Santa Clara Hosts Portland Monday Night at the Leavey Center

Posted: Feb 03, 2008

Feb. 3, 2008

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos play their second straight at home on Monday, Feb. 4, hosting the Portland Pilots at the Leavey Center. The game tips off at 8 p.m. PT and will be televised live on EPSNU. Fans can also catch all the action on 1220 KNTS and SantaClaraBroncos.com. SCU swept the season series from the Pilots last year and the Broncos have won five straight games overall against Portland. They have also won eight out of the last nine contests between the two schools.

Last Game
The Santa Clara Broncos dropped a tough 87-82 double overtime decision to the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Feb. 2 at the Leavey Center. Santa Clara got a career high 28 points from Brody Angley, while John Bryant scored 22 for SCU. Gonzaga tied the game with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation on two free throws and pulled away in the second overtime for the victory. Jonathan Gunderson hit a career high five three-pointers as the Broncos nearly sprung the upset.

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 11-10 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Portland
Series Record: Santa Clara leads 52-22
First Meeting: SCU 56-37 win on Dec. 27, 1946
2006-07 at SCU: SCU won 57-41
2006-07 at Portland: SCU won 76-53
Record at SCU: SCU leads 31-6
Record at Portland: SCU leads 20-15
Record at Neutral Site: Series tied 1-1
Biggest SCU Win: 103-59 (44) on Jan. 14, 1978
Biggest Portland Win: 72-47 (25) on Jan. 30, 2003
Notes: Santa Clara has won five straight games in the series and 18 of the last 22 meetings ... The longest SCU win streak in the series was 10 from 1998-2002 ... SCU is 7-1 against Portland in the Leavey Center (renovated in 2001) ... SCU assistant coach Sam Scuilli spent two seasons as an assistant at Portland St. in 1999-00 ... Most points scored by a Bronco against the Pilots was 38 by Mark McNamara in 1979.

Last Game vs. Portland
John Bryant had 15 points and Danny Pariseau added 14 as a balanced-scoring Santa Clara team rolled to an easy 76-53 victory over Portland on Feb. 10, 2007. The win kept Santa Clara in a first-place tie in the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga. The Pilots have been at the other end of the conference standings most of the season, but they managed to keep pace with the Broncos for most of the first half. Portland even led 26-25 after scoring eight unanswered points late in the first half. The Broncos played steady the entire night. They hit 57 percent of their shots in the first half and 54 percent in the second stanza. It was the second half, though, that made the difference. After playing just three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Santa Clara point guard Brody Angley hit seven straight points to key an early second-half run that put the Broncos in front 59-30. After that, Portland never got closer than 16. Pariseau, who did a solid job of filling in at the point for Angley in the first half, hit seven straight points of his own later in the second half to push Santa Clara's lead to 68-44. Angley finished the game with 11 points and two assists. Pariseau added five assists for the Broncos, who committed only nine turnovers.

Overtime
Santa Clara played its first overtime game, a double overtime contest, of the season on Feb. 2 vs. Gonzaga. SCU played two overtime games last season, beating Utah State 77-75 and losing to Pepperdine 89-82. The last time Santa Clara played a double overtime game was Dec. 22, 2003 against Maryland-Baltimore Country, winning 65-63.

Angley Career High
Senior Brody Angley scored a career high 28 points on Feb. 2 against Gonzaga and played a career high 48 minutes for SCU. Angley shot 10-for-19 from the floor in the game and also grabbed six rebounds and notched six assists. Angley's previous career high was 24, set on Jan. 21 vs. Pepperdine.

Angley Nearing 1,000
Santa Clara senior Brody Angley is closing in on 1,000 points for his career. After scoring 28 against Gonzaga on Feb. 2, Angley currently has 991 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.

Gunderson Hits from Deep
Sophomore Jonathan Gunderson got his second career start vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 2 and responded with his best game. The Laguna Hills, Calif. native scored a career high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. He played a career high 41 minutes.

Bryant Scores at the Line
Gonzaga forced Santa Clara junior John Bryant to work for his 22 points, as Bryant was fouled throughout the game on Feb. 2. Bryant was great from the line, however, hitting 12-of-13 shots from the charirty stripe.

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.

Tiedeman Injury
Sophomore Zac Tiedeman suffered a left knee sprain on Saturday, Jan. 26 at San Diego. He missed the Broncos' games on Monday, Jan. 28 at San Francisco and Saturday, Feb. 2 vs. Gonzaga. He is also out for SCU"s game against Portland on Feb. 4.

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 six 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, 17.3 ppg and a league high 10.3 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 20 out of 21 games, including a career high 29 at Simpson on Nov. 13. He has also scored over 20 points nine times. He has also grabbed at least four rebounds in every game. The San Pablo, Calif. native has recorded seven or more rebounds 15 times.

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 (.492), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.402), first in scoring defense (62.6), first in rebounding defense (27.1), second in free throw percentage (.716) and tied for second in rebounding margin (+4.6). Individually, John Bryant is second in scoring (17.7), second in rebounding (9.2), first in field goal percentage (.596) and first in blocked shots (2.05). He is also first in double doubles with nine. Brody Angley is second in assists (5.43), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.65), fifth in free throw percentage (.811) and ninth in steals (1.33). Jonathan Gunderson and Calvin Johnson are first and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage at .475 and .433 respectively.

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.

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 and 52 percent against Gonzaga, SCU has broken the 50 percent barrier 10 times. The season high of .718 was set on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State. That performance at Sacramento State was the second best shooting percentage in Santa Clara history. For the game, SCU hit .718 percent from the field and in the second half, the team hit .864 percent (19-of-22). The all-time program record for shooting in a game is .719, set on Jan. 4, 1980 against Pepperdine.

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 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 35.8 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, 35 at USF on Jan. 28 and a career high 48 vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 2.

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 15 of its 21 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 666-570 for a +4.6 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 21 games. The Broncos are shooting 72 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 .475, (29-for-61) followed by Johnson at .433 (29-of-67) and Angley (.396, 36-for-91). The record for 3-point percentage for the season is .454, set by Steve Nash in 1994-95. As a team, SCU is shooting .402 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 114 assists in the first 21 games he has now passed Kyle Bailey (2001-05) for fifth all-time and has 456 career assists. Next on the list is Eddie Joe Chavez (1974-78), who has 482 career assists.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 153. 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 Gonzaga, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 101 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 3,332 all-time. That number places him sixth 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 43 blocks in the first 21 games this year, Bryant now has 129 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 112 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against Gonzaga on Feb. 2. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in three 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 107 in his career.