SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball will look to rebound from a road loss with some home cooking.

The Broncos (8-2) face California on Saturday to open a stretch of six straight in Leavey Center where they have won five in a row.

Tipoff between the Broncos and Cal (5-3) is set for 2 p.m.

On Wednesday, Jazz Johnson posted 20 points and Jalen Harris had a double-double (16 points/11 rebounds) for Nevada in a 98-67 victory over the Broncos who were off to their best start in more than 50 years.

Cal, playing its second road game of the season, has dropped three of its last four contests. The Bears have split with two West Coast Conference teams, defeating Pepperdine at home and losing to San Francisco on the road on Wednesday.

QUICK HITS...
• Four players are averaging at least 9.0 points, including four in double digits led by Trey Wertz (11.1 ppg), Guglielmo Caruso (10.8), DJ Mitchell (10.4) and Tahj Eaddy (10.0). Josip Vrankic leads the in rebounding (5.3 pg) and is second in assists (3.4 pg). Wertz leads the team in assists (3.5 pg).
• With a roster that features eight returning scholarship players and five newcomers, Santa Clara is playing 13 of its 15 nonconference games at home where it is 7-0 this season.
• The Broncos have their top five scorers back in Tahj Eaddy (15.0 points per game), Josip Vrankic (13.7), Trey Wertz (12.2), Keshawn Justice (9.7) and Guglielmo Caruso (6.4) from last year's team that went 16-15, including 8-8 in the WCC. Eaddy, who ranked third in the WCC in 3-pointers made (2.5 pg) and ninth in assists (3.2 pg), was a second-team all-conference pick. Vrankic earned an honorable mention nod after ranking 10th in the league in rebounding, eighth in field-goal percentage (52.0) and 10th in blocked shots (0.9 pg). Wertz led all WCC freshmen in both scoring and assists (4.7 pg). He set the Santa Clara freshman assist record (146) on his way to a spot on the WCC All-Freshman team.
• The roster, which returns 87 percent of the point production, 74 percent of the rebounds and 88 percent of the assists from 2018-19, features no seniors and only three juniors in Eaddy, Vrankic and DJ Mitchell, who transferred from Wake Forest prior to last season. Juan Ducasse, who served a redshirt season due to a knee injury, is also eligible this year. The newcomers are guards David Thompson, Giordan Williams, Jalen Williams and Miguel Tomley, and center Jaden Bediako. Thompson is a junior-college transfer and the other four are true freshmen.
• Justice and Caruso were also among the most productive freshmen in the WCC last season. Justice was third on the conference's freshman scoring list and finished seventh on the school's freshman list for 3-point percentage (38.5) and tied for fourth in 3-pointers made (57). Caruso, who shot 52 percent from the field, tied for seventh in the WCC in blocked shots (1.0 pg). He also closed the season with a flourish, averaging 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds in the last nine outings. Ezekiel Richards, another freshman in 2018-19, played in 29 games with five starts. He was first on the team in shooting from the floor at 53.1 percent..

YEAR FOUR UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are heading into the their 113th year, including fourth under Herb Sendek, who has been successful in each of his three previous head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek, was one of the three youngest coaches with 400 or more career victories. Having led the Broncos to winning records in two of his three seasons, he is in his 26th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

THE CAL SERIES...
The Bears lead the all-time series 45-28, but the teams are meeting for the second time in the last 13 years. Cal defeated the Broncos, 78-66, last year at home. The Bears are making their first trip to Santa Clara since Dec. 20, 1992.

�� | Back for some home cooking. Next 6️⃣ games in Leavey Center, beginning with Saturday's matchup against @CalMBBall and ending with @wcchoops opener. Coach @HerbSendek and @JosipVrankic discuss home success. #TeamFirst | #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/FASfxkOCk5

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 6, 2019

TEAM NOTES...
• Santa Clara's 8-1 start was its best since opening a school-record 21-0 in 1968-69 on the way to a 27-2 mark and a trip to the NCAAs. The Broncos have won eight of their first 10 games for just the second time in the last 22 years (also 2012-13).
• Santa Clara has won its last 10 home games overall, dating to last season. That streak is tied for the fourth longest in Toso Pavilion/Leavey Center history (since 1975-76).
• The Broncos have won 14 of their last 15 nonconference home games. The lone loss in that stretch was to Idaho State last season.
• Santa Clara had its three-game winning streak against the Pac-12 snapped with an 82-64 loss to Stanford (Nov. 16). The Broncos down Washington State (Nov. 12) and knocked off the Cougars and USC last year. The longest stretch of wins against the Pac-12 is five in a row between Dec. 12, 1994 (88-83 win vs. Oregon) and Dec. 6, 1997 (68-55 win vs. Oregon State).
• Santa Clara has had at least four players score in double figures in five games this season and won each one. The Broncos went 11-2 last season when at least four players hit double-figure scoring. No player reached double figures in Wednesday's 98-67 loss at Nevada.

BY THE NUMBERS...
0...Number of seniors on the roster
1...Guglielmo Caruso leads the WCC in field-goal percentage (68.8).
1...The Broncos lead the WCC in assists at 17.6 per game.
2...Santa Clara is blocking 4.0 shots per game which is tied for second in the league.
2...The Broncos are second in the WCC with 7.2 steals per game.
2...Last season, the Broncos beat a pair of Pac-12 schools (USC and Washington State) in the same season was for the first time in 21 years (then the Pac-10). In 1997, they won at Oregon, 67-58, and defeated Oregon State, 68-55.
3...Santa Clara is shooting 73.0 percent from the free-throw line which ranks third in the WCC.
4...Number of returning starters - Tahj Eaddy, Trey Wertz, Josip Vrankic and Guglielmo Caruso
7...Josip Vrankic had a career-best seven assists against both Idaho State (Nov. 22) and Denver (Nov. 27).
9...Number of underclassmen (four sophomores and five freshmen) scholarship players on the roster.
43...Josip Vrankic's 43 straight starts lead the team.
70...The Broncos were 10-3 last season when scoring at least 70 points. They are 8-0 this year.
70...Josip Vrankic's shooting percentage (14-for-20) during last week's three games in the Cable Car Classic.

�� �� Be sure to take advantage of Saturday's promotion vs. @CalMBBall �� ��
�� Tipoff at 2 p.m.#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/HGjRgOsBVL

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 6, 2019

Be sure to join fellow @SantaClaraHoops fans at The Hut to get geared up for Saturday's game vs. @CalMBBall. Should be lots of fun! And don't forget tipoff is at 2 p.m. in LeaveyCenter. #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/R3vfbwEgkL

— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) December 6, 2019

RADIO/LIVE STREAM
Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and John Stege (analyst) call the action during the season on radio and through WCC Network at home. All Broncos home games and West Coast Conference contests (not on an ESPN platform, CBS Sports Network or BYUtv) will also be streamed through WCC Network (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). As in the past two seasons, a number of games can also be heard on either KDOW-AM 1220 or KTRB-AM 860. Saturday's game can be heard on KTRB-AM 860.

TICKETS
There are a number of ticket options for 2019-20, which features 21 homes, including 13 during the nonconference portion of the slate. In addition to season tickets, single-game and game-plan packages are on sale. Single-game tickets for the Cable Car Classic (one entry per day) are available by clicking here. For questions, contact the Santa Clara Athletics ticket office at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. The ticket office and doors to Leavey Center open one hour prior to tipoff.

#BOGO ticket time for @SantaClaraHoops...
For the next 3️⃣ home games, buy one get one FREE! Don't miss out as the team is off to its best start in more than 50 years and won last 5️⃣ in Leavey Center ▶️ https://t.co/ozpid5UKrE #StampedeAhead | #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/vfJRnEi5bm

— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) December 4, 2019

FAN EXPERIENCE PACKAGES
Group-ticket options and Fan Experience Packages are available through the Santa Clara ticket office, which is open weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Contact Jesse Moreno, the team leader of sales and service, at (408) 554-4628 or jpmoreno@scu.edu for further details.

PARKING
Parking is $10 in the main campus parking structure, which is located on Palm Drive through the main campus entrance (500 El Camino Drive). The Leavey Center parking lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is reserved for season-ticket holders. Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.

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