2020-21 Game Notes Thursday, Feb. 25 Santa Clara (10-6, 4-4) at No. 1/1 Gonzaga (22-0, 13-0) Spokane, Wash. • McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) 4 p.m. Pacific TV: CBS Sports Network Live Stream: cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/ Rich Waltz (play-by-play) and Dan Dickau (analyst) Radio/Audio: TuneIn Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) Live Stats: gozags.com/sidearmstats/mbball 2020-21 Schedule BRONCOS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON THIS WEEK... After three straight games at home following nearly a month off, Santa Clara begins Date Opponent Time the final week of the regular season with a game at top-ranked Gonzaga. The Bron- Nov. 25 __ Idaho State$ (WCC Network) ________________ W, 62-49 cos ended their homestand on Saturday with an 86-82 win over Pepperdine. Josip Nov. 27 __ UC Davis$ (WCC Network) __________________ W, 66-63 Vrankic posted 26 points, Jalen Williams scored 17, including 13 in the second half, Nov. 28 __ Nicholls$ (WCC Network) ___________________ W, 73-57 and Christian Carlyle added 16 for the Broncos. Dec. 2___ CSU Bakersfield#(WCC Network) ___________ W, 53-47 Dec. 5___ New Mexico State# (WCC Network) __________canceled Dec. 9 ___ at Cal Poly (BigWest.tv) ______________________ W, 76-69 QUICK HITS... Dec. 12 _ Sacramento State# (WCC Network) __________canceled • The Broncos went a stretch of 24 days between games due to a COVID-19 pause Dec. 15 _ Fresno Pacific# (WCC Network) _____________ W, 88-65 in activities. Before playing LMU on Feb. 16, they defeated the Lions, 72-69, in Los Dec. 18 __ at San Jose State# (Mountain West Network) ______ canceled Angeles, on Jan. 23, and three days later halted activities. Dec. 22 _ Colorado State# (WCC Network) _____________L, 57-70 • This week Santa Clara was set to play at BYU on Thursday and at San Francisco Dec. 23 _ Bethesda# (WCC Network) __________________canceled on Saturday, but the West Coast Conference adjusted to maximize the number of Dec. 29 __ at USC (Pac-12 Networks) _____________________ L, 63-86 league games. Dec. 31 __ vs. New Mexico State% ___________________ canceled • The Broncos are coming off a 20-13 mark last season, their first 20-win campaign Jan. 2 ___ Loyola Marymount* (WCC Network) ______________ ppd. in seven years and just fourth occurrence in the last 19. Jan. 7 ___ at No. 1 Gonzaga* (ROOT) ______________________ ppd. • Santa Clara has four starters and seven of its top nine scorers from last season, in- Jan. 9 ___ at Saint Mary’s* (CBS Sports Network) __________ W, 66-64 cluding preseason All-West Coast Conference performer Josip Vrankic, a three-year Jan. 14 __ at Pacific*(WCC Network) _____________________ L, 58-79 starter. The senior ranked first on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 Jan. 16 __ at San Diego* (WCC Network) ____________________ ppd. pg) last season. DJ Mitchell was third in scoring (10.7 ppg) and second in rebound- Jan. 17 __ at San Diego* (WCC Network) ________________ W, 69-63 ing (5.2 pg). Jan. 21 __ San Francisco*# (NBA CA/FOX RSN) __________L, 50-73 • Before his injury at the beginning of league play last year, junior Guglielmo Ca- Jan. 23 __ at Loyola Marymount* (NBA CA/FOX RSN/ROOT) ___ W, 72-69 ruso was among the most productive and efficient big men in the WCC. He would Jan. 28 __ Pacific*# (WCC Network)________________________ ppd. have ranked first in the league in field-goal percentage (66.1) and third in blocked Jan. 30 __ at Portland* (WCC Network) ______________________ ppd. shots (1.1 pg) but did not appear in enough games to qualify. Feb. 4 ___ Saint Mary’s* ________________________________ ppd. • Mitchell and junior Keshawn Justice were two of the top three 3-point shooting Feb. 6 ___ at Gonzaga* (ESPN or ESPN2) ____________________ ppd. threats in the league in 2019-20. They each shot 38 percent from behind the 3-point Feb. 11 __ Gonzaga* ___________________________________ ppd. line. Feb. 13 __ Portland* ___________________________________ ppd. • The Broncos had two of more productive first-year players in the WCC a year ago. Feb. 16 __ Loyola Marymount* (WCC Network) __________L, 73-76 Jaden Bediako was a member of the WCC All-Freshman team and Jalen Williams Feb. 18 __ San Diego (WCC Network) ___________________L, 60-71 proved to be one of the most explosive first-year players in the league. Bediako was Feb. 20 __ Pepperdine* (Stadium) ____________________ W, 86-82 inserted into the starting lineup for Caruso as conference play opened and went on to Feb. 25 __ at BYU* (CBS Sports Network) _________________ canceled average a team-best 11.9 rebounds per 40 minutes of play. Williams started the final Jan. 7 ___ at No. 1 Gonzaga* (CBS Sports Network) ___________4 p.m. 23 games and tallied the third-most steals (44) by a freshman in school history. Feb. 27 __ at San Francisco* ________________________ canceled • Newcomers include freshman guard Trent Hudgens Jr. and three transfers in Feb. 27 __ Portland* (WCC Network) _____________________ 7 p.m. Christian Carlyle (Florida Gulf Coast), Joe Foley (Lehigh) and Vittorio Reynoso- Mar. 4-9 _ WCC Tournament (Las Vegas) Avila (Princeton). Carlyle and Reynoso-Avila are graduate transfers. Home games in BOLD and played at Leavey Center Times are Pacific and subject to change YEAR FIVE UNDER SENDEK... $ Bronco Invitational; # Kaiser Permanente Arena (Santa Cruz, Calif.) % Toyota Arena (Ontario, Calif.) The Broncos are in their 114th year, including fifth under Herb Sendek, who has been * West Coast Conference game successful in each of his four head-coaching stops. With a resume that includes 18 postseason appearances and three conference coach of the year awards, Sendek NBC CA – NBC Sports California; NBC BA - NBC Sports Bay Area; has led the Broncos to three winning seasons, including a 20-13 mark in 2019-20. The NBC+ - NBC Sports Plus California/Bay Area; ROOT - ROOT Sports Northwest; FOX RSN - FOX Sports Regional Broncos had only three winning records in the previ- Sports Networks ous 15 seasons, and the program had not recorded WHAT’S INSIDE... three winning campaigns during a four-year stretch pg. 2 __________ Roster WCC games on TV: also streamed on WCC Network (blackouts apply) since Dick Davey led it to seven in a row from 1994- pg. 2 __________ Pronunciations pg. 5 __________ Sendek bio Connecting with the Broncos 95 through 2000-01. Sendek is in his 27th season as pg. 6 __________ TV/Radio Roster Twitter: _________________ @SCUBroncos, @SantaClaraHoops a collegiate head coach with stops at Arizona State, pgs. 7-19 ______ Player pages Instagram: _________________ SCUBroncos, SantaClaraHoops North Carolina State and Miami (Ohio). pgs. 20-22 _____ Box scores Facebook: ____________ SantaClaraBroncos, SantaClaraHoops pgs. 23-28 _____ Statistics YouTube: ______________________________ SantaClaraBroncos pg. 25 _________ Starters SnapChat: __________________ SCUBroncos, SantaClaraHoops Release: as of Feb. 24 www.SantaClaraBroncos.com • @SantaClaraHoops 1 TALE OF THE TAPE LAST GAME’S STARTERS... Pos. No. Player Yr. PPG RPG APG Other Santa Clara Category Gonzaga F 13 Josip Vrankic Sr. 15.4 8.6 1.7 6 double-doubles (1st in WCC) 67.0 Scoring Avg. 76.0 F 30 Guglielmo Caruso Jr. 7.5 4.2 1.1* 56.0 career FG percentage -0.4 Scoring Margin +24.3 G 1 Christian Carlyle Sr. 8.7 2.6 2.1 Double-figure scoring 2 of last 3 gams G 4 Giordan Williams So. 4.6 1.6 0.4 1st-career start Sat. vs. Pepperdine 41.5 FG Pct. 55,4 G 24 Jalen Williams So. 10.8 3.7 2.2 Avg. 15.2 points last 6 games 29.6 3-FG Pct. 35.8 * Blocks per game 5.3 3-FG PG 7.1 67.0 FT Pct. 73.5 THE GONZAGA SERIES... 16.0 FTs Made PG 16.7 In a series that began in 1946, Gonzaga leads, 64-30. The Bulldogs have won 30 of the last 37.6 Rebound Avg. 38.4 32, including 21 straight, meetings. Santa Clara’s last victory occurred on Jan. 20, 2011, +0.9 Rebound Margin +8.1 when the Broncos downed the Bulldogs, 85-71, in Leavey Center. 12.3 Assists PG 18.7 Last 10 Meetings: 13.4 Turnovers PG 12.2 Jan. 28, 2016 ____ L _____ at Gonzaga ___________________ 67-84 -1.4 Turnover Margin +3.5 Jan. 19, 2017 ____ L _____ Gonzaga (4/4) ________________ 57-88 Feb. 4, 2017 _____ L _____ at Gonzaga (1/1) ______________ 55-90 0.9 Assist/TO Ratio 1.5 March 6, 2017 ____ L _____ vs. Gonzaga (4/4)^ ____________ 68-77 4.4 Steals PG 8.6 Dec. 30, 2018 ____ L _____ at Gonzaga (20/19) ___________ 52-101 4.4 Blocks PG 3.2 Jan. 20, 2018 ____ L _____ Gonzaga (13/13) ______________ 60-75 Jan. 5, 2019______ L _____ at Gonzaga (7/8)*______________ 48-91 Jan. 24, 2019 ____ L _____ Gonzaga (4/4) ________________ 39-98 Jan. 16, 2020 ____ L _____ at Gonzaga (1/1) _____________ 54-104 Jan. 30, 2020 ____ L _____ Gonzaga (2/2) ________________ 72-87 ^ WCC Tournament; Rankings in (); AP/Coaches TEAM NOTES... • On Tuesday, Feb. 16, Santa Clara played its first game in Leavey Center since Nov. 28 when it defeated Nicholls in the finale of the Bronco Invitational. Due to Santa Clara County guidelines on competition, the Broncos relocated to Santa Cruz, California, for four games and practice from the first week of December through the third week of January. • The Broncos have had 14 games either postponed or canceled this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.