SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After coming up just short of what would have been one of the biggest comebacks of the college basketball season, Santa Clara men's hoops returns to the Leavey Center on Saturday looking to bounce back against the San Diego Toreros. The Broncos will host the Toreros for a 4:00 p.m. tip that will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Anthony Passarelli and Henry Caruso on the call.
In their last outing, Santa Clara (15-8, 6-2) found themselves 25 points down against Saint Mary's in Moraga with just over 12 minutes to play, but mounted a furious comeback to cut that deficit all the way down to four inside the final minute. Unfortunately, they were unable to complete the comeback bid and suffered just their second loss in league play (both against Saint Mary's), in an 82-77 final. The 77 points were the most any WCC team has scored against the Gaels this season, as was Carlos Marshall, Jr.'s 23 points. Adama-Alpha Bal also had a big game with 18 points (14 in the second half) and Johnny O'Neil came up a rebound shy of a double-double (15 points, nine rebounds) before fouling out late. The Broncos outrebounded Saint Mary's 33-32 despite the Gaels entering the game with the nation's best rebounding margin.
Over the last four games, Santa Clara is averaging 90.0 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting. Marshall, Bal and O'Neil have each excelled during the stretch, knocking down exactly 24 shots each and averaging 17.5, 17.0 and 15.8 points per game, respectively.
San Diego (12-11, 2-6) was unable to win their third straight road game on Thursday after taking down Portland and Pepperdine. The Toreros suffered a 95-79 loss at San Francisco and will now head over to the Leavey Center for their fourth-straight road game. Led by Steve Lavin in his second season, San Diego is averaging 72.7 points per game while allowing 77.1. The Toreros have one of the deepest benches in the WCC, leading the conference with 26.4 points per game from their bench players. Wayne McKinney III leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game.
The Broncos are going for their fifth-straight win over San Diego and lead the all-time series 55-39. The teams last met in the 2022-23 regular-season finale in San Diego where Santa Clara put the finishing touches on a seven-game win streak to close out the regular season. The Broncos shot 52.5 percent with Brandin Podziemski scoring a game-high 26. Christoph Tilly tallied 12 points and three blocks while Brenton Knapper had an efficient game off the bench with four assists against zero turnovers.
For more information, check out the game notes links above.
Tickets
Single game and season tickets for all men's basketball home games are available now. Mini game plans in groups of four, six or eight games are also available. Please contact the Bronco Ticket Office at 408-554-4660 or email broncotickets@scu.edu to learn more about your options or visit our ticket central.
