SANTA CLARA, Calif. - It was a true tale of two halves for Santa Clara men's basketball on Thursday evening. One half saw the Broncos struggle to find any rhythm and shoot a paltry 37.5 percent. The other half saw a rejuvenated offense that shot a blistering 56.3 percent, including 64.3 percent from beyond the arc. Fortunately for SCU, the better half came later and resulted in the Broncos erasing a double-digit deficit en route to picking up a big 80-75 victory over San Diego inside the Leavey Center.
Trailing by 10 at 56-46 with 10 minutes remaining, sophomore guard Carlos Stewart, who had just three points in the first half, put the team on his back by going off on an 11-4 scoring run of his own to chip the deficit down to just three points. San Diego ended the spree with a triple on the other end, but that opened the door for graduate forward Keshawn Justice to take over. The Madison, Wisc. product knocked down back-to-back-to-back triples to even the score at 66 with just under six minutes to play. The Broncos then forced a turnover on the oposite end that freshman Christoph Tilly picked up, ran the lenghth of the floor and rocked the rim for the go-ahead score. Justice followed suit with yet another triple on the next possession to complete the momentum swing.
BIG MAN ON THE LOOSE!
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 10, 2023
BRONCOS LEAD#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/mUJtOwmmnW
San Diego (11-15, 4-8) didn't go down without a fight as they prevented the Broncos from extending it to another bigger than a two-score deficit. Jase Townsend knocked down a late triple with 51 seconds remaining to cut it to three points and the Toreros had one last shot at the tie after forcing a late turnover inside the final 10 seconds. Their tying attempt fell short and into the hands of Brandin Podziemski, who was promptly fouled and knocked down both free throw attempts to put the game on ice.
Justice, who was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes with an 0-for-4 start from 3-point range, was unstoppable in the second half. The forward converted six of his seven 3-point attempts for 18 points. Equally impressive was the play from Stewart, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the final 20 minutes and finished with five steals and three assists.
Podziemski led all scorers in the first half with 13 points and finished with 20 for his team-best 10th 20-point game on the season. The Greenfield, Wisc. product was 4-for-9 from distance, dished out four assists, had a pair of blocks and came just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.
Tilly finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds while fellow big man Jaden Bediako came away with six points and five rebounds.
Santa Clara (18-8, 6-5) finished the game 30-for-64 from the floor (46.9 percent) and 12-for-28 from 3-point range - including a 9-for-14 mark in the second half. The Broncos pulled down 38 rebounds to San Diego's 31.
The Toreros shot 50.8 percent for the night with Marcellus Earlington finishing with a game-high 22 points.
It'll be a quick turnaround for Santa Clara as they gear up to host LMU on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip inside the Leavey Center.
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Coach Sendek discusses the Broncos comeback victory with @PassarelliVoice #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/518cvKXjqt
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 10, 2023
.@tiggo3justice scored all 18 of his points in the second half on 6-of-7 3-point shooting ������#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/Ys72w8lzrG
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) February 10, 2023
GAME NOTES
- Justice tied the school record of 137 career games played. He'll own the record outright with just one more appearance.
- Justice now has nine career games with at least five 3-pointers made, including five this season.
- Stewart, who checked into the game fifth in the WCC with 41 steals, is now just one behind his teammate Podziemski (47). Both rank in the top three in the WCC in total steals.
