SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball is looking to finish the regular season on a high note as they get set to host their rival San Francisco Dons for a 4:00 p.m. PT tip on Saturday in their final home game of the 2023-24 season. Anthony Passarelli and Henry Caruso will have the call live on ESPN+ (link above).
The Broncos will honor the senior trio of Jalen Benjamin, Francisco Caffaro and Carlos Marshall, Jr. in a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
Santa Clara (18-12, 9-6) has locked up fourth place in the WCC standings, making this the first time that the Broncos have finished fourth or better in three-consecutive seasons since 2006-07 through 2008-09. They will receive a double bye in the WCC Championship Tournament and play their first game on Saturday, March 9th in Las Vegas.
The Broncos are looking to close out the year with some momentum following back-to-back road losses against Gonzaga and Portland. In their last outing against the Pilots, Santa Clara erased a 17-point second half deficit to send the game to overtime, but ultimately fell 80-75. Despite the loss, Adama-Alpha Bal looked like he was back up to full speed as he scored a team-high 22 points with a career-best six treys for his eighth 20-point game of the season. Johnny O'Neil also continued his strong play with 14 points to extend his double figure scoring streak to 11-straight games.
San Francisco is 22-8 overall and are third in the WCC standings with an 11-4 record. The Dons most recently fell to Gonzaga, 86-68. Led by Chris Gerlufsen in his second season, the Dons are averaging 78.7 points per game (2nd in the WCC) and rank 12th nationally with a 49.4 shooting percentage. They rank 14th nationally with a 12.7 scoring average and are allowing just 66.0 points defensively. Jonathan Mogbo ranks third nationally in field goal percentage (65.9), seventh in total rebounds (304), 14th in rebounds per game (10.1) and 10th with 15 double-doubles. He is also averaging 14.8 ppg to lead the team.
Santa Clara leads the all-time series 118-116 and will look to break a two-game losing skid against the Dons after back-to-back heartbreaking losses in their last two tries.
For more information, check the game notes link for both teams above.
