Broncos Face Gonzaga in WCC Semis at 6:30 p.m.

Posted: Mar 09, 2008

March 9, 2008

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos face the Gonzaga Bulldogs for the third time this season on Sunday, Mar. 9. The Broncos and Bulldogs square off in the West Coast Conference semifinals at 6:30 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 and 1220 KNTS. The Broncos reached the semifinals by defeating the San Francisco Dons 51-50 in the quarterfinals. John Bryant hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to give SCU the victory over the Dons.

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 15-15 start in his career at SCU.

Santa Clara's Record In The WCC Tourney
Overall Record: 23-19

By Tournament Site
At Los Angeles: 0-2
At Portland: 3-2
At San Diego: 3-3
At San Francisco: 7-1
At Santa Clara: 9-10
At Spokane: 1-1

By Round
First Round: 2-1
Quarterfinals: 12-8
Semifinals: 7-5
Championship: 2-5

By Opponent
Gonzaga 1-5 Loyola Marymount 2-4
Pepperdine 4-2
Portland 3-1
Saint Mary's 6-5
San Diego 1-0
San Francisco 6-2

Miscellaneous
Biggest Win: 34 vs. USD in 2004
Biggest Loss: 25 vs. GU in 1999
Most Points: 96 vs. LMU in 1988
Fewest Points: 51 vs. USD in 2003

By Coach
Carroll Williams 8-5
Dick Davey 14-14
Kerry Keating 1-0

SCU vs. Gonzaga
Series Record: GU leads 38-30
First Meeting: SCU 44-32 win on Jan. 2, 1947
2007-08 at SCU: GU won 87-82 (2ot)
2007-08 at GU: GU won 88-54
Record at SCU: SCU leads 21-12
Record at Gonzaga: GU leads 22-8
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, 88-54 (34) on Mar. 3, 2008
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 Mc- Carthey 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' off ensive scheme.

Henke On a Roll
Broncos senior Mitch Henke is finishing his career strong, as he has scored in double figures in five straight games, including 10 points in the WCC quarterfinals against USF. Henke has also scored in double figures in nine of the past 12 games. He 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. He then scored 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting on Mar. 3 at Gonzaga to lead the team for a second straight game. He is now averaging a career high 9.8 points per game.

Bryant Takes Over
Junior center John Bryant had one of the most dominant games of his career on Mar. 8 in the WCC quarterfinals. Bryant scored 25 of the Broncos' 51 points in the team's win over USF. He also tied his career highs with 17 rebounds and seven blocks in the game. To cap his sensational night, Bryant hit two free throws to give SCU the 51-50 victory. He shot 9-for-15 from the floor.

All-WCC
Three Santa Clara players received All-WCC accolades following the regular season. Senior Mitch Henke was an WCC All-Academic selection for the third straight season. The finance major has a cumulative GPA of 3.76. Brody Angley and John Bryant both earned first-team All-WCC honors for their outstanding 2007-08 seasons.

Angley Injured
Bronco senior point guard Brody Angley went down with a concussion on Mar. 3 at Gonzaga just over a minute into the game. Angley returned to the game for two more minutes, but was forced to leave the game for good at 16:05 of the first half. Angley's three minutes played were the lowest of his career. He has never missed a game in his career and played under 10 minutes just once, his first career game on Nov. 12, 2004 vs. Duquesne. Despite the injury, Angley came out and played 34 minutes for the Broncos against USF on Mar. 8. Angley took another shot to his head with 9:17 in the game. He left the game for three minutes, but returned to play the final six minutes for SCU.

Angley's Rebounds
Senior Brody Angley is known as a playmaker with over 500 assists in his career, but the 5-11 guard will also go down as one of Santa Clara's best rebounding guards. He grabbed two rebounds vs. USF to push his career total to 400. He is averaging a career high 4.2 rebounds per game this season.

DJ Steps Up
Freshman point guard Dominic Johnson played a career high 21 minutes on Mar. 3 at Gonzaga following Brody Angley's concussion early in the game. Prior to that appearance, Johnson had played in six games for a total of eight minutes. He scored two points, grabbed three rebounds and registered two assists against the Bulldogs.

Injury Update
Sophomore Zac Tiedeman suffered a left knee sprain on Saturday, Jan. 26 at San Diego. He has missed the past 11 games and is out for the remainder of the season. Andrew Zimmermann was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen on Feb. 15 and has missed the past seven games. He is out for the season.

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.

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 20 times in 30 games. The team is 14-6 when scoring more points in the paint, 1-6 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 1,061 points following the Broncos game on Mar. 8, he is now 23rd on the all-time scoring list. He is nine 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 1,059 points and in 24th place all-time.

Bryant Rebounding
Junior John Bryant now has 292 rebounds this season after pulling down 17 on Mar. 8. He also has 679 career rebounds. He is ninth all-time for rebounds in a single season and 10th all-time on Santa Clara's career list.

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. He has 1,052 minutes played through 30 games, good for third all-time for minutes in a season. The all-time leader is Harold Keeling (1981-85), who played 1,068 minutes in 1983-84. 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 only three minutes after suffering a concussion on Mar. 3 at Gonzaga.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant scored 25 points and grabbed 17 rebounds on Mar. 8 against San Francisco. He has now notched 15 double doubles this season. He had nine double doubles in 14 conference games. He 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 averaged a double double in conference games, 18.1 ppg and 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. He now has 23 career double doubles.

Bryant's Consistency
Junior center John Bryant has had an impressive season so far for Santa Clara. He has scored in double figures in 28 out of 30 games, including a career high 36 at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18. He has also scored over 20 points 13 times. He has grabbed at least four rebounds in every game. The San Pablo, Calif. native has recorded seven or more rebounds 22 times.

Conference Stats
The 2007-08 Broncos finished the regular season among the leaders in a number of statistical categories in the West Coast Conference. SCU tied for first in field goal percentage (.485), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.394), first in scoring defense (62.1), first in rebounding defense (28.1) and third in rebounding margin (+3.8). Individually, John Bryant was second in scoring (18.0), tied for first in rebounding (9.5), first in field goal percentage (.589) and first in blocked shots (2.34). He was also first in double doubles with 14. Brody Angley was second in assists (5.34), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61) and sixth in 3-point percentage at .403. Jonathan Gunderson and Calvin Johnson were fourth and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage at .418 and .395 respectively.

Conference Only Stats
In West Coast Conference games, the team was also been strong. SCU finished second in field goal percentage (.480) and second in free throw percentage (.712). John Bryant and Brody Angley were strong as well. Bryant was second in scoring at 18.1 points per game, first in rebounding (10.3) and first blocked shots (2.71). He was also for first in field goal percentage (.593). Angley was 12th in scoring at 11.4 points per game and second in assists at 5.71 per game. Bryant was third in free throw percentage at .792.

Angley Assists
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 160 assists in the first 30 games he has passed Eddie Joe Chavez (1974-78), who had 482 assists, for third all-time and has 502 career assists. He is the third player in school history to reach 500 career assists. He is now eight assists behind Steve Nash (1992-96) for second all-time in assists and 15 behind Brian Jones (1996-01) for first all-time. His 160 assists this season are a career high for a season for Angley, surpassing his 142 in 2005-06. He is now fourth place all-time in single season assists with 160.

Angley Threes
Brody Angley has made 123 three pointers on 350 attempts in his Santa Clara career. He is seventh all-time in makes and needs 13 to tie Nathan Fast (1996-00) for sixth. He trails Brandon Rohe (2002-07) by six for seventh in attempts. He has made a career high 49 this season.

Angley More Top 10s
Brody Angley also finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in steals at SCU with 170. 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 vs. USF, he now has 110 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 3,632 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. After 75 blocks in the first 30 games this year, Bryant now has 161 career blocks. His 68 blocks are a new all-time record for blocks in a season, moving him past Nick Vanos (1981-85), who had 67 in 1983-84. He also passed Vanos for first all-time with seven blocks on Mar. 8, 2008. He is now sixth all-time in WCC history in career blocks.

The Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has now appeared in 121 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting vs. USF on Mar. 8. He is now tied for third all-time in appearances with Jason Sedlock (1992-97). 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 116 in his career. He is now tied for 10th all-time with Ron Reis (1988-92).

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in 18 of its 30 games this season and have been outrebounded in eight 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, at Portland on Mar. 1 and at Gonzaga on Mar. 3. 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 964-846 for a +3.9 margin.