STOCKTON, Calif. – Behind a career-best 23 points from
Johnny O'Neil, Santa Clara men's basketball picked up their third WCC road win to improve to 4-1 in league play and 13-7 overall. Every Bronco that saw the court scored at least four points in the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Broncos struck first with consecutive triples from Carlos Marshall, Jr. and Johnny O'Neil to quickly mount an 8-2 lead that grew to as much as 13 at 37-24 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.
- Santa Clara shot 50 percent from the field (13-of-26) and hit five of their first six 3-point attempts before finishing 7-for-15 from beyond the arc (7-of-15) for the half. The Bronco Defense held Pacific to just 37.5 percent from the field and 4-for-14 from 3-point range (28.6). SCU went into the locker room up 44-33.
- The threes continued to fall in the second half with Marshall Jr. and O'Neil knocking down two quick ones to push the lead to 47-33.
- Pacific (6-14, 0-5) cut it down to 10, but that was as close as they would get as Santa Clara pushed their lead right back up and led by as much as 22 inside the final minute.
- The Broncos finished the game with a 47.5 percent shooting clip and knocked down 15-of-39 from 3-point range – their second-most treys this season.
- Santa Clara outrebounded the Tigers 37-21 and dished out 21 assists against Pacific's 12.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- O'Neil knocked down a career-best six 3-pointers on 10 attempts and also pulled down seven rebounds as part of his career night. His seven boards pushed him to 502 for his career.
- Adama-Alpha Bal and Marshall, Jr. each returned to their usual high-scoring ways with 12 points apiece while Francisco Caffaro chipped in eight points.
- With Brenton Knapper nursing an injury, Tyeree Bryan found himself in the starting lineup for the second time this season. The junior tied O'Neil for the team-lead of seven rebounds to go with seven points.
- Jake Ensminger led all Broncos with a career-best five assists.
- Santa Clara has now won five of the last six against Pacific.
POSTGAME COMMENTS
NEXT UP:
The Broncos return to the Leavey Center to take on Portland on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. PT. The game is back end of a doubleheader with the Santa Clara women's team.
