SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With adjustments in the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Clara men's basketball is set to play its third straight road game to open West Coast Conference play on Sunday when it faces San Diego.

In the first of two meetings this season, tipoff between the Broncos and Toreros is set for 2 p.m. in Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the San Diego program.

After posting their second-consecutive win at Saint Mary's on Saturday, the Broncos (7-3, 1-1) followed up by losing to Pacific, 79-58, on Thursday. Jordan Bell led the way with a double-double (17 points/11 rebounds) and Daniss Jenkins added 15 points for the Tigers who hadn't played since Dec. 20.

San Diego (1-4, 0-1) has not played since Dec. 31, and will be playing just its second home game of the season.

QUICK HITS...
• Santa Clara has won at least seven of its first 10 games for just the third time in the last 14 seasons, including second year in a row. The Broncos were 8-2 in 2019-20 and in 2012-13. The 6-0 start this year was tied for the eighth-best in school history.
• Santa Clara has won 23 of its last 29 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 has 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.
• 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 Broncos had only three winning records in the previous 15 seasons, and the program had not recorded three winning campaigns 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 SAN DIEGO SERIES...
In a series that began in 1953, Santa Clara leads, 50-38, with wins in 11 of the last 16 meetings. The Broncos have won five of the last seven at San Diego. After the previous five meetings were decided by a total of 21 points, none of the last four matchups have been closer than 12.

TEAM NOTES...
• Santa Clara's win at Saint Mary's on Saturday was its second straight in Moraga, California. The Broncos hadn't won in back-to-back seasons at Saint Mary's since 2001-02 and 2002-03.
• The Broncos have played three home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena due to COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County. There have been four cancellations (Dec. 5 vs. New Mexico State; Dec. 12 vs. Sacramento State; Dec. 18 vs. San Jose State; Dec. 23 vs. Bethesda) and one postponement (Jan. 2 vs. LMU) in games scheduled for the facility. The team is also practicing in Santa Cruz.
• Santa Clara has held the opposition to 38.0-percent shooting from the floor (No. 13 in the NCAA) and 64.9 points per game (No. 62 in the NCAA). On Thursday, Pacific shot 47.8 percent from the floor, the highest mark this season by a foe. Santa Clara has struggled shooting from outside, connecting on just 25.5 percent from behind the 3-point line though they connected on a season-high 50 percent (6-for-12) on 3-pointers vs. Saint Mary's on Saturday.
• The Broncos are averaging 4.8 blocks, which ranks 29th in the nation, and hold a +3.3 rebounding edge per game. Santa Clara is second in the WCC in defensive rebounding percentage (77.7), trailing only Saint Mary's (79.9).
• The Broncos ranked third in the WCC in free-throw shooting (74.2 percent) in 2019-20, but have struggled overall this season, connecting on only 65.9 percent (ninth in the WCC). However, Santa Clara shot a season-best 77.8 percent (14 of 18) from the free-throw line in each of the last two games.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES...
• Josip Vrankic leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and is second in the WCC in rebounding (8.2 pg). Vrankic and Jeremiah Bailey of Pacific and Eli Scott of LMU are the only players in the WCC averaging at least 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Jaden Bediako is ninth in the league in rebounding (6.7 pg) and fourth in offensive rebounding (2.5pg). Bediako has two or more blocked shots in six games. His 1.9 blocks per contest rank No. 42 in the NCAA.
• Christian Carlyle, a graduate transfer Florida Gulf Coast, is third on the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) and second in assists (1.9 pg). Keshawn Justice is second on the team in scoring (11.2 ppg), first in assists (2.0 pg) and third in rebounding (5.8 pg). Justice has carried the offensive load the last two games, averaging 21.0 points on 14 of 22 shooting from the floor (63.6 percent), including 5-for-9 on 3-pointers.
• Carlyle has averaged 12.0 points on 20 of 37 from the field (54.1 percent) over the last four games after missing the previous two due to concussion protocol. Jalen Williams (foot) missed the same two contests (Cal Poly, Dec. 9; Fresno Pacific, Dec. 15), but is still trying to round into form. He connected on just 2 of 14 from the floor in his first two contests back, but went 2-for-5 on Saturday against Saint Mary's. However, he was 1-for-7 from the field on Thursday against Pacific. Williams averaged 13.5 points in the first two games of the season.

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. Sunday's game vs. San Diego will be available on TuneIn with the pregame show beginning at 1:55 p.m.

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