SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Carrying a perfect record, Santa Clara men's basketball will play twice before the Christmas holiday in Santa Cruz, California, beginning with Tuesday's matchup against Colorado State.

Tipoff between the Broncos (6-0) and Rams is set for 1 p.m. from Kaiser Permanente Arena. Due to Santa Cruz County guidelines, spectators will not be permitted inside the venue.

Santa Clara, looking to play its third game in a 20-day stretch, is 5-0 at home on the season, including two victories in Santa Cruz. The Broncos' lone road game was a 76-69 triumph over Cal Poly on Dec. 9.

Friday's game against San Jose State was canceled. The Broncos last played on Wednesday, downing Fresno Pacific, 88-65.

The Broncos will face Bethesda University (Calif.) on Wednesday, also in Santa Cruz.

Colorado State (2-1) lost 53-33 at Saint Mary's on Saturday.

QUICK HITS...
• Santa Clara's 6-0 record is tied for the eighth-best start in school history.
• The Broncos are 14-2 in the month of December over the last three seasons.
• Santa Clara has won 23 of its last 28 home games, including its first 15 last season in Leavey Center.
• The Broncos are coming off a 20-13 mark last season, their first 20-win campaign in seven years and just fourth occurrence in the last 19.
• Santa Clara returns four starters and seven of its top nine scorers from last season, including preseason All-West Coast Conference performer Josip Vrankic, a three-year starter. The senior ranked first on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 pg) last season. DJ Mitchell was third in scoring (10.7 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.2 pg).
• Before his injury at the beginning of league play last year, junior Guglielmo Caruso was among the most productive and efficient big men in the WCC. He would have ranked first in the league in field-goal percentage (66.1) and third in blocked shots (1.1 pg) but did not appear in enough games to qualify. Caruso missed the last two games of the Bronco Invitational due to concussion protocol after being injured against Idaho State (Nov. 25).
• Mitchell and junior Keshawn Justice were two of the top three 3-point shooting threats in the league in 2019-20. They each shot 38 percent from behind the 3-point line.
• The Broncos had two of more productive first-year players in the WCC a year ago. Jaden Bediako was a member of the WCC All-Freshman team and Jalen Williams proved to be one of the most explosive first-year players in the league. Bediako was inserted into the starting lineup for Caruso as conference play opened and went on to average a team-best 11.9 rebounds per 40 minutes of play. Williams started the final 23 games and tallied the third-most steals (44) by a freshman in school history.
• Newcomers include freshman guard Trent Hudgens Jr. and three transfers in Christian Carlyle (Florida Gulf Coast), Joe Foley (Lehigh) and Vittorio Reynoso-Avila (Princeton). Carlyle and Reynoso-Avila are graduate transfers.

YEAR FIVE UNDER SENDEK...
The Broncos are in their 114th year, including fifth under Herb Sendek, who has been successful in each of his four head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek has led the Broncos to three winning seasons, including a 20-13 mark in 2019-20. The program had not recorded three winning seasons during a four-year stretch since Dick Davey led it to seven in a row from 1994-95 through 2000-01. Sendek is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio).

THE COLORADO STATE SERIES...
This will be just the second meeting between the schools. The Broncos down the Rams, 73-50, in the NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Oregon, on March 12, 1954. The following day, Santa Clara fell to USC, 66-65, in double overtime in an Elite Eight matchup.

Colorado State was 20-12 last season, including 11-7 in Mountain West Conference play. The Broncos are 158-89 overall against current members of the league (Air Force 1-1; Boise State 4-0: Fresno State 20-10; New Mexico 3-4; Nevada 34-29; San Diego State 0-1; San José State 82-30; UNLV 7-9; Utah State 3-5; Wyoming 3-0).

TEAM NOTES...
• The Broncos will be playing their third game of the season at Kaiser Permanente Arena due to COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County. There have been two cancellations (Dec. 5 vs. New Mexico State; Dec. 18 vs. San Jose State) and one postponement (Dec. 12 vs. Sacramento State) in games scheduled for the facility. The team is also practicing in Santa Cruz.
• Santa Clara joins top-ranked Gonzaga (4-0) among West Coast Conference schools without a loss this season.
• The Broncos hold a +7.5 rebounding and +2.3 turnover margin against their foes. They had a season-low eight turnovers in the win over Cal Poly (Dec. 9) and outrebounded all but one opponent (CSU Bakersfield, Dec. 2). Santa Clara leads the WCC in defensive rebounding percentage (79.7) and its turnover margin is second.
• Santa Clara has held the opposition to 58.3 points per game (No. 20 in the NCAA) and 33.5 percent shooting from the floor (No. 5 in the NCAA). Cal Poly shot just 37.3 percent from the floor on Dec. 9, but it was the highest mark this season by a foe.
• Santa Clara is averaging 5.3 blocks per game, which ranks 28th in the nation. The Broncos have blocked 26 shots over the last four games (6.5 pg), including a season-high nine against Nicholls (Nov. 28).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES...
• Josip Vrankic leads the team in scoring (18.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 pg), and is second in assists (2.5 pg). Vrankic is the only player in the WCC averaging at least 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Jaden Bediako is second in rebounding (8.5) and has 22 of the team's 66 offensive boards. Christian Carlyle, a graduate transfer Florida Gulf Coast, is the top distributor with 3.0 assists per game.
• Miguel Tomley made his first career start one to remember with regulars Carlyle and Jalen Williams out of action with injuries. The redshirt freshman entered the Cal Poly game (Dec. 9) with five points in 26 minutes of action in his previous three outings, but went 4-for-7 from the floor and made all five free throws in scoring a career-high 15 points in 34 minutes.
• Vrankic recorded his third double-double (17 points/10 rebounds) of the season, and second in a row, and Keshawn Justice his second with a season-high 15 points and a career-best 11 rebounds against Fresno Pacific (Dec. 15). Vrankic had 17 points and 14 rebounds in last week's win vs. Cal Poly (Dec. 9). That rebounding total was one shy of his career high set against San Francisco (Feb. 9, 2019) and Nicholls (Nov. 28, 2020).
• Carlyle (concussion protocol) and Williams (foot) have missed the last two games.
• Bediako had a season-high four blocks against Fresno Pacific (Dec. 15) and has two or more in five of the six games. His 2.2 blocks per game rank No. 36 in the NCAA.

NONCONFERENCE SUCCESS...
The Broncos have won their last 11 nonconference games overall and 22 nonleague home contests, the longest stretch in school history. The last overall loss was a 97-68 road defeat at the hands of Nevada on Dec. 4, 2019. Idaho State was the last nonconference foe to knock off the Broncos in Leavey Center, escaping with a 68-66 victory on Dec. 7, 2018.

HOW TO WATCH
All Santa Clara home games and West Coast Conference contests not shown on a national platform (ESPN, CBS Sports Network or BYUtv) will be streamed through the WCC Network (local blackout restrictions apply for games broadcast over the air). All events that are not selected for a Stadium Plus broadcast or a national outlet, can be viewed on the following platforms:

• WCCsports.com
• Roku
• Android Device
• iOS Device: Mobile • tvOS
• FireTV

Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) calls the action in his 14th season as Voice of the Broncos.

HOW TO LISTEN
All home games and most road contests can be heard on the TuneIn app. The Lunardi's Market's Pregame Show begins 10 minutes prior to tipoff with Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) calling the action in his 14th season as Voice of the Broncos.

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