SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Behind yet another incredibly efficient shooting night, Santa Clara men's basketball led wire-to-wire to take down Portland in the WCC Tournament quarterfinal on Saturday. The Broncos shot 53.4 percent from the floor as four players finished with 16 or more points en route to a 91-67 victory. 

3-seed Santa Clara advances to the WCC Tournament semifinal round for the first time since 2016-17. They will take on 2-seed Saint Mary's at 8:30 p.m. PT on Monday. The Broncos were 1-1 against the Gaels during the regular season. With 21 wins, Santa Clara has their most under Herb Sendek in his six seasons, and their most since winning 26 in 2012-13. 

Jalen Williams, the leading scorer in the WCC, did what he has done all season long, and that's score a lot of points. The junior sharpshooter from Gilbert, Ariz., scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting while dishing out a game-high six assists. Williams entered the game needing just three for 1,000 in his career. He got that on his first shot attempt of the night and now has 1,021 for his career. 

PJ Pipes also topped 20 points in the victory, knocking down 6-of-13 field goals for 21 points, his third 20-point outing in the last four games. Josip Vrankic nearly joined them with 19 points of his own to go with seven rebounds and five assists, and Keshawn Justice knocked down four 3-pointers as part of a 16-point, seven-rebound night. 

The Broncos (21-10, 10-5) completely dominated the Pilots across the stat sheet, dishing out 16 assists to Portland's six, and winning the battle of the boards, 42-36. Santa Clara locked down on the Pilots' shooters, holding them to just 35.2 percent from the floor (25-of-71), including a 5-of-16 finish from the 3-point line. 

Santa Clara shot light's out from 3-point range, knocking down 13-of-27 attempts. Williams, Justice and Vrankic were a combined 11-of-18 from beyond the arc. 

Things started well for the Broncos right out of the gate. Santa Clara scored the game's first eight points and led 16-3 at the first media timeout thanks to a 4-for-5 start from 3-point range. The shots then began to fall in Portland's favor with the Pilots able to chip the lead down to four with just under nine minutes remaning, but the Broncos rattled off a 12-0 run to grab a comfortable lead in which they would hold on to for the rest of the game. Portland would score seven unanswered in the final 1:04 of the half as they looked to swing some momentum in their favor going into the locker room, but Pipes was able to knock down a difficult jumper at the buzzer to send the Broncos to the half up 48-23. 

The second half saw much of the same as the Broncos kept their foot on the gas allowing Portland to get no closer than 15 points away in the period. Santa Clara led by as much as 27. 

Portland (18-14, 7-7) was led by Chris Austin's 19 points while Tyler Robertson added 14. 

NOTES

• Jalen Williams notched his 12th game of 20 or more points
• PJ Pipes notched his fifth 20-point game
• Santa Clara extended their winning streak over the Pilots to 14. 
• This is the seventh game of the season in which Santa Clara has hit 10 or more 3-pointers 
• Santa Clara topped 90 points for the third time this season
• Four Broncos scored in double figures for the 20th time this season
• Jalen Williams is now the 37th Bronco in program history to score 1,000 career points
• The Broncos are the only team in the WCC with four active 1,000 career point scorers (Williams, Vrankic, Pipes and Justice) 

POSTGAME VIDEO

For the 12th time this season, @JdubPSCEO scored 20 or more points. 24 to be exact, and dished out a game-high six assists to help the Broncos advance to the WCC Tournament semifinals#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/sGmPtu4I7d

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) March 6, 2022

.@JosipVrankic stuffs the stat sheet once again with 19 pts, 7 reb and 5 asts. He recaps tonight's quarterfinal victory over Portland#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/IBJiQROFvD

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) March 6, 2022

NEXT UP

• No. 3 Santa Clara will take on No. 2 Saint Mary's in Monday's WCC Tournament semifinal. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. PT. 

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