Santa Clara Hosts Gonzaga at Sold-Out Leavey Center Saturday

Posted: Jan 31, 2008

Jan. 31, 2008

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos host the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 2 at the Leavey Center. The game tips off at 4 p.m. PT and will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet and aired live on the radio on 1220 KNTS. Tickets for the game are sold out. The Broncos and the Bulldogs split the regular season series last year. Gonzaga then defeated Santa Clara in the WCC Championship Game in Portland.

Last Game
The Santa Clara Broncos earned their sixth road win of season on Jan. 28 with a 66-48 victory over the San Francisco Dons at War Memorial Gym. John Bryant continued his stellar play with 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for his ninth double double of the year. Brody Angley had 11 points and 10 assists, while Calvin Johnson netted 14 points, including four three-pointers. The Broncos led by as many 25 in the second half and hit 10 three-pointers in the game.

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 11-9 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Gonzaga
Series Record: GU leads 36-30
First Meeting: SCU 44-32 win on Jan. 2, 1947
2006-07 at SCU: GU won 77-69
2006-07 at GU: SCU won 84-73
Record at SCU: SCU leads 21-11
Record at Gonzaga: GU leads 21-8
Record at Neutral Site: GU leads 4-1
Biggest SCU Win: 86-62 (24) on Dec. 23, 1968
Biggest Gonzaga Win: 96-62 (34) on Feb. 1, 2003
Notes: SCU and Gonzaga have met three times in the WCC Tournament Championship Game, a 91-66 Gonzaga win in 1999, an 80-77 Gonzaga win in 2001 and a 77-68 Gonzaga win in 2007 ... Santa Clara snapped Gonzaga's 50-game home winning streak on Feb. 12, 2007 with an 84-73 win at the McCarthey Athletic Center ... Gonzaga had won 13 straight games in the series prior to SCU's win on Feb. 12, 2007 ... Former SCU coach and athletic director Carroll Williams is widely known as the "godfather" of the modern "flex offense. Williams' assistant coach Dan Fitzgerald took it to Spokane as the head coach of Gonzaga in 1986-87 and it was a big part of the Bulldogs' offensive scheme.

Last Game vs. Gonzaga
Santa Clara fell 77-68 to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the WCC Championship game on Mar. 5, 2007 at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. The Broncos had an early nine-point lead at 30-21, but fell behind in the second half and could not come back. The Zags led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but it was David Pendergraft's 3-pointer with 4:36 left that made it 61-52 and all but put the game in hand. The Broncos threatened with a minute left in the game when Joey Kaempf's 3-pointer narrowed it to 73-68. SCU then had a chance to get closer, but Scott Dougherty had a three-point attempt blocked and Kaempf missed another three moments later. Gonzaga answered with Micah Downs' dunk and a pair of free throws made by Raivio for the final margin. Dougherty led Santa Clara with 16 points, while John Bryant and Kaempf added 13 points apiece. WCC Co-Player of the Year Sean Denison scored 10 in the loss.

Johnson Finds Range
Calvin Johnson started and scored in double figures with 14 points on Jan. 28 at San Francisco. It was the first time he had reached double figures since Dec. 22 at Minnesota and the fifth time he had done so this season. He scored in double figures in his first three games this year, at Nevada on Nov. 17, at Utah on Nov. 19 and at Sacramento State on Nov. 25. He made 4-of-7 three-pointers against the Dons on Jan. 28.

Tiedeman Injury
Sophomore Zac Tiedeman suffered a left knee sprain on Saturday, Jan. 26 at San Diego. He missed the Broncos' game on Monday, Jan. 28 at San Francisco and he is listed as doubtful for this weekend's games against Gonzaga and Portland.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant notched his ninth double double of the year on Jan. 28 at San Francisco with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He has had four double doubles in five conference games. He also earned them against Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount and San Diego, but just missed a double double on Jan. 21 vs. Pepperdine with 14 points and nine rebounds. Bryant is now averaging a double double in conference games, 16.4 ppg and a league high 11.2 rpg. He also has had double doubles against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 9, Sacramento State on Nov. 25, San Jose State on Dec. 8, Montana on Dec. 17 and Denver on Dec. 28. Bryant had five double doubles in 2006-07 and four double doubles as a freshman during the 2005-06 season.

Angley Double Double
Senior point guard Brody Angley notched his fourth career double double and third of the season on Jan. 28 at San Francisco. Angley scored 11 points and had 10 assists against USF. He also had a double double on Jan. 21 vs. Pepperdine, notching career highs in points (24) and assists (13), and Dec. 29 vs. Niagara, scoring 10 points and tying his career high with 11 rebounds. His only previous double double came on Nov. 26, 2005 against Pacific when he scored 12 points and grabbd a career high 11 rebounds.

Bryant's Consistency
Junior center John Bryant has had an impressive season so far for Santa Clara. He has scored in double figures in 19 out of 20 games, including a career high 29 at Simpson on Nov. 13. He has also grabbed at least four rebounds in every game. The San Pablo, Calif. native has recorded seven or more rebounds 15 times and he has not had fewer than eight in the past seven games.

Conference Stats
The 2007-08 Broncos are among the leaders in a number of statistical categories in the West Coast Conference. SCU is first in field goal percentage (.491), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.403), first in scoring defense (61.3), first in rebounding defense (27.3), second in free throw percentage (.713) and second in assists (14.6) and rebounding margin (+4.4). Individually, John Bryant istied for second in scoring (17.5), first in rebounding (9.4), first in field goal percentage (.595) and first in blocked shots (2.10). He is also first in double doubles with nine. Brody Angley is second in assists (5.40), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.64), eighth in steals (1.35) and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (.405). Jonathan Gunderson and Calvin Johnson are first and second in 3-point field goal percentage at .462 and .446 respectively.

Streak Busters
Santa Clara snapped Gonzaga's 50-game home court winning streak with its 84-73 win on Feb. 12, 2007. Gonzaga also had a 56-game winning streak in Spokane broken that included games played at the Spokane Arena.

Last Wins vs. Gonzaga
Santa Clara had not won at Gonzaga since Feb. 24, 1996 prior to its 84-73 win on Feb. 12, 2007. The Broncos had lost 10 straight games in Spokane to the Zags. Overall, SCU snapped a 13-game losing streak to Gonzaga with the win. The Broncos' last win against Gonzaga at the Leavey Center came on Feb. 22, 2001.

Scoring
On Jan. 21 against Pepperdine, Santa Clara outscored the Waves 53-51 in the second half of the game. That was the identical scoreline for the entire game on Jan. 26 at San Diego with the Toreros earning the 53-51 victory.

Dowdell's Roll
Freshman Ben Dowdell scored only four points at San Francisco on Jan. 28. However, prior to that performance, he had been on a roll for SCU. He scored 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and notched a block and a steal at San Diego on Jan. 26. He also converted a last-minute three-point play that put SCU up 51-50. Following that game he had scored in double figures in five of the seven games after accomplishing that only once in his first 11 games. He raised his scoring average from 4.6 following the Minnesota game on Dec. 22 to 7.8 after the game at San Diego. He has also shown a knack for getting to the free throw line, taking at least four free throws in eight straight games from Dec. 28-Jan. 26.

100 Points
Santa Clara scored 101 points against the Pepperdine Waves on Jan. 21. The Broncos had not scored 100 in a game since scoring 111 against Chico State on Nov. 27, 1993. Brody Angley hit two free throws in the final minute to put SCU over 100.

Shooting Percentage
Santa Clara shot .667 from the floor on Jan. 21 against Pepperdine, tying for the seventh best shooting performance in school history. It also marked the eighth time SCU has shot better than 50 percent this year. After shooting 55 percent from the floor against USF, SCU has broken the 50 percent barrier nine times. The season high of .718 was set on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State.

Threes
Santa Clara shot 12-for-20 from beyond the 3-point line on Jan. 21 against Pepperdine, setting a season high for 3-pointers made. The 12 three-pointers were the most since the Santa Clara hit 13 threes on Jan. 6, 2005 against Gonzaga.

Angley Nearing 1,000
Santa Clara senior Brody Angley is closing in on 1,000 points for his career. After scoring 11 against San Francisco on Jan. 28, Angley currently has 963 points in his career at SCU. He is attempting to become the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 points. Travis Niesen (2002-06) is the last Bronco to reach 1,000 points in his career.

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 35.2 minutes per game to lead the Broncos in that category. In the seven games prior to the Saint Mary's game on Jan. 12, he had not played fewer than 35 minutes in any game. He played a season high 44 minutes against Denver on Dec. 28. Against Saint Mary's, foul trouble forced him to play just 31 minutes, his lowest total since he played 31 on Dec. 8 against San Jose State. He played 36 minutes vs. LMU on Jan. 19, 38 against Pepperdine on Jan. 21, 38 at San Diego on Jan. 26 and 35 at USF on Jan. 28.

On the Road
Santa Clara is currently 6-6 on the road this season. With one more road win, SCU will match last season's total of seven road wins. The Broncos went 5-2 on the road in conference play last season.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 14 of its 20 games this season and have been outrebounded in five games, Stanford on Dec. 19, Niagara on Dec. 29, San Jose State on Jan. 7, Saint Mary's on Jan. 12 and at San Diego on Jan. 26. 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 634-546 for a +4.4 margin.

Double Digits
Santa Clara defeated San Francisco by 18 points on Jan. 28. The Broncos have earned nine of their 11 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 20 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 among the leaders in the WCC in 3-point shooting percentage. Gunderson leads the way at .462, (24-for-52) followed by Johnson at .446 (29-of-65) and Angley (.405, 32-for-79). The record for 3-point percentage for the season is .454, set by Steve Nash in 1994-95. As a team, SCU is shooting .403 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 108 assists in the first 20 games he has now passed John Woolery (1990-94) and Steve Kenilvort (1982-86) for fifth all-time and has 450 career assists. Next on the list is Kyle Bailey (2001-05), who has 452 career assists.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 152. 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 Diego, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 100 starts, making him just the fourth player in school history to start 100 games. 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. Angley has now also reached the Top 10 in minutes played as well with 3,284 all-time. That number places him seventh on Santa Clara's all-time list.

Bryant Moving Up
Center John Bryant blocked 49 shots last season, surpassing his 37 from the 2005-06 season. Bryant's 49 blocks were the third highest single season total in school history. He surpassed Jens Gordon (1987-88), who had 48. After 42 blocks in the first 20 games this year, Bryant now has 128 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 111 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against San Francisco on Jan. 28. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in four 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 and has now appeared in 106 in his career.