Jan. 5, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos take on the San Jose State Spartans for the second time this season on Monday, Jan. 7. The game tips off at 7 p.m. PT at the Leavey Center. The Broncos have won five straight games in the series following the 73-63 win on Dec. 8 at the Event Center in San Jose. Fans can hear all the action live on 1220 KNTS or SantaClaraBroncos.com. Santa Clara has already clinched the Rivalry Series with the Spartans and currently lead the series 14.5-0.

Last Game
Despite a career high 22 points from freshman Ben Dowdell, Santa Clara fell 56-53 to Niagara in the Cable Car Classic championship game. Brody Angley missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for SCU. Angley finished with 10 points and also tied his career high with 11 rebounds for his first double double of the season. Charron Fisher led Niagara with 26 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Head Coach Kerry Keating
Santa Clara University named Kerry Keating head coach on April 6, 2007. Keating, 36, comes to SCU with a long coaching backgroud at a number of top programs. He is the 14th head coach in the 101 years of Bronco basketball and he is the first coach hired since Harlan Dykes in 1926 that had not previously attended SCU or served as an assistant coach on the Mission Campus. Most recently, Keating helped UCLA reach back-to-back Final Fours as an assistant coach on Ben Howland's staff in Westwood. He has also served as an assistant at Tennessee, Tulsa, Appalachian State, Seton Hall, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. He is off to a 8-6 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. San Jose State
Series Record: SCU leads 70-27
First Meeting: Mar. 16, 1910, SJSU won 54-30
Record at SCU: SCU leads 50-20
Record at SJSU: SCU leads 11-2
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 9-5
Biggest SCU Win: 98-54 (44) on Jan. 8, 1972
Biggest SJSU Win: 92-61 (31) on Dec. 16, 1985
Notes: Santa Clara has won five straight games in the series, including a 47-46 win in 2006 at the Event Center ... Bronco forward Travis Niesen hit a buzzer-beater in 2006 to win that game for the Broncos ... SCU has also won 10 of the past 11 games in the series ... from 1993-94-1999-00, the series was played at the San Jose Arena with SCU posting a 5-1 record in those games ... since 1982, these two teams have met every year except 1994-95 ... this season marks the first time that the two teams will play twice in one season since 1968-69, the last season that both teams played in the WCC ... the teams split the games that season with Santa Clara winning 64-49 and San Jose State winning 73-69 ... the Spartans win that season was the only regular season loss for SCU and the loss snapped the Broncos 21-game winning streak.

Last Game vs. San Jose State
Santa Clara held off a scrappy San Jose State Spartans team 73-63 on Dec. 8 at the Event Center in San Jose to end the team's road trip on a high note. The Broncos led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the Spartans cut the lead to just five in the late stages. The Broncos then pulled away for the win. John Bryant scored 21 points and added 12 rebounds in the win, while Brody Angley scored 15 points and had a season high seven rebounds for the Broncos.

Scouting San Jose State
The Spartans have had an up and down season and had posted a 6-6 record through Jan. 4. The Spartans opened the season with two wins but then lost five out of six games. SJSU then recovered to win three straight, including back-to-back overtime wins before losing to Boise State on Jan. 2. Three players average double figures, led by Justin Graham at 11.9 points per game. George Nessman is in his third season as head coach at San Jose State.

Five Straight vs. Spartans
The Broncos have won five games in a row against San Jose State following their 73-63 victory on Dec. 8.

VS. WAC Opponents
After defeating San Jose State on Dec, 8, Santa Clara has now notched a 155-73 record against the eight current members of the Western Athletic Conference.

White Joins Broncos
Santa Clara University men's basketball announced that Decensae White has transferred to Santa Clara and will join the basketball program. He comes to Santa Clara after one and a half years at Texas Tech playing for Bobby Knight. He will be allowed to practice with the team immediately, but will not be eligible to participate in competition until after the fall term in 2008. White, a San Francisco resident, who attended Serra High School, played 30 out of 34 games as a freshman at Texas Tech in 2006-07 and started two games for Bobby Knight's squad. He averaged 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, while shooting .486 from the floor and .522 from 3-point range. His shooting percentage was second on the team and his three-point shooting ranked first amongst players with over 10 made three-pointers. White's offensive rebounds total tied for third on the team. He had a season high 12 points against Colorado in the opening round of the Big 12 Championships. He also had 11 points and seven rebounds against Kansas State as a freshman. He appeared in the first two games of the season for the Red Raiders as a sophomore. The Redwood City-born White scored nine points in the season-opener against UC Riverside and then started against Sam Houston State and scored four points, while grabbing three rebounds.

Cable Car Recap
The Niagara Purple Eagles became the first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team to win the Cable Car Classic on Dec. 29. Niagara defeated Morgan State 73-53 in the first round and then beat Santa Clara 56-53 in the final. Charron Fisher of Niagara was named the tournament's most valuable player after scoring 26 points in the final. Brody Angley (SCU), Ben Dowdell (SCU), Tyrone Lewis (Niagara) and David Kummer (Denver) joined Fisher on the all-tournament team. Angley was named the Kevin and Dick O'Connor award winner, while Jonathan Gunderson earned the D.J. Frandsen Memorial Sixth Man Award. Santa Clara is now 47-35 all-time in the Cable Car Classic.

Dowdell on Fire
Bronco freshman Ben Dowdell has been on a good roll recently. He scored a career high 11 points against Denver in the opening round of the Cable Car Classic on Dec. 28. He followed that effort with 22 points and six rebounds against Niagara in the Cable Car final. He is now averaging 6.5 points per game this year.

Angley Ties Career High
Brody Angley had an excellent Cable Car Classic on Dec. 28 and 29. He scored 15 points and had eight assists on Dec. 28 against Denver and then had a double double with 10 points and a career high 11 rebounds against Niagara on Dec. 29. He is now second on the team in rebounding at 4.5 rebounds per game.

Bryant Dominant
Junior center John Bryant rediscovered his dominant form on Dec. 28 against Denver. Bryant scored 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and pulled down 15 rebounds. He also shot 9-for-12 from the free throw line. He has now scored over 20 points seven times in 14 games this season and has scored in double figures in every game but one.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant has posted five double doubles this season for Santa Clara after scoring 21 points and grabbing 15 rebounds against Denver on Dec. 28. He also had double doubles against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 9, Sacramento State on Nov. 25, San Jose State on Dec. 8 and Montana on Dec. 17. Bryant had five double doubles in 2006-07 and four double doubles as a freshman during the 2005-06 season.

Angley Deja Vu
Brody Angley hit the game-tying 3-pointer against Denver on Dec. 28 in the Cable Car Classic to send the game to overtime. The Broncos then defeated Denver 74-65. In 2004 as a freshman, Angley also hit a three to send the game into overtime, knocking down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game against Yale. However, SCU would lose that game 90-84 on Dec. 29, 2004.

Shooting
Santa Clara shot 55 percent from the floor against Denver on Dec. 28, marking the seventh time this season that SCU shot 50 percent or better.

Double Digits
Santa Clara defeated Montana by 11 points on Dec. 17. The Broncos have earned six of their eight victories by 10 points or more this season. Their two single-digit wins were by nine points, vs. Eastern Washington on Nov. 29 (66-57) and vs. Denver on Dec. 28 (74-65 in OT).

Free Throw Line
SCU has improved significantly at the free throw line this season through 14 games. The Broncos are shooting 71 percent from the charity stripe this year after shooting 67 percent last season.

Threes
Senior Brody Angley, junior Calvin Johnson and sophomore Jonathan Gunderson are all hot from beyond the arc this season. Johnson, who has attempted only two 2-pointers all season, leads the way at .511 (23-of-45), with Angley (.458, 22-for-48) and Gunderson (.447, 17-for-38) right behind him. The record for 3-point percentage for the season is .454, set by Steve Nash in 1994-95. As a team, SCU is shooting .422 from beyond the arc. The season record at Santa Clara is .390, set in 1994-95.

Angley In Top 10
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 70 assists in the first 14 games he has now passed Harold Keeling (1981-85) for seventh all-time and has 412 career assists. John Woolery (1990-94) is sixth on the list with 422.

Angley More Top 10's
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 147. He passed Doron Perkins (2003-05) on Dec. 12 with two steals and then passed Chris Lane (1984-88) on Dec. 19 with four steals. He is now tied for fifth all time with Steve Nash (1992-96). Along with steals, Angley now finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in games started as well. After starting against Denver, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 94 starts, moving him past Michael Norman (1980-84) for seventh all-time. Angley has an opportunity to end his career second all-time if he starts 28 games this season. The all-time leader is Brian Jones (1996-01) with 116 starts. Kurt Rambis (1976-80) is second with 107.

Bryant Moving Up
Center John Bryant blocked 49 shots last season, surpassing his 37 from the 2005-06 season. Bryant's 49 blocks are the third highest single season total in school history. He surpassed Jens Gordon (1987-88), who had 48. After 26 blocks in the first 14 games, Bryant now has 112 career blocks, placing him third all-time in blocks in SCU history. Jens Gordon (1985-89) is second with 133.

The Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has now appeared in 104 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against Denver on Dec. 28. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in 11 more games. The school's all-time record of 127 is held by Kyle Bailey (2001-05.) Fellow senior Mitch Henke also reached 100 games played after starting against Niagara in the Cable Car Classic.

Henke Season High
Senior Mitch Henke had his best game of the season against Pacific on Dec. 12, scoring a season-high 21 points, just one point shy of his career high. He also had five rebounds and three assists in the game.

Ranked Foes
Stanford was the first ranked opponent that Santa Clara has faced this season. The Cardinal entered the game on Dec. 19 ranked No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. Last season, Santa Clara faced two ranked teams in the non-conference schedule, Nevada and Air Force.

Zimmermann Making Impact
Freshman Andrew Zimmermann continues to make strides as he gets back to full health from a back injury that forced him to miss four games at the start of the season. Zimmermann had nine points and nine rebounds in a season-high 24 minutes against Pacific on Dec. 12. He made his first appearance of the year on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State.

Angley Hot Despite Injury
Santa Clara senior point guard Brody Angley got poked in the eye late in the Broncos' game on Nov. 29 at Eastern Washington, forcing him to the sidelines of that game. However, he checked back in to that game and hit two late free throws to help seal a 66-57 win. Angley wore a patch on his eye all day on Nov. 30 to help his scratched eye heal. After removing the patch, Angley was cleared to play by the Broncos' medical staff at Utah State on Dec. 1. Despite the eye injury, Angley had the best offensive showing of his career against the Aggies. He scored a career high 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting, while also dishing out six assists. His three-pointer and assist to John Bryant for a three-point play helped SCU cut an 11-point deficit to two points, before the Aggies escaped with a win. He continued his strong play with 15 points and seven rebounds against San Jose State in a win on Dec. 8.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 10 of its 14 games this season and have been outrebounded twice, at Stanford on Dec. 19 and vs. Niagara on Dec. 29. Santa Clara and Utah State each had 26 boards on Dec. 1 and SCU and Pacific each had 32 on Dec. 12. Overall, the Broncos have outrebounded opponents 442-375 for a +4.8 margin.

Food Drive
Santa Clara University and San Jose State University have teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank to create the first ever Rivalry Series Food Drive. The holiday food drive runs from Dec. 8-Jan. 7 in conjunction with the home-and-home series between the universities' men's basketball teams. Food collection bins and coin jars will be available at all Santa Clara men's and women's home basketball games from Wednesday, Dec. 8-Monday, Jan. 7 to collect donations. The Broncos play at San Jose State on Dec. 8 and then host the Spartans at the Leavey Center on Jan. 7. Fans donating at least six dollars or two (full serving) canned good items will be given a 2-for-1 coupon to purchase general admission tickets for the Jan. 7 game. Fans can donate to the cause in a number of other ways. Donations can be made online at the Second Harvest Food Bank website at https://fooddrive.shfoodbank.com/.

NCAA Leaders
The Santa Clara Broncos as a team found themselves among the leaders in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Jan. 3, The Broncos were 20th in field goal percentage at .498, and 11th in three-point percentage at .422. Individually, John Bryant was also among the nation's best. As of Jan. 3, John Bryant was 31st in field goal percentage at 59.1.

Conference Stats
The 2007-08 Broncos are among the leaders in a number of statistical categories in the West Coast Conference. As of Jan. 4, SCU was first in field goal percentage (.498), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.422),third in rebound margin (+4.8), first in scoring defense (61.9), and second in assists (14.8). Individually, John Bryant was second in scoring (18.1), tied for fourth in rebounding (8.7), first in field goal percentage (.591) and third in blocked shots (1.86). Brody Angley was second in assists (5.00), first in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63), sixth in steals (1.57) and third in 3-point field goal percentage (.458). Calvin Johnson was first in 3-point field goal percentage (.511).