Audio: In the Office with Kerry Keating
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara men's basketball team opens the regular season this weekend when it plays host to the 49th Annual Cable Car Classic, a three-day tournament with a field that includes Denver, Lipscomb and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Broncos will face Lipscomb at 7 p.m. Friday in the Leavey Center, in the second game of a doubleheader. Denver and Wisconsin-Milwaukee open tournament play at 4:30 p.m.
All four teams will play each other in the round-robin format. There are two games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Action begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
Cable Car Classic Schedule
Friday, Nov. 13
• Denver vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee - 4:30 p.m.
• Santa Clara vs. Lipscomb - 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 14
• Lipscomb vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee - 5:30 p.m.
• Santa Clara vs. Denver - 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 15
• Lipscomb vs. Denver - Noon
• Santa Clara vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee - 2:30 p.m.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee is making its second appearance in the tournament. In 2003, the Panthers lost 70-64 in the first round to Santa Clara before knocking off Idaho State, 85-70, in the consolation game. That was the lone meeting between Milwaukee and the Broncos.
Denver is also making its second trip to Santa Clara for the tournament. The Broncos knocked off the Pioneers, 74-65, in overtime, during 2007 first-round action. Denver went on to win the consolation game, downing Morgan State, 54-44.
Santa Clara and Lipscomb will meet for the first-ever time Friday.
The Broncos played one exhibition game, downing Notre Dame de Namur, 86-44, Friday. Preseason All-West Coast Conference guard Jared Brownridge led five players in double figures with 14 points.
Brownridge, a 2014-15 first team All-WCC pick, led the Broncos in scoring last season, averaging 15.9 points per game. The junior has started all 65 games in his career
In all, the Broncos, led by ninth-year head coach Kerry Keating, return six of their top eight scorers from a year ago, including sophomore forward Matt Hubbard (6.8 ppg) and junior forward Nate Kratch (5.2 ppg). Those two are also the top returning rebounders, with Kratch averaging 4.6 in 2014-15 and Hubbard 4.0 per contest.
The newcomers include guards KJ Feagin, Matt Hauser, Werner Nistler and Brendyn Taylor, as well as forwards Henrik Jadersten, Tony Lewis and Bryson Lockley. Nistler, who joined the team in the offseason, is the lone senior on the squad.
Tickets: Season tickets, mini-plans and single-game options are available for Santa Clara. Click here for information. Single-game tickets for Santa Clara games during the Cable Car Classic are good for entrance to either day's contest. Click here to purchase. For information, call (408) 554-4660 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. or email BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Doors to Leavey Center open one hour prior to tipoff of the first game each day. The ticket office is also open one hour prior to the first game.
Parking: There are two venues available for gameday parking. The campus parking structure is located just inside the main campus entrance off El Camino Real. The Leavey Center parking lot also has a limited number of spaces. Gameday parking is $10. Click here for a campus map. There are a number of athletics events scheduled for Saturday on campus. Men's water polo plays at noon, volleyball and women's soccer are scheduled for 1 p.m., and men's soccer starts at 7 p.m. There will not be a charge for parking Saturday, but traffic will be high and spaces limited at various times. There are two other options for parking Saturday. The Cowell lot and Casa lot, both located south of Leavey and the adjacent Tennis Center, will be available.
Radio/Live Stream: Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (color) will call the action for the Broncos on KSCU 103.3 FM. The game can be heard over the air or online through tunein. All three Broncos games will also be streamed through TheW.tv using the radio feed.
About the Cable Car Classic
In 1967, the Cable Car Classic was founded by Art Santo Domingo, a former public relations director of the San Francisco Giants, and his long-time friend, the late Harry Jupiter, a sports writer for the San Francisco Examiner. The tournament has historically played around the Christmas holiday, though two years ago held on Thanksgiving weekend.
In 32 of the tournament's 48 years, the Classic has featured a team that received a bid to the NCAA Tournament just months later. For 10 years it has featured multiple teams who would later advance. The 1995 Cable Car Classic proved to be one of the strongest fields with all four teams advancing to the 1996 NCAA Tournament in March. Penn State won the Cable Car Classic with Georgia Tech, Santa Clara and Bradley also making the postseason. Georgia Tech won the ACC that year as well.
Those participating in past Cable Car Classics read like a who's who in college basketball history. From the Santa Clara teams of the 1960's and '70's that featured the talents of Bud Ogden, Dennis Awtrey and Kurt Rambis and the USF squads, led by Kevin Restani, Winford Boynes and Bill Cartwright to traditional basketball powers such as Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels featuring Michael Jordan and James Worthy and the Ralph Sampson-led Virginia Cavaliers, to the '90s with Stephen Marbury of Georgia Tech to this century's teams, including one of the Air Force Academy's best-ever teams in 2006.
Denver
(Head Coach Joe Scott - Ninth Season)
The Pioneers, who play in the Summit League, went 12-18 last season and return eight players, including seniors Marcus Byrd, Nate Engesser and Bryant Rucker. Byrd averaged 8.5 points and 3.7 rebounds a year ago while Engesser posted a career-high 10.1 points a game, most among returners. Denver will be looking to a youth movement in 2015-16 as the roster features 13 freshmen and sophomores. Last season, the Pioneers finished ninth nationally in free-throw percentage (76.6) and 18th in FG percentage (48.0).
Lipscomb
(Head Coach Casey Alexander - Third Season)
The Bisons were 14-17 last season, including a 7-7 mark in the Atlantic Sun. Junior guard Josh Williams was named to the preseason all-league team after averaging 16-9 points per contest a year ago. A 2014-15 first-team All-Atlantic Sun pick, Williams connected on 48 percent of his field goal attempts. Lipscomb returns five of it top seven scorers from last season. Sophomore guard Nathan Moran averaged 8.3 points per game in 2014-15 and guard Talbott Denny was second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per contest.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
(Head Coach Ron Jeter, 10th Season)
The Panthers will face the challenge of replacing last year's leading scorer, point guard Steve McWhorter (14.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.6 apg), but nine letterwinners are back from a team that went 14-16, including nine wins in Horizon League action. Seniors Matt Tiby, J.J. Panoske and J.R. Lyle will provide leadership. Tiby, a second team All-Horizon League performer a season ago, is Milwaukee's leading returning scorer (13.3 ppg) and rebounder (7.8 rpg). Also back in the fold are returning starters Akeem Springs (10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Justin Jordan (5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg).
