STOCKTON, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball head coach Herb Sendek achieved the prestigious milestone of 500 career victories on Wednesday evening after guiding the Broncos to an 84-70 road victory over Pacific in Santa Clara's first game of the 2021-22 WCC slate.
Sendek, who now has 87 victories at Santa Clara in six seasons at the helm, joins the distinguished list of Division I men's basketball coaches to achieve the 500-win milestone with a 500-372 overall record in 28 seasons across four programs.
One of the best to ever do it
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 13, 2022
Congratulations @HerbSendek on picking up his 500th career win!#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/ZHJ3kMrKiJ
Wednesday night's victory saw all five Bronco starters score in double figures as Santa Clara (11-5, 1-0) pulled away early in the second half inside the Alex G. Spanos Center. Jalen Williams led the way with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds and five assists. Keshawn Justice added 17 points, doing most of his damage from beyond the arc (5-of-10) while Josip Vrankic was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Parker Braun added 14 points in a game-high 38 minutes of action while PJ Pipes, playing in his first game back after missing the final two nonconference games with illness, finished with 10 points. Carlos Stewart was the only other Bronco with a scoring total, finishing with eight points off the bench.
The first half saw both teams shoot the ball well for the first eight minutes of action before the defenses settled in. Pacific led by three with 3:33 remaining at 30-27, but the Bronco Offense finished the period on a tear with Justice knocking down three of his four first-half treys inside the final two minutes to help Santa Clara claim a 41-36 lead at the break.
Pacific (5-11, 0-2) quickly cut the deficit down to two points inside the opening minute of the second half, but the Broncos rattled off a quick 7-0 run to gain control and did not give up the lead for the remainder of the night. Santa Clara led by as much as 18 at 74-56 with just over six minutes to play before settling for the 14-point victory.
Santa Clara finished the night with a 53.3 percent scoring clip (32-60) and knocked down 12 3-pointers, their fourth game of the season with 10-plus treys. Pacific was held to a 47.7 shooting percentage (27-57) and knocked down seven triples of their own. The Broncos won the battle of the boards 35-27 and dished out 16 assists to the Tigers' 12.
Pacific was led offensively by Alphonso Anderson and Luke Avdalovic, who tied for the game-lead of 23 points.
They pulled this off way too smoothly#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/HAnJDAQRWb
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 13, 2022
NOTES
- The Broncos had five scorers reach double digits for the third time this season. It was also the 10th game in which four scorers have done so.
- Jalen Williams tallied his eighth game of 20 or more points. He also extended his streak to consecutive games in double figures to 16.
- The win was Santa Clara's first road win over the Tigers since January 19, 2019 (69-57).
POSTGAME VIDEOS
.@HerbSendek recaps tonight's big WCC-opening win over Pacific#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/pGrEpL2EK6
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 13, 2022
NEXT UP
- The Broncos host No. 2 Gonzaga for a 1:00 p.m. tip on Saturday, Jan. 15. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area.
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