SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Fresh off wins over Nevada and Idaho State, Santa Clara men's basketball (5-0) will close out their three-game homestand in the Leavey Center this Friday when they take on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (1-4) for a 7:00 p.m. PT tip. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Anthony Passarelli (play-by-play) and Brian Hudson (analyst) on the call.
THE OPPONENT
Louisiana is on a three-game road trip on the west coast that also features stops at Stanford and UC Davis. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 1-4 on the year and coming off a 93-66 loss at the hands of Stanford up the road on the Farm. Led by first-year head coach Quannas White, Louisiana averages 62.4 points per game while allowing opponents to score an average of 74.8. Three players are averaging better than 10.0 points per game led by Oklahoma State transfer Jamyron Keller’s 17.0. Keller has not been in the lineup for the last three games due to injury.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday’s contest will be just the second-ever between the Broncos and Ragin’ Cajuns, and the first since the latter changed their university name in the 1990s. The teams last met in the 1984 NIT quarterfinals in Lafayette where then-Southwestern Louisiana won 97-76.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite an unusually off night offensively, Santa Clara played solid defense for all 40 minutes in a hard-fought 64-55 victory over Idaho State to improve to 5-0 on the young season. The Broncos shot just 35 percent from the floor and 15 percent from 3-point range, but held the Bengals to 39 and 25 percent, respectively, while forcing 16 turnovers with 12 steals, resulting in 12 points that proved to be the difference-maker. SCU also dominated the glass with a 43-32 advantage on the boards, including 19 off the offensive glass resulting in 16 second chance points.
Christian Hammond scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half to help SCU pull away late for the victory. Allen Graves finished with career-highs in points (11) and steals (4) while finishing a rebound shy (9) of a double-double. Jake Ensminger had yet another incredibly efficient game with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers while Bukky Oboye added eight points before fouling out.
MORE BLOCKS THAN A SPAM CALLER
Santa Clara is off to a tremendous start in terms of blocking shots. The Broncos are averaging 6.8 blocks per game, which leads the WCC and ranks ninth nationally.
SCU has logged 11 blocks in consecutive games at Xavier and against Nevada, which is tied for the third-most in program history. The performance at Xavier is tied for their most-ever in a road game.
Both totals are SCU’s most since tallying 13 in 2005 against UC Riverside.
LOOKING FOR SIX
Santa Clara is 5-0 and looking for their third 6-0 start over the last six seasons (2020-21 and 2023-24).
HAMMOND MAKING NOISE
Christian Hammond is off to an outstanding start in his new starting role after redshirting last season. The Denver native leads the team and ranks seventh in the WCC in scoring at 16.6 and has logged 12 or more points in each outing. In the win over Nevada, he knocked down 11-of-17 attempts for a career-high 27 points. He is coming off a game-high 16 points, with 14 coming in the second half, to help SCU hold off Idaho State.
MR. EFFICIENCY
No player in college basketball has done a better job at taking care of the ball than redshirt junior Jake Ensminger. The Ulm, Germany product has dished out a team-high 23 assists against just one turnover through five games. His 23.0 assist/turnover ratio leads the nation and 10 better than second place (Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort with 13.0).
Ensminger’s 4.6 assists per game rank seventh-most in the WCC. He is also the team’s second-leading rebounder at 7.6 boards per game, which is seventh-best in the WCC. After turning in a season-high 10 rebounds and six assists in the win over Nevada, he had yet another incredibly efficient game against Idaho State with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers.
DISHING ‘EM OUT (AND DOING SO EFFICIENTLY)
Santa Clara is averaging a WCC-best 19.4 assists per game, which ranks 31st in NCAA D1. They also rank 33rd nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.8. The Broncos are averaging just 10.8 turnovers per game, which ranks third in the league.
WINNING THE BOARDS
Santa Clara is plus-10.4 in rebounding, good for fourth in the WCC and 49th nationally. They are one of the best teams in all of NCAA D1 in cleaning up the offensive glass, ranking 20th with 16.0 offensive boards.
MAHI OFF TO A BIG START
Through five games, preseason All-WCC pick Elijah Mahi has lived up to the billing. The Toronto native ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game, and has scored in double figures in four of the five games. His season-high was 19 at home against McNeese before turning in 18 on the road against Xavier. Against Nevada, the big man turned in 10 points and a career high-tying six assists. He pulled down a season-high seven rebounds in the team’s last outing against Idaho State.
GRAVES MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITY
Redshirt freshman Allen Graves made a splash in his first five collegiate games. The Louisiana native is averaging 7.6 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds, which ranks fourth in the WCC. He is also pulling down 3.6 offensive boards per game, which ranks second in the league and 50th nationally.
Graves earned his first start of the season against McNeese, finishing with a season-high 13 rebounds. He has since turned in a double-double of 10 points, 11 rebounds at Xavier and is coming off another big performance against Idaho State where he set career-highs in points (11) and steals (4) while pulling down nine rebounds.
STEALING IS BAD (BUT ACTUALLY GOOD)
The Broncos are averaging 9.8 steals per game through five games, which leads the WCC and ranks 45th nationally. SCU has notched 10 or more steals in three games with a high of 14 against Cal Poly Humboldt. They recently tallied 12 in the win over Idaho State and had 10 on the road against Xavier.
DEFENSE PUTTING IN THE WORK
SCU is allowing just 65.2 points per game, good for the fourth-best scoring defense in the WCC and 56th-best nationally. Opponents are connecting on just 38.8 percent of their shots, which ranks 68th-best in the nation.
