AUDIO: Bediako Halftime Interview on KTRB-AM 860
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A big first half from Keshawn Justice and another hot shooting performance helped Santa Clara men's basketball extend its home winning streak and open West Coast Conference play with a victory.
Justice had a career-high 26 points, including 22 in the opening 20 minutes, Josip Vrankic scored 13 and Trey Wertz tallied 12 points, including 10 in the second half to lead the Broncos to an 80-63 victory over San Diego on Saturday.
Braun Hartfield had 16 points and James Jean-Marie, Marion Humphrey and Joey Calceterra each scored 14 for the Toreros (7-10, 0-2) who have dropped two straight after winning four of their previous five.
Santa Clara (14-2, 1-0), which won its 16th-straight home game and sixth in a row overall, shot 54 percent from the floor, including 11 of 27 on 3-pointers and forced the Toreros into 19 turnovers that were converted to 22 points.
The Broncos, who were playing without injured starting forward Guglielmo Caruso for the first time, pulled away midway through the opening half and never looked back.
Justice, who went 8-for-13 from the floor and hit all seven free throws, led the charge, scoring eight straight to give Santa Clara a 23-15 lead.
The sophomore, who scored 24 points in Sunday's win over Alcorn State, then began the key run with nifty 3-point play with 7 minutes left. By the time, the 12-2 flurry ended the Broncos led 42-24 with 2:26 remaining in the half.
Justice scored 19 of the team's first 36 points.
Sabry Philip's driving layup pulled the Toreros within 53-41 with 13 minutes left in the game, but Tahj Eaddy answered with a corner 3-pointer and San Diego was never closer than 15 points in the final 10 minutes.
Eaddy had nine points and Jalen Williams had all seven of his points in the second half when the Broncos led by as many as 21.
Santa Clara has shot more than 50 percent from the floor in each of the last four games.
HIGHLIGHTS | Started @WCCSports play with a ��!#TeamFirst #StampedeAhead #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/A4pecpQhE0
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 5, 2020
HOME COOKING
• Santa Clara has extended its school record for consecutive home wins to start a season to 14. The prior mark of 11 was achieved in both 1967-68 and 1968-69.
• The Broncos extended the school record for consecutive wins (16) in Toso Pavilion/Leavey Center, which opened for the 1975-76 season. Santa Clara has not lost at home since a 66-55 defeat to Saint Mary's (Feb. 14, 2019). The original record of 14 began with a 79-72 win over Marquette (Dec. 29, 1996) and ended with an 85-75 loss to San Francisco (Jan. 25, 1998). The school record for consecutive home wins is 22 which occurred between the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons.
IMPRESSIVE START
Santa Clara's record is its best through 16 games since starting 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 at least 14 of 16 to begin a season for only fourth time in school history. They were 14-2 in 1930-31, and 15-1 in 1946-47.
INTERVIEW | In the postgame interview presented by @ROATweets, head coach @HerbSendek discusses the @wcchoops victory over @usdmbb#TeamFirst | #StampedeAhead | #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/wICzgPlbz2
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 5, 2020
NOTES
• In a series that began in 1953, Santa Clara leads, 49-38, with wins in 10 of the last 15 meetings. The teams split two matchups in each of the last three years. The Broncos have won five of the last six at home.
• Guglielmo Caruso (lower right leg) was injured against Alcorn State (Dec. 29) and is out of the lineup indefinitely. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Jaden Bediako who contributed five points and six rebounds.
• Keshawn Justice set his career-high in points for the second straight game. He had 24 points vs. Alcorn State on Sunday and 26 against the Toreros. Justice has hit 17 of 26 (65.4 percent) from the floor, including 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line, in the last two games.
• Over the last three games, Trey Wertz is averaging 19.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He has connected on 78.6 percent (22 of 28) from the floor, including 76.5 percent (13 of 17) behind the 3-point line in that span.
• Jalen Williams had connected on 66.7 percent from the floor (12 of 18) during the last three games.
INJURY UPDATE | @GuglielmoCaruso suffered a lower right leg injury vs Alcorn State Sunday. Out of lineup indefinitely. Caruso is 2nd on team in scoring (11.6 ppg) & 1st in rebounding (5.5 pg). 1st in @WCChoops in FG percentage (66.4).#TeamFirst | #StampedeAhead | #WCCHoops
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 4, 2020
NEXT UP
The Broncos are on the road for the next three games. They play at San Francisco on Thursday with tipoff set for 8 p.m.
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