Dec. 18, 2007

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Next Game
The Santa Clara Broncos head to The Farm to take on the Stanford Cardinal on Wednesday, Dec. 19 in a Bay Area rivalry game. The game tips off at 7:30 p.m. PT and fans can catch the action on Fox Sports Net on television or on the radio on KNTS 1220 or SantaClaraBroncos.com. SCU is looking for its second straight win at Maples Pavilion after defeating the Cardinal 62-46 last season. Stanford is 8-1 on the season, while the Broncos bring a 7-3 record into the game.

Last Game
The Santa Clara Broncos bounced back from their first home loss of the season with a convincing 60-49 victory over the Montana Grizzlies. The Broncos led by as many as 17 in the second half before cruising to the victory. John Bryant posted his fourth double double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win. Freshman Ben Dowdell had a career high 10 points for SCU and Brody Angley added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

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 7-3 start in his career at SCU.

SCU vs. Stanford
Series Record: Stanford leads 50-25
First Meeting: Mar. 14, 1913, Stanford won 38-29
Record at SCU: Stanford leads 16-12
Record at Stanford: Stanford leads 29-13
Record at Neutral Site: Stanford leads 5-0
Biggest SCU Win: 42-20 (22) on Feb. 2, 1940 and 67-45 (22) on Dec. 16, 1957
Biggest Stanford Win: 82-47 (35) on Dec. 15, 1990
Notes: Santa Clara has won two straight games in the series with the Cardinal, winning 86-76 on Nov. 28, 2004 and 62-46 on Dec. 16, 2006 ... Seniors Brody Angley and Mitch Henke both played in those victories ... Stanford won eight straight games in the series from 1989 to 2000 ... Alex Lopez, the older brother of Stanford's freshmen twin brothers, Brook and Robin, played for Santa Clara from 1997-99 under Dick Davey; he played in 57 games in his Bronco career ... while Kerry Keating was an assistant coach at UCLA, UCLA posted a 3-3 record against Stanford.

Last Game vs. Stanford
Santa Clara went into Maples Pavilion and earned an impressive 62-46 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Dec. 16, 2006. The Broncos held Stanford to just 12 points in the first half and led by as many as 22 before earning the 16-point win. The 16-point margin was the second-largest margin of victory ever by Santa Clara in a game on the road against Stanford. The Cardinal shot 28 percent from the field in the game. Danny Pariseau led SCU with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Brody Angley and Sean Denison also reached double figures for SCU with 10 points apiece. Santa Clara outrebounded the Cardinal 39-37 in the game.

Bryant Double Doubles
John Bryant has posted four double doubles this season for Santa Clara after scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against Montana on Dec. 17. He also had double doubles against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 9, Sacramento State on Nov. 25 and San Jose State on Dec. 8. Bryant had five double doubles in 2006-07 and four double doubles as a freshman during the 2005-06 season.

Career High Again
Freshman Ben Dowdell had a career high nine points on Dec. 8 in the Broncos' win against San Jose State, going 4-for-5 from the floor. His two steals against the Spartans were also a career high. Dowdell topped that effort in the Broncos' win over Montana on Dec. 17 with 10 points, while tying his career high with two steals.

Shooting
Santa Clara shot 50 percent from the floor against Montana on Dec. 17, marking the fifth time in the past six games that SCU has shot 50 percent or better. SCU is shooting 52 percent for the season to lead the West Coast Conference and place in the top three nationally.

Double Digits
Santa Clara defeated Montana by 11 points on Dec. 17. The Broncos have earned six of their seven victories by 10 points or more this season. Their only single-digit win was a nine-point victory over Eastern Washington on Nov. 29.

Free Throw Line
SCU has improved significantly at the free throw line this season through 10 games. The Broncos are shooting 73 percent from the charity stripe this year after shooting 67 percent last season.

Henke Season High
Senior Mitch Henke had his best game of the season against Pacific on Dec. 12, scoring a season-high 21 points, just one point shy of his career high. He also had five rebounds and three assists in the game.

Zimmermann Making Impact
Freshman Andrew Zimmermann continues to make strides as he gets back to full health from a back injury that forced him to miss four games at the start of the season. Zimmermann had nine points and nine rebounds in a season-high 24 minutes against Pacific on Dec. 12. He made his first appearance of the year on Nov. 25 at Sacramento State.

Angley 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 Hits Century Mark
Senior Brody Angley has now appeared in 101 games in his career at Santa Clara after starting against Montana on Dec. 17. He will enter the top 10 in school history for games played if he appears in 14 more games. The school's all-time record of 127 is held by Kyle Bailey (2001-05.)

Big Sky Opponents
Santa Clara defeated Montana 60-49 on Dec. 17 to complete a three-game sweep of Big Sky opponents this season. SCU beate 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. 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.

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 10 games this season.

Henke Heats Up
It was deja vu at the Event Center on Dec. 8 for Broncos senior Mitch Henke. Against the San Jose State 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.

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.

On the Boards
Santa Clara has held the rebounding edge in eight of its 10 games this season and have not been outrebounded. 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 324-253 for a +7.1 margin.

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. 16. The Broncos were second in field goal percentage at .521, 13th in three-point percentage at .429, tied for 33rd in rebound margin at +6.9, and 45th in assists per game at 16.6. Individually, John Bryant was also among the nation's best. As of Dec. 16, John Bryant was 25th in scoring at 20.7 points per game, 24th in field goal percentage at 62.5 and 48th in blocks at 2.2 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. 18, SCU was first in field goal percentage (.519), first in 3-point field goal percentage (.438), first in free throw percentage (.725), first in rebound margin (+7.1), first in scoring defense (60.4), tied for first in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.03) and first in assists (16.2). Individually, John Bryant was second in scoring (20.0), fourth in rebounding (8.6), second in field goal percentage (.603) and first in blocked shots (2.4). Brody Angley was second in assists (4.90), tied for sixth in free throw percentage (.846), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63) and third in 3-point field goal percentage (.481). Calvin Johnson was first in 3-pointers made per game (2.12) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (.486).

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 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 11.3 points in the second half and is shooting a remarkable .652 from the floor in the second half.

Angley In Top 10
Senior point guard Brody Angley had 119 assists last season, giving him 342 career assists coming into this season. With 49 assists in the first 10 games he has now passed Harold Keeling (1981-85) for seventh all-time and now has 391 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 139. He passed Doron Perkins (2003-05) on Dec. 12 with two steals and is now seventh on the all-time list, three behind Chris Lane (1984-88.) Along with steals, Angley now finds himself in the Top 10 all-time in games started as well. After starting against Montana, the Redding, Calif. native, now has 90 starts, tying him with Travis Niesen (2002-06). 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.

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 24 blocks in the first 10 games, Bryant now has 110 career blocks, placing him third all-time in blocks in SCU history. Jens Gordon (1985-89) is second with 133.