WCC Basketball Tournament Central | Bracket

VIDEO: Sendek, Justice Talk Victory Over Portland

SENIOR REFLECTIONS: Carlyle | Mitchell | Reynoso-Avila | Vrankic

LAS VEGAS - Santa Clara men's basketball, seeded No. 7, continues play in the West Coast Conference Tournament with a matchup against No. 6 seed Pacific.

The Broncos (11-7, 4-5) and Tigers (9-8, 6-7) will play on Friday at 9 p.m. in Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, fans are not permitted into the facility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams played once during the regular season with the Tigers prevailing 79-58 on Jan. 14.

The Broncos are coming off an 95-86 win on Thursday over 10th-seeded Portland. Keshawn Justice had 22 points and Jalen Williams scored a career-high 21. Pacific has won three of its last four games after dropping six of the previous seven outings.

QUICK HITS...
• The Broncos were tied for sixth in the WCC standings. With an unbalanced schedule, the league is utillizing the KenPom.com adjusted winning percentage for seeding.
• Senior forward Josip Vrankic was voted first-team All-WCC and sophomore guard Jalen Williams was an honorable mention selection.
• The Broncos went a stretch of 24 days between games due to a COVID-19 pause in activities. Before playing LMU on Feb. 16, they defeated the Lions, 72-69, in Los Angeles, on Jan. 23, and three days later halted activities.

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).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES...
• Josip Vrankic leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and is first in the WCC in rebounding (8.6 pg). Vrankic leads the WCC with seven double-doubles.
• Keshawn Justice is third on the team in both scoring (11.3 ppg) and assists (2.1 pg), and second in rebounding (5.4 pg). Justice has connected on 13 of 29 from behind the 3-point line (44.9 percent) in his last five games. He missed the four prior to Thursday four due to concussion protocol.
• Jalen Williams ranks second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and his offensive production has steadily increased since missing two games (Cal Poly, Dec. 9; Fresno Pacific, Dec. 15) with a foot injury. He had a then season-best 18 points in a 72-69 win over LMU (Jan. 23) and followed with the same total on Feb. 16 against the Lions. Williams has averaged 15.4 points on 12 of 28 behind the 3-point line (42.9 percent), in the last eight games. He was only 3-for-26 on the season prior to that beyond the 3-point line.
• Williams has also been more a facilitator of late, averaging 3.8 assists in the last eight games to take over the team lead in that category (2.3 pg). He is also eighth in the WCC in both free-throw percentage (77.6) and steals (1.3 pg).
• Christian Carlyle, a graduate transfer Florida Gulf Coast, is fourth on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg). Guglielmo Caruso is fifth on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.5 pg).

TEAM NOTES...
• Santa Clara's point total in Thursday's 95-86 win over Portland was its most ever in a WCC Tournament game. The Broncos downed Portland, 91-70, in the 1987 quarterfinals on their way to the title.
• The Broncos have had 15 games either postponed or canceled this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Santa Clara played its first game in Leavey Center since Nov. 28 when it defeated Nicholls in the finale of the Bronco Invitational. Due to Santa Clara County guidelines on competition, the Broncos relocated to Santa Cruz, California, for four games and practice from the first week of December through the third week of January.
• The 6-0 start to the season tied for the eighth-best in school history.
• 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 67.4 percent (eighth in the WCC). After connecting on only 117 of 184 (63.6 percent) over the first eight games of the season, the Broncos are 169-for-233 (72.5 percent) over the last 10, including a season-best 85.2 percent (23 of 27) in Thursday's win vs. Portland.
• Santa Clara's win at Saint Mary's on Jan. 9, 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.

BRONCOS IN THE WCC TOURNEY
Santa Clara has a 30-32 all-time record in the West Coast Conference tournament, which began with the 1986-87 season. The Broncos have won two tournament titles, at the conclusion of the inaugural year and at the end of 1992-93.

THE PACIFIC SERIES...
The Broncos have a 99-47 edge in a series that dates to 1905 and won four of the last six meetings. This is the eighth season the Tigers have been a member (for the second time) of the West Coast Conference, with the Broncos leading 10-6 in that span. But the teams have faced each other every season since 1994-95. The 145 games played are the fifth-most among Santa Clara opponents. The teams have met only once in the WCC Tournament with the Broncos prevailing 81-64 on March 6, 2014.

ATTACKING THE GLASS...
Not only is Josip Vrankic one of the top scoring threats in school history, ranking No. 19 on the career points list (1,387), but he is also one of the best rebounders. Vrankic leads the West Coast Conference in rebounding at 8.3 per game. Only five players in school history - Dennis Awtrey (13.2/1967-68), Nick Vanos (10.8/1984-85), Ron Reis (11.0/1990-91), John Bryant (9.6/2007-08; 15.1/2008-09) and Yannick Atanga (7.9/2012-13) - have led the league in that category. If not for a shortened senior season, Vrankic would find himself among the top 10 on the Santa Clara career rebounding chart. He has 643 rebounds and Nate Kratch (2013-17) is in 10th with 697.

HOW TO LISTEN
All home games, most road contests and all WCC Tournament games 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.

2021 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament Schedule

Friday, March 5
SECOND ROUND 
• Game 3: No. 5 LMU vs San Francisco, 6 p.m. (Stadium)
• Game 4: No. 6 Pacific vs Santa Clara, 9 p.m. (Stadium)
 
Saturday, March 6
QUARTERFINALS
• Game 5: No. 4 Saint Mary's vs Game 3 Winner, 6 p.m. (ESPNU, ESPN app)
• Game 6: No. 3 Pepperdine vs Game 4 Winner, 9 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN app)
 
Monday, March 8
SEMIFINALS 
• Semifinal: No. 1 Gonzaga vs Game 5 Winner, 6 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN app)
• Semifinal: No. 2 Brigham Young vs Game 6 Winner, 9 p.m. (ESPN2, ESPN app)
 
Tuesday, March 9
CHAMPIONSHIP
• 6:00 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN app)

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