Jan. 9, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos head to Moraga on Saturday, Jan. 12 to play their first West Coast Conference Game of the season against the Saint Mary's Gaels. The game tips off at 4 p.m. PT and fans can catch all the action live on Comcast Sports Net or 1220 KNTS. The Broncos have won three straight games against their Bay Area rivals, including a win in the WCC semifinals last season. Santa Clara finished 10-4 in conference play last season to earn second place in the regular season.

Last Game
The San Jose State Spartans ended their five-game losing streak to Santa Clara with a 62-59 win on Jan. 7 at the Leavey Center. Mitch Henke led the Broncos with his second career double double (17 points and 10 rebounds), but SCU could not overcome a seven-point halftime deficit. John Bryant scored 15 points and had nine rebounds in the defeat, while Jonathan Gunderson added 11 points. Tim Pierce led San Jose State with 16 points, including four 3-pointers.

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 8-7 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Saint Mary's
Series Record: SCU leads 130-71
First Meeting: SMC 42-13 win on Feb. 19, 1910
2006-07 at SCU: SCU won 76-69
2006-07 at SMC: SCU won 63-57
Record at SCU: SCU leads 59-23
Record at SMC: SCU leads 31-28
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 40-20
Biggest SCU Win: 113-69 (44) on Feb. 10, 1979
Biggest SMC Win: 84-52 (32) on Jan. 22, 2004
Notes: Santa Clara has swept the regular season series between the two schools in six of the last nine seasons ... Saint Mary's had knocked Santa Clara out of the WCC Tournament four times in five years, before Santa Clara eliminated the Gaels in WCC semifinals last year ... Santa Clara has won six of the last nine regular-season meetings between the two schools at the Leavey Center ... SCU has also won six of the last eight matchups at McKeon Pavilion ... Saint Mary's had won four straight games in the series prior to the Broncos' 76-69 win on Jan. 6, 2007 ... Santa Clara freshman guard Darren Baker is from Moraga and played basketball at Campolindo High School ... Santa Clara freshman forward Ben Dowdell and Saint Mary's freshman guard Patrick Mills were teammates at the Australian Institute of Sport. The pair also played together for the Australian U-19 team this past summer, helping Australia post an 8-1 record and a fifth-place finish at the World Championships in Serbia.

Last Game vs. Saint Mary's
John Bryant had 14 points and Santa Clara beat St. Mary's 63-47 in the West Coast Conference semifinals in Portland, Ore. on Mar. 4, 2007. SCU held a five-point lead at halftime and then pulled away down the stretch to earn the victory over the Gaels. Santa Clara, which swept the two-game regular season series, held off a St. Mary's rally midway through the second half. Sean Denison's dunk with 1:08 left made it 58-47, sealing it for the Broncos. Tempers flared briefly after St. Mary's Brett Collins slammed into Santa Clara's Scott Dougherty as he went up for a layup. Collins was ejected from the game. Collins was the only Gael in double figures with 13 points.Dougherty, Henke and Pariseau all scored 11 points for Santa Clara.

Henke Double Double
Senior Mitch Henke posted the second double double of his career on Jan. 7 against San Jose State, scoring 17 points and grabbing a season high 10 rebounds. He also had five assists for SCU in the game. His only previous double double took place on Nov. 14, 2006 in the Broncos' victory over Holy Names. He posted 11 points and a career high 11 rebounds in that game.

Angley Racks Up The Minutes
Senior Brody Angley is used to playing a lot of minutes, as he was averaging 28.4 minutes per game for his career coming into this season. However, this year, Angley has been an iron man, playing 35.1 minutes per game to lead the Broncos in that category. In the past seven games, he has not played fewer than 35 minutes in any game. He played a season high 44 minutes against Denver on Dec. 28.

Gunderson Picks it Up
Sophomore Jonathan Gunderson has increased his role offensively for SCU during the past three games. Following the Broncos' game on Dec. 22 at Minnesota, Gunderson was averaging 14.1 minutes per game and 4. 6 points per game. Against Denver on Dec. 28, he played 25 minutes and scored eight points. The next night in the Cable Car Classic final, he started for the first time in his SCU career and played a career high 34 minutes, while contributing six points. His increased production continued against San Jose State, as he scored 11 points in 17 minutes against the Spartans. He is now averaging 16.3 minutes per game and 5.3 points per game.

WCC Openers
Santa Clara has won two WCC openers in a row, defeating Portland 87-77 on Jan. 7, 2006 and Saint Mary's 76-69 on Jan. 6, 2007. They have also won four of their past five conference openers.

On the Road
Santa Clara is currently 5-4 on the road this season. With two more wins, SCU will match last season's total of seven road wins. The Broncos went 5-2 on the road in conference play last season.

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 a Roll
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. After scoring nine points and picking up a career high three steals against San Jose State on Jan. 7, he is averaging 6.6 points per game.

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 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.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 10 of its 15 games this season and have been outrebounded in three games, at Stanford on Dec. 19, vs. Niagara on Dec. 29 and against San Jose State on Jan. 7. 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 474-410 for a +4.3 margin.

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 15 games. The Broncos are shooting 70 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 among the leaders in the WCC in 3-point shooting percentage. Johnson, who has attempted only two 2-pointers all season, leads the way at .479 (23-of-48), with Gunderson (.444, 20-for-45) and Angley (.418, 23-for-55) and 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 .404 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 75 assists in the first 15 games he has now passed Harold Keeling (1981-85) for seventh all-time and has 417 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 148. He passed Steve Nash (1992-96) for fifth all-time with a steal on Jan. 7. Next on the list is John Woolery (1990-94) with 192. Along with steals, Angley now finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in games started as well. After starting against San Jose State, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 95 starts, moving him past Michael Norman (1980-84) for seventh all-time. He can tie Harold Keeling (1981-85) and Kyle Bailey (2001-05) for fifth with a start against Saint Mary's. 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 30 blocks in the first 15 games, Bryant now has 117 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 105 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against San Jose State on Jan. 7. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in 10 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.