Broncos Travel to Spokane to Take on Gonzaga in Final Regular Season Game

Posted: Mar 02, 2008

March 2, 2008

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos complete their Northwest road trip with a match-up against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center on Monday, March. 3. The game tips off at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2. The game can also be heard live on 1220 KNTS. Last season in Spokane, the Broncos became the first team to win at McCarthey with an 84-73 win on Feb. 12, 2007. The Zags won the first match-up of the season 87-82 in double overtime at the Leavey Center.

Last Game
Santa Clara dropped a tight contest on the road 64-58 to the Portland Pilots at the Chiles Center. The Broncos overcame a 10-point second half deficit to take a two-point lead in the final minutes, but the Pilots closed the game on an 8-0 run to claim the victory. Mitch Henke led SCU with a season high 21 points, while Ben Dowdell added 15 points. Josh Higgins came off the bench to score nine points for SCU after John Bryant got in early foul trouble.

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 14-14 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Gonzaga
Series Record: GU leads 37-30
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 21-12
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 on 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' off ensive scheme.

Last Game vs. Gonzaga
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 to send it to overtime. A lay-up by Andrew Zimmermann on a feed from Angley in the closing seconds of the first overtime tied the game again. However, the Bulldogs pulled away in the second overtime for the victory behind the shooting of Austin Daye. Jonathan Gunderson hit a career high five three-pointers to score 15 points.

Free Throws
Santa Clara set a season high in both free throws made and free throws attempted against Portland on Mar. 1. The Broncos made 25 free throws and attemped 36 in the game. The free throws overcame a poor shooting night, as SCU made a season low 14 field goals.

Henke Season High
Broncos senior Mitch Henke tied his season high on Mar. 1 against Portland with 21 points. Henke shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from beyond the 3-point line to reach 21 for the second time this season. He also scored 21 against Pacific on Dec. 12.

Double Figures in Assists
Brody Angley recorded 10 assists against San Francisco on Feb. 25. He has now reached double figures in assists four times during West Coast Conference play this year. He also accomplished the feat against Pepperdine on Jan. 21 (13), USF on Jan. 25 (10) and Pepperdine on Feb. 16 (11). His career high was nine assists in one game coming into this season.

Higgins Impressive
Senior Josh Higgins, a 7-0 center, started his first game of the season on Senior Night against USF on Feb. 25. He made the most of his opportunity, scoring a season high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and notching a career high three assists. He also hit his first career three-pointer early in the first half. He followed that effort with nine more points against Portland on Mar. 1, playing a season high 16 minutes after John Bryant picked up two early fouls against the Pilots.

Assists
Santa Clara recorded 25 assists in their 87-55 victory over the San Francisco Dons on Feb. 25. The team has now reached or passed 25 assists twice this season. The Broncos had 29 against Pepperdine on Jan. 21. Last season, SCU only reached 25 assists once, Nov. 18, 2006 vs. Utah.

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. Th e Broncos' last win against Gonzaga at the Leavey Center came on Feb. 22, 2001.

From Long Range
Santa Clara shot 11-for-20 from 3-point range on Feb. 25 against San Francisco, marking the eighth time this year the team has shot at least 50 percent on threes. The Broncos also reached double figures in three-pointers made for the fourth time this season. They made a season high 12 against Pepperdine on Jan. 21. In two games against San Francisco this year, SCU has shot 21-of-40 from beyond the arc.

Dowdell On The Rise
Freshman Ben Dowdell stole some of the seniors' thunder on Senior Night against USF on Feb. 25. The Australian forward scored 21 points, one shy of his career high, grabbed three rebounds and picked up two steals. He continued with his strong play on Mar. 1 with 15 points against Portland, hitting a career high nine free throws. He is making a strong case for a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team. He is averaging 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in conference games, while recording 24 assists, five blocks and nine steals. He is also averaging 31.4 minutes a game during conference games and shooting 53 percent from the floor.

30-Point Wins
The Broncos 32-point margin of victory over the Dons on Feb. 25 was the largest of the season. SCU's last 30-point win came on Nov. 14, 2006 against Holy Names University, an 83-51 win. The Broncos last conference win by over 30 points came on Feb. 15, 1989 when they defeated USF 88-50.

Points in the Paint
Led by John Bryant, the Broncos have dominated the paint this season. SCU has won the points in the paint battle 19 times in 28 games. The team is 13-6 when scoring more points in the paint, 1-5 when losing the paint battle and 0-3 when both teams have an equal number of points in the paint.

Angley Hits 1,000
Santa Clara senior Brody Angley reached 1,000 points for his career with a second half free throw on Feb. 4 against the Portland Pilots. He is the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000. With 1,053 points following the Broncos game on Mar. 1, he is now 23rd on the all-time scoring list. He is 17 points behind Dan Weiss (1984-88) for 22nd all-time.

Bryant Over 1,000
Center John Bryant reached 1,000 points in his junior season for the Broncos with 18 points on Feb. 23 vs. San Diego. He is the 27th player in school history to accomplish the feat. He hit the 1,000-point barrier with a put back against San Diego for his last basket of the game. He is currently at 1,024 points, eight behind DeWayne Lewis (1990-94) for 24th all-time.

Bryant Rebounding
Junior John Bryant now has 268 rebounds this season after pulling down 6 on Mar. 1. He also has 655 career rebounds. He is five rebounds away from entering the top 10 for single season rebounds and seven away from entering the top 10 all-time in career rebounds at Santa Clara.

Four in Double Figures
Four Broncos scored in double figures in back-to-back games for SCU for the first time this season on Feb. 23 anad 25. Against San Diego on Feb. 23, Brody Angley (14), John Bryant (18), Ben Dowdell (11) and Mitch Henke (16) all hit double digits. The Broncos accomplished the feat against San Franicsco on Feb. 25 with Ben Dowdell (21), Mitch Henke (17), John Bryant (15) and Jonathan Gunderson (12) all reaching double figures.

Shooting Percentage
After shooting 62 percent from the floor against San Francisco on Feb. 25, SCU has broken the 50 percent barrier 14 times this season. Santa Clara shot .667 from the floor on Jan. 21 against Pepperdine, tying for the seventh best shooting performance in school history. 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.

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 36.2 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 did not play fewer than 35 minutes in any game. Against Saint Mary's on Jan. 12, foul trouble forced him to play just 31 minutes, his lowest total since he played 31 on Dec. 8 against San Jose State. In the seven games from Jan. 19-Feb. 11, Angley averaged 39.1 minutes per game. He played the entire 40 minutes on Mar. 1 at Portland.

Bryant's Monster Weekend
Santa Clara junior center John Bryant had one of the best weekends in Bronco basketball history on Feb. 16 and 18. The San Pablo native started the weekend by shooting 11-for-11 on Feb. 16 against Pepperdine and scoring 25 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots. He ended the night with a streak of 17 straight field goals without a miss. He made his last six shots on Feb. 11 against Saint Mary's to start the streak. He stretched that streak to 19 by making his first two shots against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18. He would miss his next shot, but finish 15-for-20 against the Lions for 36 points. He also pulled down 15 rebounds and recorded three blocks. The last time a Bronco player scored 36 points was Feb. 21, 1998 when Brian Jones scored 36 against Saint Mary's. Bryant tied for the 14th highest scoring game in school history. The last time any Bronco reached 30 points prior to Bryant was Feb. 20, 2006 when Travis Niesen scored 31 against San Francisco.

Injury Update
Sophomore Zac Tiedeman suffered a left knee sprain on Saturday, Jan. 26 at San Diego. He has missed the past eight games and could be out for the remainder of the season. Andrew Zimmermann was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen two weeks ago and has missed the past five games. He is out for the final regular season game at Gonzaga on Mar. 3.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Feb. 25 against San Francisco. Overall, he has notched 14 double doubles this season. He has had nine double doubles in 13 conference games. He has earned them against Saint Mary's (2), Loyola Marymount (2), at San Diego, San Francisco (2), vs. Portland and at Pepperdine, 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, 18.7 ppg and 10.5 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. He now has 23 career double doubles.

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 double doubles 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 26 out of 28 games, including a career high 36 at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18. He has also scored over 20 points 12 times. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in every game. The San Pablo, Calif. native has recorded seven or more rebounds 20 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 (.489), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.393), first in scoring defense (61.2), first in rebounding defense (27.6) and second in rebounding margin (+4.5). Individually, John Bryant is second in scoring (18.3), first in rebounding (9.6), first in field goal percentage (.596) and first in blocked shots (2.29). He is also first in double doubles with 14. Brody Angley is second in assists (5.54), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61) and sixth in 3-point percentage at .407. Jonathan Gunderson and Calvin Johnson are fourth and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage at .422 and .390 respectively.

Conference Only Stats
In West Coast Conference games, the team has also been strong. SCU is second in field goal percentage (.488) and second in free throw percentage (.716). John Bryant and Brody Angley have been dominant as well. Bryant is second in scoring at 18.7 points per game, first in rebounding (10.5) and first blocked shots (2.62). He is also for first in field goal percentage (.609). Angley is 10th in scoring at 12.2 points per game and second in assists at 6.15 per game. Bryant and Angley are also third and sixth in free throw percentage at .787 and .743 respectively.

Angley Assists
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 155 assists in the first 28 games he has passed Eddie Joe Chavez (1974-78), who had 482 assists, for third all-time and has 497 career assists. He is now 13 assists behind Steve Nash (1992-96) for second all-time in assists and 20 behind Brian Jones (1996-01) for first all-time. His 155 assists this season are a career high for a season for Angley, surpassing his 142 in 2005-06. He is now tied for fourth place all-time in single season assists with 155.

Angley Threes
Brody Angley has made 122 three pointers on 345 attempts in his Santa Clara career. He is seventh all-time in makes and needs 14 to tie Nathan Fast (1996-00) for sixth. He trails Brandon Rohe (2002-07) by 11 for seventh in attempts. He has made a career high 48 this season.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 167. 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 second all-time in games started as well. After starting at Portland, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 108 starts to pass Kurt Rambis (1976-80) for second all-time. The all-time leader is Brian Jones (1996-01) with 116 starts. Angley has now also reached the Top 10 in minutes played as well with 3,595 all-time. That number places him third on Santa Clara's all-time list. Next on the list is Steve Kenilvort (1982-86), who racked up 3,633 minutes.

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 64 blocks in the first 28 games this year, Bryant now has 150 career blocks, moving him past Jens Gordon (1985-89) into second all-time in blocks. Nick Vanos (1981-85) is first with 159 blocks. His 64 blocks this season rank second all-time for blocks in a single season. The record is 67, set during the 1983-84 season by Nick Vanos.

The Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has now appeared in 119 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting at Portland on Mar. 1. He is now tied for fifth all-time in appearances with Dan Weiss (1984-88). 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 114 in his career.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 17 of its 28 games this season and have been outrebounded in seven games, Stanford on Dec. 19, Niagara on Dec. 29, San Jose State on Jan. 7, Saint Mary's on Jan. 12, at San Diego on Jan. 26, vs. Portland on Feb. 4 and at Portland on Mar. 1. Santa Clara and Utah State each had 26 boards on Dec. 1 and SCU and Pacific each had 32 on Dec. 12. SCU and Pepperdine tied in rebonding with 33 apiece on Feb. 16 as did the Broncos and Dons with 30 apiece on Feb. 25. Overall, the Broncos have outrebounded opponents 898-772 for a +4.5 margin.

Free Throw Line
SCU has improved significantly at the free throw line this season through 28 games. The Broncos are shooting 71 percent from the charity stripe this year after shooting 67 percent last season.