NASSAU, The Bahamas - Behind big nights from Brandin Podziemski and Jaden Bediako, coupled with an outstanding defensive effort, Santa Clara picked up a big win in the opening game of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship as they knocked off DePaul, 69-61. The Broncos held the Blue Demons to just 34.4 percent shooting and clamped down around the perimeter to allow just six treys on 31 attempts as they picked up their first win over a Big East opponent since 2012.
The win was No. 100 for head coach Herb Sendek in his Santa Clara career. He became the eighth coach in program history to amass 100 wins with the Broncos.
Pick up your 100th win as head coach at Santa Clara and we're gonna give you a shower.
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) November 19, 2022
Sorry Coach. We dont make the rules ��#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/lhl3VmfOku
Podziemski did a little of everything in the winning effort. Coming out of the half with seven points and seven rebounds, the Illinois transfer scored 14 in the final 20 minutes on 50 percent shooting (6-of-12). He finished the game with 21 points (his third 20-point game of the year) and a career-best 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. The Greenfield, Wisc. product also came away with three steals, two blocks and three assists in 38 minutes of work.
Bediako was also outstanding, scoring a season-best 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting and was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. He also dished out a pair of assists and blocked two shots, the second of which led to a Podziemski triple late in the contest to help put the game on ice.
Parker Braun had a solid game of eight points and six rebounds, and Brenton Knapper scored a career-high seven points.
The Broncos (3-1) shot 42.6 percent from the floor, including an outstanding mark of 52 percent in the opening 20 minutes (14-of-27). Jumping out to a quick 11-5 lead, the Broncos looked to be on cruise control early. DePaul (3-1) had other ideas, scoring on three-straight possessions to tie the game at 11-11 at the first media timeout. The Blue Demons then built a six-point lead at 22-16. That lead wouldn't last long as Santa Clara went on a furious scoring spree that spanned the entire final 11:12 of the half. The Broncos outscored DePaul 26-6 through the run to take a 15-point lead into the locker room at 43-28.
Despite big numbers from Podziemski, Santa Clara could not sustain their hot start offensively in the second half. The Broncos shot 35 percent in the period and was just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. That proved to not be much of an issue as the defense locked things down on thier end. SCU suffocated the potent Blue Demon scoring attack in the second period, holding them to just 35 percent from the floor (11-of-31) and 2-of-17 from beyond the arc (12 percent).
DePaul was able to take advantage SCU's second half shooting woes to cut the deficit to as little as four at 55-51 with 7:21 remaining. Podziemski then took matters into his own hands, scoring six points on three straight possessions to push the lead back up to 10. The Blue Demons made one last run to cut it back to a four-point game at 61-57 with five minutes to play, but Santa Clara had an answer with Keshawn Justice and Braun each scoring a bucket, and Podziemski knocking down a triple from the top of the key to put the game out of reach.
The Broncos pulled down 48 rebounds to DePaul's 32 and edged the Blue Demons out on assists, 12-10.
With the victory, Santa Clara advances to Sunday's championship game against UCF with the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship title on the line.
