SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A tale of two halves, a tale of two games, a tale of two rivals.
 
The Santa Clara University men's basketball team exacted revenge Saturday, avenging an overtime defeat 12 days ago at the hands of San Francisco by running away from the Dons in the second half, winning 77-54 in a West Coast Conference showdown at Leavey Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Saturday was the teams' 237th meeting all-time, and the Broncos' 23-point victory is the largest by either team in the series since Santa Clara (12-6, 4-1 WCC) beat San Francisco (14-5, 4-2 WCC) by 32 (87-55) nearly 17 years ago, on Feb. 25, 2008, inside the Leavey Center. And this coming only 12 days after the Dons barely edged the Broncos in overtime up in San Francisco in their first meeting of the season.
  
  But Saturday's game nearly wasn't such an epic result.
   
• Santa Clara flipped the script in the second half. It trailed by seven at halftime and by nine right out of the break after USF scored the first basket to go up, 30-21. The Broncos had struggled to find consistency for the first 20 minutes, shooting 33.3% from the floor, going only 2 for 13 (15.4%) from 3-point range and turning the ball over 10 times before halftime. But that all changed with one dominant stretch.
   
• Santa Clara went from down five to up 20 with a 33-8 run over a large chunk of the second half – more than 11 1/2 minutes – leaving it with a 65-45 lead with only 4:35 to play. The Broncos scored 12, eight, and five points in a row at different times during the run. Carlos Stewart scored 15 points, Elijah Mahi scored 11, Adama-Alpha Bal scored five, and Johnny O'Neil had a dunk for good measure to power the run.
   
• Stewart finished with a season-high and game-leading 25 points, which included a season-high-tying five 3-pointers. He also had five rebounds and a team-high four assists. Mahi poured in 17 points with four boards and two assists. Bal and Christoph Tilly both chipped in 10 points.
   
• Malik Thomas was the only Don in double digits with 19 points. Santa Clara outrebounded the Broncos, 40-30, and scored 19 points off of 16 San Francisco turnovers. The Santa Clara bench also outscored the USF reserves, 24-10.
   
• The Santa Clara defense pulled its weight, too. San Francisco shot just 3 for 16 (18.8%) from the field during the Broncos' run, including 0 for 7 from deep. The Dons turned the ball over five times while Santa Clara shot 14 for 19 (73.7%) with five treys. Santa Clara's offense was nearly unstoppable in the second half, shooting 67.7% from the floor, 70.0% from 3-point range (7 for 10) and 87.5% (7 for 8) from the free-throw line.
   
• Santa Clara burst out of the gate in the second half, scoring seven consecutive points and going on a 10-2 run in the opening three minutes to pull within one at 32-31. Stewart scored eight of those 10 points, including bookending the run with 3-pointers.
   
• San Francisco went on an 8-0 run in the first half that stretched from the 10-minute to the seven-minute mark, flipping a three-point Santa Clara lead into a five-point USF advantage at 22-17. The run included the game's eighth lead change in only the first 11 minutes of the afternoon.
   
• Both teams went ice cold with four minutes to go in the first half. USF went 1 for 6 with two turnovers and Santa Clara went 0 for 4 with five turnovers to close the opening period. The Dons' lone basket came on a transition dunk following the Broncos' fifth and final turnover of that stretch – and 10th of the first half.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 9: The Broncos hit nine 3-pointers Saturday, the 12th time this season they've made at least nine treys in a game.
• 39.1%: Santa Clara's 39.1% 3-point percentage was its fifth-best of the year, and best since making 45.5% (15 for 33) of their long balls on Dec. 28 versus Pepperdine.
• 40: Santa Clara pulled down 40 rebounds Saturday, the ninth time this season it's had 40 or more boards in a game.

POSTGAME COMMENTS

Rivalry DUB.

Hear about it from Coach Sendek??#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/Hj2iAHhrd4

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) January 12, 2025

COMING UP

• Santa Clara traverses the West Coast next week on the road for two WCC games. First, the Broncos head south to Los Angeles, facing LMU on Thursday. They then travel north to Spokane, Wash., for a clash with WCC co-leader Gonzaga.