CELEBRATE THE SENIORS: VS. PEPPERDINE AT 7 PM ON SATURDAY -- TICKETS AVAILABLE!
Seniors Talk about Their Senior Year!
CELEBRATE THE SENIORS: VS. PEPPERDINE AT 7 PM ON SATURDAY -- TICKETS AVAILABLE!
Looking for its first regular-season sweep of the Waves in 27 years in the final home game for Bronco seniors Ben Dowdell, Michael Santos, Troy Payne and Nate Mensah, Santa Clara (17-13, 7-6 WCC) will host Pepperdine (11-19, 5-8 WCC) at 7 pm on Sat., Feb. 26. The SCU game vs. the Waves is the only WCC contest this season that will not be televised. The 13 televised WCC games this year is an all-time high for the Broncos.
Santa Clara's last regular-season sweep over the Waves came on a 77-63 win on Jan. 19, 1984 in Santa Clara and a 62-56 victory on March 3, 1984. in Malibu. The team's are meeting for the 122nd time. SCU leads the all-time Pepperdine series 67-54 and the Broncos lead the series 39-19 in Santa Clara. Santa Clara and Pepperdine have split the season series each of the last eight years. The home team won seven of those meetings.
SCU defeated LMU in double overtime on Thursday, finishing LMU off 94-88 behind the career highs of Marc Trasolini (31) and Ben Dowdell (26). SCU hit 37 of 42 free throws, the most since it made 42 vs. Gonzaga on Dec. 23, 1968. Trasolini's 17 of 20 performance from the free throw line was second only to Steve Nash's 21 of 21 in the Broncos 75-71 win over Saint Mary's on Jan. 7, 1995.
Trasolini is in the hunt for his 1000th career point vs. the Waves, needing just six. Kevin Foster and Trasolini would be the first duo to both hit 1,000 career points in the same season since then-seniors Jens Gordon and Mitch Burley did it in 1988-89. Gordon scored 522 points that season to finish his career with 1,356 and Burley scored 377 to finish with 1,258 career points. The duo have combined for 941 points this season, No. 8 on SCUs Single Season Duo list. They need to score 59 points to become just the seventh pair to hit 1,000 points in a season and need just eight points to pass Steve Nash (565) and Marlon Garnett (382) who scored 947 together in 1994-95.
Listen
The Pepperdine game will be broadcast via the Bronco Radio Network on both KDOW 1220 AM and Broncos All-Access on the web at www.SantaClaraBroncos.com with the broadcast beginning at 6:45 pm. Anthony Passarelli is in his fourth season as the Broncos' play-by-play announcer. Coach Kerry Keating can be heard on KDOW 1220 AM on Sunday evenings from 9:10-9:20 pm in his radio spotlight on The Sports Ramble with an interview conducted by Passarelli. Out of the listening area, KDOW is streamed online live at www.1220kdow.com. The link for the Pepperdine game can be found on either team's schedule webpage or on http://www.santaclarabroncos.com/livestats. You can also go directly to the Santa Clara Broncos portal on Stretch Internet by clicking http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/santaclara.portal?mode=link#.
No. 1 Nationally
Santa Clara's steals streak has reached national proportions. Santa Clara's current consecutive games with 6+ steals is now the longest streak in Division I. SCU has collected 10+ steals seven times during the streak. Two weeks ago the Broncos followed Louisville, Valparaiso and Houston Baptist, but all three have had their streaks snapped in the last two weeks.
1. 21 - Santa Clara (8-8-10-6-7-10-14-6-9-6-6-7-11-14-11-6-7-8-7-11-9) (next: vs. Pep, 2-26-11)
Our WCC Candidates
Santa Clara has three players up for league honors this year including Kevin Foster as a candidate for Player of the Year, Evan Roquemore for Newcomer of the Year and Troy Payne as Defender of the Year. Check out a few of their superlatives.
Kevin Foster – WCC Player of the Year candidate
"He was superb tonight. A lot of them were tough shots. But he's capable of making closely-guarded shots," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said after Foster scored 36 on the Zags to lead SCU to an 85-71 win.
* Leads WCC in scoring in overall games and WCC games. 587 points scored is No. 5 on the Bronco single season list and 32 from the school record set in 1968-69. First sophomore in WCC history to score 1,000 career points.
*No. 2 nationally in 3s made per game (3.5), but No. 1 in 3s made (106) and 3s attempted (289). Broke his own records (previously Steve Nash's) for threes made and attempted in a single season Feb. 10.
* 106 3s made is tied for No. 4 on the WCC single season record list. Eight times this year he has hit 6+ threes in a game – including 8 at Gonzaga and vs. USF; and 7 at Portland.
* No. 2 on the team with 3.7 apg, 1.6 spg and shooting 81.8 percent from the free throw line (135 of 165).
Evan Roquemore – WCC Newcomer of the Year candidate
"He's got a good base to build on - he's hit a lot of big shots this year. Our team likes him, but I think they also trust that he knows what's going on. He's really handled the load of being a point guard his freshman year by playing beyond his years," said Bronco coach Kerry Keating.
* Named No. 20 Freshman nationally this season by BasketballProspectus.com in January (only WCC player)
* Leading WCC Newcomers in overall games in scoring, assists, 3s made and assist-turnover ratio. Second in free throw % and three point %. Third in steals per game. Leading WCC Newcomer in WCC games in minutes, assists, assist-turnover ratio and free throw % . Second in points and 3s made. Third in steals.
* Has started the last 22 games and leads team with 4.0 apg and is third with 11.2 ppg.
* Has already broken the Bronco freshman record for assists (was 119, has 121), free throws made (was 98, has 124) and attempted (was 142, has 152). All three records were set by Brian Jones in 1996-97.
Troy Payne – WCC Defensive Player of the Year candidate
Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett had this to say of Payne: "Troy Payne is a really good defender. He makes it really hard when he guards you because he will really disrupt your offense."
* Leads the WCC with 1.8 spg in overall games and in WCC games with 2.8 spg. Three games on the WCC road with 6+ steals this season (at USD, at Pepperdine, at LMU).
* 5+ rebounds in 16 straight games, with 7+ the last seven of the last eight games (double figures four times)
* Averaging 8.8 rpg in the last nine games, including a season-high 12 at LMU and then vs. LMU as well.
* No. 4 in WCC games with 8.0 rpg. No. 1 in WCC games with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. No. 7 in WCC games with 4.5 defensive rebounds per game. Averages 3 deflections a game.
Turned It UP!
Ben Dowdell, acknowledging earlier this season that his senior year "will be the one that defines my Bronco career", has posted double figure scoring in 12 games this season, including seven of the last 10 games. Dowdell tied his career-high with 22 points vs. Portland on Jan. 22 and then scored a career-high 26 points vs. LMU on Feb. 24. He also grabbed his second career double-double vs. LMU with a career-high 14 rebounds.
Starting all 30 games this year, Dowdell is averaging 8.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg. Dowdell has posted double figures 26 times in his career: 12 times this year, five times his junior year and nine times his rookie campaign.
He has played in 120 career games with 90 career starts. He needs just one more start to jump into the top 10 for career starts. No. 10 is Jens Gordon (91, 1985-89) and No. 9 is Michael Norman (93, 1980-84). With Dowdell's play vs. LMU, he is tied at No. 6 in career games played with Gordon (1985-87). No. 5 is Jason Sedlock at 121 from 1992-97. Santa Clara has at least two games left and if he plays in each game, he will be tied with Brody Angley (2004-08) and Mitch Burley (1985-89) with 122 games played at No. 3 all-time.
Dowdell will also finish in the top 10 in personal fouls in a career as he has 367 career fouls, good for No. 2 on the list. He passed Kurt Rambis at No. 2 (1976-80) vs. LMU.
Dowdell on Career Charts Games Played
1. Kyle Bailey (2001-05) 127
2. John Bryant (2005-09) 124
3. Brody Angley (2004-2008) 122
Mitch Burley (1985-89) 22
5. Jason Sedlock (1992-97) 21
6. Ben Dowdell (2007 - ) 120
Jens Gordon (1985-89) 20
8. Dan Weiss (1984-88) 19
9. Mitch Henke (2004-08) 117
Brian Jones (1996-01) 17
Travis Niesen (2002-06) 117
Personal Fouls
1. Jens Gordon (1985-89) 96
2. Ben Dowdell (2007 - ) 367
3. Kurt Rambis (1976-80) 66
4. Dan Weiss (1984-88) 58
5. Mike Norman (1980-84) 56
6. Jason Sedlock (1992-97) 44
7. Brian Jones (1996-01) 39
8. John Bryant (2005-09) 37
9. Todd Wuschnig (1996-00) 26
10. Travis Niesen (2002-06) 301
Moving Up the Charts
Kevin Foster has hit 106 threes this season with 289 attempts - both single season school records (broke his own records vs. Saint Mary's on Feb. 10). The WCC single season record is 126 by Jeff Fryer of LMU in 1989. Fryer is also No. 2 on the list with 121 in 1990. Foster is tied for No. 4 on the WCC single season list with Peter McKelvey, Portland (1991-92). No. 3 is Dan Dickau of Gonzaga (117, 2001-02).
With 11 points vs. LMU Foster passed Harold Keeling at No. 5, who scored 585 (1983-84). He is 32 points from breaking the single season school record: 619 by Dennis Awtrey (1968-69). Awtrey is No. 2 with 614 (1969-70), No. 3 is John Bryant at 596 (2008-09) and Ralph Odgen is No. 4 at 590 (1969-70).
Foster dropped a new career-high on the Zags with 36 on Jan. 20 (11 of 20 and 6 of 14 from 3; 8 of 10 FT). The 36 points are the sixth-most ever for a Bronco at home and the most a player has scored vs. Gonzaga since Pepperdine's Keion Bell scored 37 points on Jan. 21, 2010. Foster's career-best prior to the Gonzaga game was the 31 he scored as a freshman at Saint Mary's (Jan. 9, 2009) and his season-best was the 29 he scored in overtime vs. Washington St. on Dec. 19.
Foster crushed eight threes on Jan. 8 vs. USF and at Gonzaga on Feb. 17. The eight threes twice tied the school record set by Steve Nash (8 at Gonzaga on Jan. 19, 1995) and Mitch Burley (8 vs. Nevada-Reno, Dec. 14, 1988). Foster attempted 20 threes in the USF game, shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. The attempts mark shattered Burley's school record set back in 1988 (17) and Nash's in 1995 (17). The 20 attempts also shattered the WCC record set by Jeff Fryer of LMU vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 24, 1989 when he attempted 18.
Foster-Fest
WCC Single Season Records
Three-Pointers Made
1. Jeff Fryer, LMU (1988-89) 126
2. Jeff Fryer, LMU (1989-90) 121
3. Dan Dickau, GON (2001-02) 117
4. Kevin Foster (2010-11) 106
Peter McKelvey, POR (1991-92) 106
Bronco Single Season Records
Three-Pointers Made
1. Kevin Foster (2010-11) 106
2. Kevin Foster (2008-09) 85
3. Steve Nash (1994-95) 4
4. Steve Ross (2001-02) 74
5. Marlon Garnett (1996-97) 9
Three-Pointers Attempted
1. Kevin Foster (2010-11) 289
2. Kevin Foster (2008-09) 232
3. Kyle Bailey (2004-05) 198
4. Steve Nash (1994-95) 85
Marlon Garnett (1996-97) 85
Points
1. Dennis Awtrey (1968-69) 619
2. Dennis Awtrey (1969-70) 614
3. John Bryant (2008-09) 596
4. Ralph Ogden (1969-70) 590
5. Kevin Foster (2010-11) 587
6. Harold Keeling (1983-84) 85
7. Harold Keeling (1984-85) 74
8. Steve Nash (1994-95) 65
9. Russ Vrankovich (1963-64) 61
10. John Bryant (2007-08) 558
Career Records
1,000 Points Scored (Top 22 of 28)
1. Kurt Rambis (1976-80) ,736
2. Harold Keeling (1981-85) ,731
3. Brian Jones (1996-01) ,722
4. Steve Nash (1992-96) ,689
5. Dennis Awtrey (1967-70) ,675
6. John Bryant (2005-09) 1,667
7. Londale Theus (1976-80) ,643
8. Ken Sears (1951-55) ,586
9. Kyle Bailey (2001-05) 1,571
10. Mike Stewart (1970-73) ,446
11. Bud Ogden (1966-69) ,437
12. Nick Vanos (1981-85) ,399
13. Mike Gervasoni (1964-67) ,393
14. Travis Niesen (2002-06) 1,380
15. Jens Gordon (1985-89) ,356
16. Marlon Garnett (1993-97) ,346
17. Ralph Ogden (1967-70) ,280
18. Mitch Burley (1985-89) ,258
19. Frank Sobrero (1957-60) ,256
20. Ron Reis (1988-92) ,246
21. Kevin Foster (2008- ) 1,192
22. Nathan Fast (1996-00) ,182
Three-Pointers Made
1. Steve Nash (1992-96) 63
2. Kyle Bailey (2001-05) 225
3. Kevin Foster (2008- ) 213
4. Marlon Garnett (1993-97) 10
5. Ethan Rohde (2002-05) 192
Three-Pointers Attempted
1. Kyle Bailey (2001-05) 679
2. Steve Nash (1992-95) 56
3. Kevin Foster (2008- ) 593
4. Marlon Garnett (1993-97) 528
5. Brian Jones (1996-01) 526
Rookie Records
Evan Roquemore has broken three Bronco rookie records this season: assists, free throws made and free throws attempted. All three records were set by Brian Jones in 1996-97. Jones was named the WCC Freshman of the Year that season and was named All-WCC twice during his career.
Roquemore has scored double figures in seven of the last nine games. He has started 21 straight games after coming off the bench the first eight games of his rookie campaign Averaging 11.1 ppg, a team-leading 4.0 apg and 3.5 rpg, he had a career-high eight assists at Saint Mary's and at Gonzaga; and a career-high with 18 points vs. Northern Colorado. He has been perfect at the free throw line in 10 games this year: 6 of 6 vs. Rice, 10 of 10 vs. Northern Colorado, 6 of 6 at SJSU, 7 of 7 vs. Washington State, 6 of 6 at CSU Northridge, 1 of 1 at Saint Mary's, 8 of 8 vs. Gonzaga, 2 of 2 at LMU, 6 of 6 vs. San Diego and 8 of 8 vs. LMU.
Rocking Rookie Records
Bronco Freshman Records
Assists(kept since 1972-73)
1. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 121
2. Brian Jones (1996-97) 19
Points
1. Kevin Foster (2008-09) 86
9. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 322
Scoring Average
1. Kurt Rambis (1976-77) 5.3
10. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 11.1
Three-Pointers Made
1. Kevin Foster (2008-09) 5
8. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 40
Three-Pointers Attempted
1. Kevin Foster (2008-09) 32
9. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 103
Three-Point FG % (Min. 20 made)
1. Steve Nash (1992-93) 408
5. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) .388
Free Throws Made
1. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 116
2. Brian Jones (1996-97) 8
Free Throws Attempted
1. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 144
2. Brian Jones (1996-97) 42
Free Throw % (Min. 30 made)
1. Steve Nash (1992-93) 825
2. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) .806
Steals
1. Steve Kenilvort (1982-83) 9
8. Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 30
Minutes Played
1. Robert Smith (2009-10) 1,049
3. Ben Dowdell (2007-08) 890
Evan Roquemore (2010-11) 890
Comparing
There are some interesting comparisons after Santa Clara's first 30 games last season and the first 29 games this year. Santa Clara is 17-13 and 7-6 in the WCC this season and was 11-19 and 3-10 in the WCC last season. See the following positives on this season as compared to last:
*Increased points per game from 64.5 to 73.3 and scoring margin from -5.4 to +2.4
*Increased FG made from 655 to 711 and FG % from .409 to .427
*Increased 3 pt FG made from 140 to 212 and 3 pt FG % from .297 to .347
*Increased 3 pt FG made per game from 4.7 to 7.1
*Decreased opponent 3 pt FG made from 204 to 174 and 3 point FG % from .397 to .360
*Decreased opponent 3 pt FG made per game from 6.8 to 5.8
*Increased FT made from 485 to 566 and attempts from 709 to 784; and free throws made from 16.2 to 18.9
*Increased rebounds per game from 34.5 to 35.8 and rebounding margin from -0.1 to +3.6
*Decreased opponent rebounds per game from 34.5 to 32.1
*Increased assists per game from 10.1 to 13.3 and decreased opponent assists per game from 13.9 to 12.1
*Decreased turnovers from 460 t0 436 and turnovers per game from 15.3 to 14.5
*Increased opponents turnovers from 438 to 462 and opponents turnovers per game from 14.6 to 15.4
*Increased steals from 215 to 235 and steals per game from 7.2 to 7.8
*Decreased opponents steals from 219 to 201 and opponents blocks from 120 to 110
Big-Time Broncos
0 (Roquemore) - WCC Newcomer of the Year candidate. Named No. 20 Freshman nationally this season by BasketballProspectus.com in January (only WCC player). Broke the Bronco freshman school record for assists, free throws made and attempted. 15 of the last 23 games he has hit double figures, including double figures the last five of his last six games. Dished out a career-high eight assists at Saint Mary's and at Gonzaga; and scored a career-high 18 points vs. Northern Colorado.
01 (Payne) - WCC Defender of the Year candidate. Started 40 games last year and 19 this year. Leads WCC in steals. Career-high 6 steals three times this year. Has had 18 games this season with 6+ rebounds. Second career double-double vs. USD (10/10).
03 (Cunningham) - Hasn't played in the past 14 games due to a bad back. He started the previous eight games and was shooting a career-best 61.9 percent this season. (seventh-best shooting percentage in Bronco history).
04 (Perricone) - Has played in three games this season and hit his first career field goal in the first game (HBU) and a three-pointer in two games: Bethany and UCSC.
10 (Dowdell) - Career-high 26 points vs. LMU, including career-high 14 rebounds. 12 games this season with 5+ rebounds and hit double-figures in scoring eight of the last 11 games
13 (Santos) - Made big basket in second overtime to help seal win for SCU vs. LMU. Gave SCU 16 minutes off the bench vs. Gonzaga and followed it up with 20 minutes in Portland win. Had season-high six rebounds and career-high four assists vs. Bethany.
14 (Gamble) - Hit his first career points with two three-pointers vs. Bethany. He put up four shots and grabbed two rebounds during that span as well. Hit two free throws in career-high six minutes vs. UC Santa Cruz.
15 (Trasolini) - Has hit double figures 13 of the last 18 games. Six points from a career 1,000 points (would be 29th player in school history). Has 51 career double-figure games and 28 15+ point games. His five career double-doubles rank No. 1 on the team this year. Is the only player in the WCC to be named to the Capital One Academic All-District team the past two years. Sports a 3.51 GPA in Finance.
21 (Foster) - No. 21 in career points with 1,192. First sophomore in WCC history and 28th Bronco player overall to score 1,000+ career points. Scored a career-high 36 points in the Gonzaga win - the sixth-best ever by a Bronco in a home game. First player in school history to hit six plus threes in three games in a season. He has now done it eight times this year after hitting eight at Gonzaga and seven at Portland!
22 (Mensah) - Fourth-year walk-on hit his first career free throws and first career three-pointers in the five games he has played in this year. Has already been accepted to the Law Schools at Santa Clara University and American University; and is waiting to hear back from Cornell, Georgetown, George Washington and Howard.
24 (Clarke) - Has only played in three games early due to a foot injury.
25 (McArthur) - His 11 rebounds vs. Santa Cruz were the most for a Bronco freshman since John Bryant snagged 13 vs. Portland on Jan. 7, 2006. After being named the Bay Area Player of the Year out of famed De La Salle last year, he hit his first career three at Gonzaga on Feb. 17.
31 (Harrison) - Scored a season-high 12 points at Pepperdine, his first time in double figures this season after hitting double figures nine times last season.
33 (Bach) - Carrying a 3.48 grade point average in Marketing, he has come off the bench in four games this season, including 12 minutes vs. Bethany where he dished out a career-best four assists. Scored career-high 9 points in career-high 14 minutes vs. UC Santa Cruz.
42 (Cowels) - Starting in nine games this season and 20 throughout his two-year career, Cowels hit a season-high four threes vs. Northern Colorado and was 6 of 6 from the free throw line vs. Washington State. He scored a career-high 24 points vs. NCAA Tournament-bound Wofford last season, hitting five threes.
44 (Atanga) - The Yaounde, Cameroon native is being red-shirted this season.