85-71 win over Gonzaga tonight (Fri., Jan. 21) at 10 pm Pacific. It will be on from 10- 11:30 pm Pacific.
With a nationally-televised ESPNU audience watching, Santa Clara won its first home game vs. Gonzaga in 10 years (2/22/01) with an 85-71 victory over the Zags on Thursday night. With the five starters scoring in double-figures, Kevin Foster scored a career-high 36 points (the sixth-best home court total for a Bronco in school history). Bronco head coach Kerry Keating is now 13-1 when SCU scores 80+ points. Foster's 36 points were the most scored against the Zags in a WCC game since Keion Bell dropped 37 on Gonzaga on Jan. 21, 2010.
Portland fell 81-74 at USF the same night with the Dons moving to 3-1 in the WCC. The Pilots had won seven of their eight games prior to the loss to the Dons. Jared Stohl scored 19 points and Luke Sikma finished with a double-double, collecting 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Foster goes into the Portland game with 992 career points and needs eight more to become the 28th Bronco player to score 1,000+ career points.
Listen
The Portland 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 2:45 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 with an interview conducted by Passarelli. If you are out of the listening area, KDOW is streamed online live at www.1220kdow.com.
Us vs. Them
The Broncos are scoring 73.7 ppg while giving up 71.9 ppg. They are rebounding 35.4 to their opponents 31.6 and shooting 43.2 percent, including 35.0 percent beyond the arc.
Portland is averaging 71.7 ppg while giving up 68.8 ppg. The Pilots are shooting 46.6 percent from the field, including 42.7 from beyond the three-point line. Portland is grabbing 34.8 boards and giving up 30.0. They are averaging 13.8 turnovers per game compared to Santa Clara's own 15.0 turnovers per game.
Santa Clara has three players in double figures: Kevin Foster (19.4), Marc Trasolini (11.9) and Evan Roquemore (10.9). Foster leads the WCC and is second nationally this week in threes made; and he has dished a team-leading 3.9 apg and 1.4 spg. His 19.4 ppg leads the WCC and is No. 39 nationally. Scoring double figures in 19 of 20 games this season, Foster scored just nine vs. Rice but hit the game-winning three. Trasolini leads the team with 5.9 rpg and 1.1 bpg. Trasolini collected his fifth career double-double vs. CSU Bakersfield and had a season-high three blocks three times, scoring a season-high 22 vs. Fordham.
Portland has three players averaging double figures: Jared Stohl (13.9 ppg). Nemanja Mitrovic (13.6 ppg) and Luke Sikma (13.3 ppg). Sikma leads the team with 10.6 rpg and with 1.1 spg. Kramer Knutson swats down a team-leading 1.6 bpg. Eric Waterford dishes out a team-leading 3.2 apg.
Plus Points
0 (Roquemore) - 10 of the last 15 games he has hit double figures, including 13 vs. Gonzaga. Dished out a career-high eight assists at Saint Mary's and scored a career-high 18 points vs. Northern Colorado.
01 (Payne) - Started and played with a lot of energy on both sides of the court vs. Gonzaga, scoring a season-high 11 points. Has had nine games this season with 6+ rebounds. Last season in his first 20 games that had happened five times.
03 (Cunningham) - Although he hasn't played in the past four games due to a sore back, Cunningham started the previous eight games and he is shooting a career-best 61.9 percent this season. It is the seventh-best shooting percentage for a season in Bronco history.
04 (Perricone) - Has played in two games this season and hit his first career field goal in the first game (Houston Baptist) and his first career three in the second game (Bethany).
10 (Dowdell) - Has 10 games this season with 5+ rebounds. After 20 games this season more of everything, including ppg (7.0 this year as compared to 6.5 last year), rpg, asp and spg.
13 (Santos) - Gave SCU 16 good minutes off the bench in the Gonzaga game. Coach Keating was happy to see him healthy after suffering with a sprained hand for a couple weeks and said he had an excellent week of practice. Had season-high six rebounds and career-high four assists vs. Bethany.
14 (Gamble) - Hit his first career points with two three-pointers in four minutes vs. Bethany. He put up four shots and grabbed two rebounds during that span as well.
15 (Trasolini) - Has hit double figures 10 of the last 12 games. Has 46 career double-figure games and 25 15+ point games. His five career double-doubles rank No. 1 on the team this year. Was the only player in the WCC to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American All-District team. Sports a 3.51 GPA in Business.
21 (Foster) - Scored a career-high 36 points in the Gonzaga win - the sixth-best ever by a Bronco in a home game. First player in school history to hit six plus threes in three games in a season. He has now done it five times this year. The Broncos are 7-1 when he attempts 13 or less shots and 4-8 when he attempts 14 or more shots.
22 (Mensah) - Fourth-year walk-on hit his first career free throws and first career three-pointers in the four games he has played in this year. Has already been accepted to the Law Schools at Santa Clara University and American University; and is waiting to hear back from Cornell, Georgetown, George Washington and Howard.
24 (Clarke) - Has only played in three games early due to a foot injury.
25 (McArthur) - After being named the Bay Area Player of the Year out of famed De La Salle last year, he has played 8.5 mpg where he has collected 3+ rebounds in six games, playing double-digit minutes five times including a career-high 19 vs. Houston Baptist and 16 important minutes in the Gonzaga win.
31 (Harrison) - Playing just seven minutes vs. Fordham, he has played an average of 16.0 mpg the last five games where he has scored 5.0 ppg and grabbed 2.8 rpg, swatting a season-high two blocks vs. USF.
33 (Bach) - Carrying a 3.48 grade point average in Marketing, he has come off the bench in three games this season, including a season-high 12 minutes vs. Bethany where he dished out a career-best four assists.
42 (Cowels) - Starting in nine games this season and 20 throughout his two-year career, Cowels hit a season-high four threes vs. Northern Colorado and was 6 of 6 from the free throw line vs. Washington State. He scored a career-high 24 points vs. NCAA Tournament-bound Wofford last season, hitting five threes.
36! and before that: 8!
Kevin Foster's career-best prior to the Gonzaga game was the 31 he scored as a freshman at Saint Mary's (Jan. 9, 2009) and his season-best was the 29 he scored in overtime vs. Washington State on Dec. 19, 2010. Foster dropped a new career-high on the Zags with 36 (11 of 20 and 6 of 14 from 3; 8 of 10 FT). The 36 points are the sixth-most ever for a Bronco at home and the most a player has scored vs. Gonzaga since Keion Bell scored 37 points on Jan. 21, 2010.
Foster crushed eight threes on Jan. 8 vs. USF. Foster's eight threes vs. USF tied the school record set by Steve Nash (8 at Gonzaga on Jan. 19, 1995) and Mitch Burley (8 vs. Nevada-Reno, Dec. 14, 1988). Foster attempted 20 threes in the USF game, shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. The attempts mark shattered Burley's school record set back in 1988 (17) and Nash's in 1995 (17). The 20 attempts also shattered the WCC record set by Jeff Fryer of LMU vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 24, 1989 when he attempted 18. It was also the Leavey Center record.
Then-junior Dan Dickau of Gonzaga holds the Leavey Center record. He was nine of 13 from beyond the arc vs. SCU 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 SCU 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.
Foster owns the Santa Clara school record for threes in a season with the 85 he hit his freshman year, snatching the record from Steve Nash, who hit 84 his senior year. Foster already has 71 threes this season with at least 11 games to play.
Santa Clara hit 12 three-pointers twice this season in back-to-back games vs. Bethany and USF. It is the most under head coach Kerry Keating. The 37 threes attempted vs. USF were the most they had attempted as a team since it set the school record with 45 attempts at San Diego on Feb. 5, 2004 in a 74-69 victory.
On Jan. 21 he was No. 2 nationally in threes per game and No. 62 nationally in three-point percentage. Foster has hit six-plus threes five times this season: vs. Bethune-Cookman, vs. UC Santa Barbara, vs. Bethany, vs. USF and vs. Gonzaga. He was the first Bronco in school history to hit six or more threes in a game three times (now five games) in the same season. The WCC record for threes in game is nine by two different players three times. Foster has scored 19+ in 11 of 20 games this season, hitting double-figures in 19 of 20 games (scoring nine vs. Rice). He has scored 25+ points six times this year.
Collecting
Marc Trasolini has 13 games in double figures this season, including three with 19+. He has scored 15+ 26 times in his three-year career. Trasolini's 26 points at USF last season are still his career high. After not attempting a single three his freshman campaign, Trasolini was 19 of 54 last season and is shooting 35.2 percent this year, hitting 19 of 54. He has hit a career-high three threes in five games this season. Bronco head coach Kerry Keating said he would like to see Trasolini shoot 10 three pointers a game because he has that much confidence in his shooting.
Trasolini has hit 43 of 59 free throws this season (72.9 percent), but has hit 30 of 35 free throws in the last 10 games (85.7 percent). He hasn't been hitting the free throw line as often this season. Last year of his 439 total points, 122 came from the free throw line (27.7 percent). This season of his 238 points scored, 18.0 percent are coming from the free throw line (43 made). His freshman year 21 percent of his points came from free throws (43 of 64 made (67%); 201 points total scored).
He is also getting it done in the classroom. The only player from the WCC on the Academic All-American All-District team last year, Trasolini sports a 3.511 GPA in Business.
Could they be No. 28 and No. 29?
Sophomore-redshirt Kevin Foster has scored 992 career points and junior Marc Trasolini has scored 878 career points. Foster has scored 387 points this season and Trasolini has scored 238. Both are gunning for 1,000 career points this season with Foster needing eight and Trasolini needing 122. With Foster averaging 19.4 ppg and Trasolini averaging 11.9 ppg, it's very realistic. They would be the first duo to both hit 1,000 career points in the same season since then-seniors Jens Gordon and Mitch Burley did it in 1988-89. Gordon scored 522 points that season to finish his career with 1,356 and Burley scored 377 to finish with 1,258 career points.
They would be the 28th and 29th players to score at least 1,000 career points. The last Bronco to cross 1,000 career points was 2009 WCC Player of the Year John Bryant who finished his four-year career with 1,667 points which was good for No. 6 on the list. Kurt Rambis holds the career record with 1,736 points scored.
Diaper Dandy
Freshman Evan Roquemore has made really good after being inserted into the starting line-up 10 games ago. He is averaging 11.5 ppg as a starter with 3.6 rpg and 4.8 apg. Overall this season he is third on the team with 10.9 ppg, picks up 3.3 rpg and is second on the team with 3.8 apg. Roquemore is third on the team this season at the free throw line, shooting 82.1 percent (69 of 84). He had a career-high eight assists at Saint Mary's and a career-high in points vs. Northern Colorado.
He has been perfect at the free throw line in seven games this year: 6 of 6 vs. Rice, 10 of 10 vs. Northern Colorado, 6 of 6 at San Jose State, 7 of 7 vs. Washington State, 6 of 6 at CSU Northridge, 1 of 1 at Saint Mary's and 8 of 8 vs. Gonzaga.
Foster Plus
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 school record for three-pointers attempted with 232 shot his freshman season. Foster is No. 6 with 489 three-pointers attempted. His next milestone is down the road: he needs two attempts to pass No. 5 Ethan Rohde at 490 (2002-05). Foster has made 178 career threes and with the eight threes vs. USF, he passed Brian Jones at No. 5 (165, 1996-01). He needs 15 threes made to pass No. 4 Ethan Rodhe at 192 (2002-05). 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. A note: 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.
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, vs. UC Santa Barbara and vs. Bethany. He then hit a career-best eight threes vs. USF on Jan. 8, tying the school record. He scored 20+ points 11 times his freshman year and has done it eight times this season already. The school record is 17 games by Londale Theus in 1978-79 when he averaged 20.1 ppg.
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 36 of 59 career games and he has scored 19+ in 26 career games