LAKE CHARLES, La.- Santa Clara men’s basketball hits the road again this week as they head back east to Lake Charles, La for a matchup with McNeese State (4-3). The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, and Anthony Passarelli will have the audio only call on Sidearm Streaming. Both links can be found above.
The Broncos are coming off a second-place finish in the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Springs with a dominating 69-52 victory over TCU, and a 76-69 nailbiter defeat to Washington in the championship game. The Broncos were led in both games by senior guard Carlos Stewart Jr., who had breakout performances in the tournament scoring season highs in both matches with 18 points against TCU and 20 points against Washington. Junior guard Elijah Mahi continued to shine, recording his fifth and sixth games of the season in double figures with 13 points over the Horned Frogs, adding 19 points against the Huskies.
Heading into the second month of the season, the Broncos rank second in the WCC in bench points and third in the league in offensive rebounding. Mahi leads the team and ranks 17th in the WCC in scoring with 13.1 ppg, while Adama-Alpha Bal (12.6 ppg), Christoph Tilly (11.3 ppg), and Stewart (10.3 ppg), are all averaging double figures as well.
In their most recent contest in the Acrisure Invitational Championship game against Washington, the Broncos nearly pulled off an incredible comeback, going on an 11-1 run late in the contest to cut a double figure deficit to just three inside the final seconds. Ultimately, though, the Huskies did just enough to hold SCU off in a 76-69 final in Palm Springs. Santa Clara finished with a season-high eight blocks with Johnny O’Neil responsible for five of them (season-best), which were the most by a Bronco since Jaden Bediako blocked six against San Francisco in the 2023 WCC Tournament.
McNeese State was one of the great stories of college basketball last season under the direction of first-year head coach Will Wade. The Cowboys tied the NCAA record for the largest turnaround in history with a plus-19 win differential from the prior season. They finished the season 30-4, was undefeated in league play (18-0) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they were bounced in the first round by Gonzaga.
McNeese hasn’t quite lived up to last season’s success so far through seven games. The Cowboys are 4-3 on the year and most recently fell to Liberty (62-58) in the Paradise Jam. One of their losses was a tough 72-64 final in Tuscaloosa, Ala. against then-No. 2 Alabama. McNeese is averaging 76.3 ppg and leads the nation in steals with an average of 10.1 per game. Sincere Parker leads the team in scoring at 16.9 ppg.
Tuesday’s game will be the first ever meeting between the Broncos and Cowboys. At least in this sense. We’re pretty sure broncos and cowboys have come across each other plenty of times in non-collegiate athletics settings.
For more information, click on the game notes link above.
STREAMING INFO
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, and can be accessed here. Anthony Passarelli will have the audio only call on Sidearm Streaming, which can be viewed here.
Broncos At A Glance…
Balanced Scoring:
The Broncos have four players currently averaging in double figures: Mahi (13.1 ppg), Adama-Alpha Bal (12.6 ppg), Christoph Tilly (11.3 ppg), and Stewart (10.3 ppg).
On the Boards:
The Broncos rank third in the conference in offensive rebounding.
First Trip to Bayou in a Long, Long, Time:
Santa Clara is making their first trip to Louisiana in 40 years. The last time SCU played in the Pelican State was on March 22, 1984 in the NIT Quarterfinal at Southwest Louisiana. The Broncos fell 97-76.
Looking for First Road Win:
The Broncos are looking for their first true road win of the season and their first road victory against a non-conference opponent since taking down Stanford, 89-77, last season in Palo Alto on Nov. 14, 2023.
Stewart Put On a Show:
Carlos Stewart Jr. had an MVP-type peformance at the Acrisure Invtational. 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 has now scored in double figures in three-straight games and has five such games on the season.
O’Neil Stepping Up:
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 5.8 per game and is responsible for SCU’s only double-double (10 pts/14 reb vs. North Dakota State).
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).
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 and 19 points against Washington.
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. Most recently, Jake Ensiminger tied a career high 11 rebounds vs. TCU, and Tyeree Bryan had a career high three steals against the Horned Frogs.
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.
