Men's Basketball Hosts Pacific on Wednesday Night at Leavey

Posted: Dec 11, 2007

Dec. 11, 2007

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos return home for their second home game of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 12. The Broncos host the Pacific Tigers at 7 p.m. PT at the Leavey Center. SCU returns home for the first time since Nov. 9, following a seven-game stretch on the road and the Broncos are aiming for their third straight win against Pacific. Fans can follow the game on the radio on 1220 KNTS or on the internet at SantaClaraBroncos.com.

Last Game
Santa Clara held off a scrappy San Jose State Spartans team 73-63 on Dec. 8 at the Event Center in San Jose to end the team's road trip on a high note. The Broncos led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the Spartans cut the lead to just five in the late stages. The Broncos then pulled away for the win. John Bryant scored 21 points and added 12 rebounds in the win, while Brody Angley scored 15 points and had a season high seven rebounds for the Broncos, who won their fifth straight game against San Jose State.

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. 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 6-2 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Pacific
Series Record: SCU leads 86-37
First Meeting: 1905 - Result not available. SCU won 7-6 on Dec. 14, 1905 in second game.
2006-07 at Pacific: SCU won 67-49
Record at SCU: SCU leads 47-13
Record at SJSU: SCU leads 34-23
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 5-1
Biggest SCU Win: 76-13 (66) on Jan. 23, 1918
Biggest Pacific Win: 39-13 (26) in Feb. 1914
Notes: The series between the Broncos and Tigers has been close recently with SCU holding a slim 6-5 lead in the past 11 games ... SCU has won six of the past seven meetings played at the Leavey Center ... SCU and Pacific have met every season since 1994-95 with the Broncos holding an 8-5 edge during that time ... Pacific was an original member of the West Coast Athletic Conference (now the WCC) in 1952 along with Santa Clara, but the Tigers left the conference in 1971 to join the Big West ... SCU has a 20-12 record against the rest of the Big West, not including Pacific.

Last Game vs. Pacific
Santa Clara turned a five-point game at halftime into a rout in the second half against the Pacific Tigers at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton. The Broncos won 67-49 for their second straight victory over the Tigers. Danny Pariseau scored 20 points for SCU and Mitch Henke added 14 points and nine rebounds, including three 3-pointers. Santa Clara dominated the boards, outrebounding Pacific 39-24, and held the Tigers to just 15 field goals for the game. Pacific shot 33 percent from the field.

Angley Gets Hot Despite Injury
Santa Clara senior point guard Brody Angley got poked in the eye late in the Broncos' game on Nov. 29 at Eastern Washington, forcing him to the sidelines of that game. However, he checked back in to that game and hit two late free throws to help seal a 66-57 win. Angley wore a patch on his eye all day on Nov. 30 to help his scratched eye heal. After removing the patch, Angley was cleared to play by the Broncos' medical staff at Utah State on Dec. 1. Despite the eye injury, Angley had the best offensive showing of his career against the Aggies. He scored a career high 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting, while also dishing out six assists. His three-pointer and assist to John Bryant for a three-point play helped SCU cut an 11-point deficit to two points, before the Aggies escaped with a win. He continued his strong play with 15 points and seven rebounds against San Jose State in a win on Dec. 8.

Angley Nears Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has appeared in 99 games in his career at Santa Clara. He should play his 100th game on Dec. 12 against Pacific. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in 16 more games. The school's all-time record of 127 is held by Kyle Bailey (2001-05.)

Six Straight vs. San Jose State
The Broncos have won six games in a row against San Jose State following their 73-63 victory on Dec. 8.

Bryant Over 20
Junior center John Bryant scored 21 points against San Jose State on Dec. 8. He has now scored 20 or more points in six of eight games this season. He also had 12 rebounds on Dec. 8 to post his third double double of the season.

Henke Heats Up
It was deja vu at the Event Center on Dec. 8 for Broncos senior Mitch Henke. Against the Spartans, Henke opened the second half with two 3-pointers and a basket in the paint to lead SCU on an 8-0 run. On Nov. 29, Henke also opened the second half with two 3-pointers and an inside basket to lead SCU on an 8-0 run against Eastern Washington. His personal 8-0 run against San Jose State turned a four-point lead to 12, while his run against Eastern Washington turned a five-point lead to 13 points.

Career Highs
Junior guard Calvin Johnson tied his career high with five assists against San Jose State on Dec. 8. He also had five assists against Gonzaga as a freshman on Jan. 9, 2006. Freshman Ben Dowdell also had a big night against San Jose State, tying his career high with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. His two steals against the Spartans were also a career high.

Higgins Appears
Senior Josh Higgins made his first appearance of the season on Dec. 8 against San Jose State, playing one minute. The Broncos' center had missed the first seven games with a left knee injury.

Bryant Named WCC POM
The West Coast Conference announced Dec. 5 that Santa Clara University center John Bryant was named the WCC Co-Player of the Month for November along with Patty Mills of Saint Mary's. The junior from San Pablo, Calif. had an outstanding month of November, leading the Broncos to a 5-1 record in the month, including four road wins. For the month, he shot 55-of-78 from the floor for an incredible .705 to lead the league, while placing second in blocks with 15. He was second in scoring at 22.0 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 8.7 rebounds per game. His numbers placed him in the top 20 in the nation in scoring, top 10 in field goal percentage and top 40 in blocks per game.

Henke Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Santa Clara University men's basketball player Mitch Henke has been named an official candidate for the 2007-08 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Henke, a senior forward for the Broncos, joins 29 other senior male basketball players as candidates for the award. The award - presented annually to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year in eight sports - focuses on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition. Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA will award the winner with a trophy during the men's NCAA Final Four weekend. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings.

Food Drive
Santa Clara University and San Jose State University have teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank to create the first ever Rivalry Series Food Drive. The holiday food drive runs from Dec. 8-Jan. 7 in conjunction with the home-and-home series between the universities' men's basketball teams. Food collection bins and coin jars will be available at all Santa Clara men's and women's home basketball games from Wednesday, Dec. 8-Monday, Jan. 7 to collect donations. The Broncos play at San Jose State on Dec. 8 and then host the Spartans at the Leavey Center on Jan. 7. Fans donating at least six dollars or two (full serving) canned good items will be given a 2-for-1 coupon to purchase general admission tickets for the Jan. 7 game. Fans can donate to the cause in a number of other ways. Donations can be made online at the Second Harvest Food Bank website at https://fooddrive.shfoodbank.com/. Food and cash donations can also be dropped off at the Santa Clara Athletic Department Marketing and Promotions office and mail-in donations can be sent to SCU Athletic Department, Attn. Food Drive, Athletic Marketing and Promotions, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053.

NCAA Leaders
The Santa Clara Broncos as a team found themselves among the leaders in the nation in a number of statistical categories as of Dec. 9. The Broncos were first in field goal percentage at .541, fifth in three-point percentage at .456, tied for 28th in rebound margin at +7.8, and 33rd in assists per game at 17.1. Individually, John Bryant was also among the nation's best. As of Dec. 9, John Bryant was 18th in scoring at 21.6 points per game, 11th in field goal percentage at 65.7 and 44th in blocks at 2.3 per game.

Conference Stats
The 2007-08 Broncos are among the leaders in a number of statistical categories in the West Coast Conference. As of Dec. 9, SCU was first in field goal percentage (.541), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.456), first in rebound margin (+7.8), first in scoring defense (60.5) and first in assists (17.1). Individually, John Bryant was second in scoring (21.6), fourth in rebounding (8.8), first in field goal percentage (.657) and second in blocked shots (2.25). Brody Angley was second in assists (4.88), ninth in free throw percentage (.826), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.62) and first in 3-point field goal percentage (.565). Calvin Johnson was first in 3-pointers made per game (2.50) and free throw percentage (.929.)

Three in a Row
Santa Clara won three straight road games, defeating Utah, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington from Nov. 19-29. The last time a Bronco team won three straight road games was the 2004-05 season. SCU defeated Saint Mary's, Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine from Jan. 15-22, 2005. The most recent streak was snapped on Dec. 1 at Utah State. Santa Clara already has five road wins this season, just two fewer than last season's road win total for the entire season.

VS. WAC Opponents
After defeating San Jose State on Dec, 8, Santa Clara has now notched a 155-73 record against the eight current members of the Western Athletic Conference.

Nearly a Record
Santa Clara had a shooting performance for the ages on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State. SCU shot 28-for-39 for the game and 19-for-22 in the second half. For the game, SCU hit .718 percent from the field and in the second half, the team hit .864 percent. The all-time program record for shooting percentage in a game is .719, set on Jan. 4, 1980 against Pepperdine.

Bryant In the Second Half
Santa Clara's junior center John Bryant has been unstoppable in the team's first eight games, especially in the second half. He scored 13 second half points on 4-for-6 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Broncos hold off San Jose State 73-63 on Dec. 8. Against Utah State, he netted 13 second half points on 6-of-7 shooting to finish with 20 for the game. He scored 26 points at Sacramento State, 17 in the second half, on 12-of-15 shooting on Nov. 25. He also scored 17 points in the second half at Utah on Nov. 19 and 14 after intermission at Nevada on Nov. 17. For the season, Bryant is averaging 12.4 points in the second half and is shooting a remarkable .707 from the floor in the second half. Those numbers lead the team.

Angley In Top 10
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 39 assists in the first eight games he has now passed Harold Keeling (1981-85) for seventh all-time and now has 381 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 136. He passed Lacoby Phillips (1988-92) on Nov. 25 with two steals and is now eighth on the all-time list. Doron Perkins (2003-05) is seventh with 137 steals. 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 88 starts, moving him past Londale Theus (1976-80) for 10th all-time. 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.

Injury Update
Santa Clara has been hit by the injury bug during the early part of the season, as a number of players have missed practice time and games due to injuries. However, the Broncos are now back to full strength. Andrew Zimmermann had been sidelined with a back injury, but he has played in the past three games. Josh Higgins is now available after recovering from a Nov. 6 surgery on his left knee. Freshman Scott Thompson is now available as well after recovering from an appendectomy.

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 18 blocks in the first eight games, Bryant now has 104 career blocks, placing him third all-time in blocks in SCU history. Jens Gordon (1985-89) is second with 133.

Big Sky Opponents
Santa Clara defeated Sacramento State 77-65 on Nov. 25 in its first game of three this season against Big Sky conference opponents. SCU then knocked off Eastern Washington on Nov. 29 by a 66-57 score to move to 2-0 against Big Sky competition this year. The Broncos play Montana on Dec. 17 in their final game against a Big Sky opponent this year. Last season, SCU defeated Eastern Washington 91-68 and in 2005-06, SCU lost to Montana 67-56. Both games were at the Leavey Center.

Road Trip
Santa Clara just completed a stretch of seven games away from home. The Broncos had not had a road stretch this long since the 1996-97 season when the team also played seven in a row away from home. This year, SCU plays Simpson, Nevada, Utah, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Utah State and San Jose State during the road trip. In 1996-97, the Broncos faced San Jose State, Fairfield and New Orleans at the MetLife Classic in San Francisco, Eastern Illinois and Indiana at the Indiana Classic in Bloomington, Ind., and finished up with games at Eastern Washington and Pacific. The 1996-97 Broncos went 4-3 on that trip. This year's team finished the trip 5-2 after a win over San Jose State on Dec. 8.

Johnson Starts Strong
Junior Calvin Johnson got off to a great start in his first three games this season. After missing the games against Cal State Monterey Bay and Simpson with a back injury, Johnson scored 14 points in his debut against Nevada and 21 against Utah, before going for 11 at Sacramento State. At 10.2 points per game, he is now third on the team in scoring. All 15 of his field goals have been three-pointers and he is shooting 48 percent from beyond the arc in the four games (15-for-31). He has attempted only two two-point baskets all year.

First Half/Second Half
In the first three games of the season Santa Clara had outscored its opponents 98-67, but in the second half of the first three games, the Broncos were dead even with their opponents at 104 points apiece. SCU turned that around against Utah on Nov. 19. After leading 29-27 at the half, the Broncos outscored the Runnin' Utes 43-30 in the second half to win by 15. After allowing Utah to hit 59 percent of its shots in the first half, Utah hit just 39 percent in the second half. Conversely, SCU shot 59 percent from the field in the second half after shooting 39 percent in the first half. That trend continued at Sacramento State on Nov. 25. Santa Clara trailed 29-25 at the half, but outscored the Hornets 52-36 in the second half to pick up a 12-point win. SCU shot .864 from the field in the second half and outrebounded Sacramento State 16-4. Santa Clara is now outscoring opponents 309-280 in the second half.

Second Half Spurts
On Nov. 19, Santa Clara was tied with Utah 41-41 at the 12:20 mark of the second half after a basket by the Utes. Following that basket, SCU went on a 21-4 run that lasted until 2:24 when Utah's Johnnie Bryant hit a three-pointer. During that stretch, SCU held the Utes without a field goal from 10:46 until 2:24, a stretch of 10:22. Also, Utah did not score from the 8:50 mark until 2:24. On Nov. 25 at Sacramento State, the Broncos did it again. Trailing 51-42 at the 11:45 mark, SCU outscored the Hornets 21-2 over the next 8:28 of the game to build a 63-53 lead. The Hornets went scoreless from the 8:41 mark to the 3:17 mark as SCU grabbed control of the game. The trend continued on Nov. 29 against Eastern Washington although the spurt happened early in the second half. SCU started the second half vs. EWU with a 13-2 run in the first 5:48 to turn a five-point lead into a 16-point advantage.

Gunner Perfect
After scoring a career high 14 points against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 9, Jonathan Gunderson did not reach double figures again until Dec. 1 against Utah State. "Gunner", as he is called by his teammates, went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, to help Santa Clara push Utah State to the limit. Three of those baskets came in the second half for SCU.

Steals
After getting only 12 steals in their first three games, the Broncos turned up the defensive pressure vs. Utah and Sacramento State. Against the Utah Utes on Nov. 19, SCU had a season high nine steals, led by Brody Angley's four thefts. They then had seven more steals at Sacramento State on Nov. 25.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in all seven of its eight games this season and have not been outrebounded. Santa Clara and Utah State each had 26 boards on Dec. 1. Overall, the Broncos have outrebounded opponents 255-193 for a +7.8 margin.