HENDERSON, Nev.- Santa Clara men’s basketball will head to the Lee’s Family Forum for the second time this season, this time for a matchup with Bradley (8-1) in the Jack Jones Classic. The game will be streamed live on BallerTV, while Anthony Passarelli will have the audio only call on Sidearm Streaming. Both links can be found above.
The Broncos are coming off a dominating offensive performance, hitting 13 three-pointers en route to an 81-66 victory over Fresno State last Saturday. Carlos Stewart Jr. scored in double figures for the fifth straight game, leading the Broncos with 18 points, and Tyeree Bryan tied a season high four three-pointers, recording his fifth game of the season in double figures, adding a career high five steals. Jake Ensminger tied a career high 11 rebounds, drawing his first start of the season, while Christoph Tilly also tied a season high two three-pointers, adding 14 points, his seventh game of the year in double digits.
The Broncos have four players scoring in double figures ranking in the top 30 in the WCC. Elijah Mahi leads the way with 12.2 ppg (19th in WCC), Adama-Alpha Bal is second on the team with 11.9 ppg (24th in WCC), Tilly ranks third on the team with 11.7 ppg (25th in WCC), and Stewart rounds out the pack with 11.4 ppg (28th in WCC). The Broncos rank second in the league and 69th nationally with 12.80 offensive rebounds per game, and second in the WCC and 78th nationally with 27.50 bench points per game. They also rank third in the league and 69th nationally, shooting a 75.4 percent mark from the free throw line, and second in the WCC and 92nd nationally with an average of 8.9 three-pointers per game. Over the past five games, Stewart leads the Broncos averaging 16.0 ppg, and shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
Led by head coach Brian Wardle, the Bradley Braves have started the season strong with an 8-1 record. Their lone loss was at the hands of Washington State in Pullman (91-74). Since then, the Braves have won seven straight, including a three-game sweep at the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Saturday’s contest will be their first time back on the hardwood though since Dec. 3rd.
Bradley, the overwhelming preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference, features one of the best offenses in the nation. The Braves led the nation in effective field goal percentage (61.2) and 3-point percentage (45.3) while boasting the fifth-best shooting percentage (51.1) and 3-pointers per game average (11.7). They also rank inside the top 65 nationally on defense with 66.1 ppg allowed on 40.2 percent shooting. Bradley had three players named to the Preseason All-MVC Team, including Preseason Player of the Year Duke Dean, who is tied with Zek Montgomery as the team’s leading scorers at 13.8 ppg.
Saturday’s game is the first meeting between the programs.
For more information, click on the game notes link above.
STREAMING INFO
The game will be streamed live on BallerTV, and can be accessed here.
Broncos At A Glance…
Free Throw Frenzy:
Santa Clara ranks third in the WCC and 69th nationally in free throw percentage at 75.4 percent. The Broncos have twice shot above 90 percent, including their most recent outing against McNeese State where they shot a season-best 94.7 percent (18-of-19). They also shot 93.3 percent against UC Riverside (14-of-15).
Three-Point Shooting:
The Broncos rank second in the WCC with an average of 8.9 3-pointers per game. They have hit 10 or more treys in six games this year (4-2), have done so in three-straight outings and are coming off their season-high with 13 against Fresno State.
Balanced Scoring:
The Broncos have four players currently averaging in double figures: Mahi with 12.2 ppg (19th in WCC), Adama-Alpha Bal with 11.9 ppg (24th in WCC), Christoph Tilly with 11.7 ppg (25th in WCC), and Stewart with 11.4 ppg (28th in WCC).
On the Boards:
The Broncos rank second in the conference and 69th nationally with 12.80 offensive rebounds per game, and fourth in the WCC and 71st nationally with 39.40 total rebounds per game.
Stewart Put On a Show:
Carlos Stewart Jr. had an MVP-type performance at the Acrisure Invitational. The Baton Rouge native started the tournament with a then-season high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting against TCU. He then turned in a new season high with 20 points to go with five rebounds and three steals against Washington. Stewart averaged 19.0 ppg on 63.6 percent shooting with 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game over the two-game tournament. He most recently added 13 points at McNeese State and 18 points vs. Fresno State and has now scored in double figures in five-straight games, averaging 16.0 ppg and shooting 57.1 percent from the field in that stretch.
Tilly Time:
Junior center Christoph Tilly leads the team with seven double figure scoring games on the season. He has scored 15 or more on three occasions with a high of 20 against UC Riverside. Tilly is coming off a 14-point game against Fresno State.
Ensminger Efficiency:
Despite a rough shooting start to the year, Jake Ensminger is second on the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game, and has tied his career high 11 rebounds twice this season: vs. TCU (11/28) and most recently in his first start of the season vs. Fresno State (12/7).
O’Neil on a Tear:
Senior Johnny O’Neil hasn’t had quite the start offensively that he was hoping for, but the big man from Miami Shores has been a force on defense. He currently leads the team in rebounding with 5.7 per game and is responsible for SCU’s only double-double (10 pts/14 reb vs. North Dakota State). He also leads the team with 10 blocks, a season high five of which came vs. Washington (11/29).
No Off Days:
Santa Clara’s non-conference strength of schedule is currently ranked 44th nationally out of 364 teams. They have the third-toughest non-conference schedule among WCC teams behind Gonzaga (8th) and San Francisco (38th).
Rising Up in the Ranks:
Herb Sendek is currently tied with Tony Hinkle and Norm Sloan for 56th on the NCAA D1 all-time career wins list (558). With one more win he’ll not only have sole possession of 56th, but will also be just one win shy of tying Jeff Jones for 55th (560).
Mahi Making Moves:
Junior forward Elijah Mahi has started his SCU career with a bang, scoring in double figures in six of the first eight games to open the season. The Toronto product had career high 22 points at Nevada and most recently tallied 13 points vs. TCU, 19 points against Washington, and nine points and a career high 10 rebounds at McNeese State.
Sustained success:
The Broncos have won 20 or more games in three consecutive seasons and four if you exclude the 2020-21 covid season.
Bal Back:
After flirting with the NBA Draft, Adama-Alpha Bal decided to return to the Broncos for one last season. The Le Mans, France, product is poised to once again be among the top players in the WCC in 2024-25 after an outstanding showing last year. Bal was a First Team All-WCC and Second Team NABC All-Dis-trict selection after averaging 14.4 ppg (7th best in WCC) in a team-high 31.2 minutes of work. He also ranked ninth in the league with 3.1 assists per game and led the Broncos with nine 20-point games.
Familiar Faces:
In addition to Bal, who was a First Team All-WCC selection last year, the Broncos brought back six other key rotation pieces. Among them, All-WCC Honorable Mention last season Christoph Tilly, and All-WCC Freshman Team selection sophomore forward Jake Ensminger. In addition, the Broncos return senior forward Johnny O’Neil, senior guard Tyeree Bryan, junior guard Brenton Knapper, and senior forward Camaron Tongue, all key rotation pieces for the Broncos last season. The Broncos returned four of their five starters and 72.8 percent of their scoring from 2023-24.
Added Experience:
The Broncos also bring back senior guard and former Bronco standout Carlos Stewart Jr. As a sophomore at Santa Clara, Stewart Jr. was a First Team All-WCC selection, avg.15.2 ppg. The Broncos also added West Valley College transfer Elijah Mahi, who joins the Broncos after leading West Valley College to an undefeated 33-0 season in 2023-24, capturing the state championship title, and being named California Player of the Year and winning MVP in the state tournament.
Bayou Boys:
Santa Clara has not one, but two Gatorade Louisiana Basketball Player of Year winners on the roster - Stewart (2020-21) and freshman Allen Graves (2023-24).
Preseason Poll:
The Broncos were picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll, while Bal and Stewart Jr. were named to the Preseason First Team All-WCC.
Career Marks:
Carlos Stewart Jr. tied a career high 5 assists in the season opener against Saint Louis, while Camaron Tongue scored a career high 18 pts. Christoph Tilly made a career high two three pointers in the victory, and Elijah Mahi scored a career high 22 pts against Nevada. Johnny O’Neil posted a career high 14 rebounds against North Dakota State. Elijah Mahi had a career high 10 rebounds against McNeese State, and Jake Ensiminger tied a career high 11 rebounds twice vs. TCU, and most recently vs. Fresno State. Tyeree Bryan added a career high five steals against the Bulldogs.
Pipeline to the Pros:
There are just five NCAA D1 men’s basketball programs that produced top-20 picks in the 2022 and 2023 NBA Drafts: Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Baylor.....and Santa Clara.
The Broncos have produced back-to-back first round selections in the form of Jalen Williams (12th overall to Oklahoma City in 2022) and Brandin Podziemski (19th overall to Golden State in 2023). Additionally, former Bronco forward Keshawn Justice was signed by the Utah Jazz in October 2023 and is currently a member of the Salt Lake Jazz.
After becoming the first Bronco to hear his name called in the NBA Draft since Steve Nash in 1996, Williams more than lived up to his lottery pick hype, finishing runner-up in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, earning NBA All-Rookie First Team honors and was named to the 2023 Rising Stars Challenge. He was even better in year two, averaging 19.1 ppg while starting 71 games and was once again voted to the Rising Stars Challenge.
Podziemski was the first WCC player taken off the board in 2023 and also turned in a fantastic rookie season, earning NBA All-Rookie First Team honors and being named to the Rising Stars Challenge. Podz became the first Golden State rookie since Stephen Curry (2009-10) to tally 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and five or more in a single game, doing so on Dec. 12 against the Phoenix Suns.
Both Williams and Podziemski were also named to the USA Select Team in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
