WCC Basketball Tournament Central | Bracket

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

LAS VEGAS – Santa Clara men's basketball put together a strong performance for the second-straight night and is now headed to the quarterfinals of the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament.

Josip Vrankic rebounded from a foul-plagued outing to post 24 points and Guglielmo Caruso scored 14 to lead a balanced offensive attack for the seventh-seeded Broncos who shot a blistering 55 percent from the floor in defeating No. 6 seed Pacific, 81-76, in Friday's second-round matchup.

Keshawn Justice and Jalen Williams each tallied 11 points for Santa Clara (12-7), which advanced to face No. 3 seed Pepperdine on Saturday.

Daniss Jenkins had 16 points and Pierre Cockrell II and Jeremiah Bailey each scored 14 for the Tigers (9-9) who crept within six points after trailing by as many as 19 in the second half.

Bailey capped an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer to pull the Tigers within 77-71 with 1:47 remaining.

Pacific had a chance to cut into the lead even further when Williams missed a pair of free throws but Bailey was unable to connect on a 3-pointer. Williams then stole the ball and fed Vrankic for a fastbreak layup. The final margin was as close the Tigers got.

One night after scoring only four points in 10 minutes before fouling out in a 95-86 first-round win over Portland, Vrankic connected on 10 of 13 from the field, mostly from around the basket as the Broncos scored 42 in the paint.

Vrankic matched the school's single-game tournament record of made field goals. Jeffty Connelly set the mark vs. Loyola Marymount on March 7, 1989 and that was matched by Jared Brownridge against BYU on March 7, 2015.

The Broncos put together one of their best halves of basketball in the opening 20 minutes, connecting on 19 of 32 from the field (59 percent), including 5 of 10 from behind the 3-point line, and turning the ball over only four times in leading by as many as 17.

Vrankic sparked the key run, scoring 12 of the team's 14 points in one stretch when the lead grew from seven to 44-27 with 2:49 on the clock.

The Tigers shot 49 percent from the floor in the game, but connected on only 7 of 25 attempts from beyond the 3-point.

The teams met only once in the regular season and Pacific controlled the interior, outscoring the Broncos 48 to 22 in the paint on its way to a 79-58 home victory. The Tigers also went 7-for-15 from beyond the 3-point line.

Watch how the @SantaClaraHoops ran past Pacific in the UCU WCC Tournament Second Round!@DriveToyota | #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/UU0gCXzLlR

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 6, 2021

NOTES
• The Broncos have a 100-47 edge in a series that dates to 1905 and won five of the last seven 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 11-6 in that span. But the teams have faced each other every season since 1994-95. The 147 games played are the fifth-most among Santa Clara opponents. The teams had met only once in the WCC Tournament with the Broncos prevailing 81-64 on March 6, 2014.
• Santa Clara's shooting percentage from the field (55.4) was its second-best of the season, trailing only the 59.6 percent accuracy the Broncos had in Friday's win over Portland.
• Santa Clara's two lowest foul totals this season have occurred against Pacific. The Broncos had a season-low nine in a loss at Pacific on Jan. 14 and committed only 11 in tonight's game. In addition, Pacific was only whistled for 16 fouls tonight, the lowest by a Santa Clara foe this year.
• With 24 points, Josip Vrankic moved from 19th to 17th on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Nick Vanos (1981-85/1,399) and Mike Gervasoni (1964-67/1,393). Vrankic now has 1,411 points.
• Vrankic scored 20 or more points for the 17th time in his career, including sixth this season.
• Jalen Williams (11 points) had scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games.
• Guglielmo Caruso (14) had his eighth double-digit scoring output of the season. Five of those have occurred in the last eight games.

NEXT UP
The Broncos will face No. 3 seed Pepperdine in the WCC Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at 9 p.m. from Orleans Arena.

2021 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament Schedule

Saturday, March 6
QUARTERFINALS
• Game 5: No. 4 Saint Mary's vs No. 5 LMU, 6 p.m. (ESPNU, ESPN app)
• Game 6: No. 3 Pepperdine vs No. 7 Santa Clara, 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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