PALM DESERT, Calif. – It was raining threes inside the Acrisure Arena on Friday evening as Santa Clara men's basketball knocked down a season-high 16-of-31 from distance to run away from Minnesota with an 86-75 victory in the Acrisure Invitational third place game. Six Broncos scored in double figures led by 20 by
Christian Hammond in the winning effort as SCU improved to 7-1 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Santa Clara scored the first nine points of the night and took an early 11-3 advantage into the first media timeout thanks to a 5-for-7 shooting clip in the opening four minutes. It didn't take long for that lead to balloon to 20 following an 11-0 run that was punctuated by a Thierry Darlan 3-ball to make it 35-15.
- Hammond started the night a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range with his final of those treys pushing the advantage to 23 at 47-24 with less than four minutes remaining in the opening half. Freshman KJ Cochran knocked down a trey of his own just before the halftime buzzer to send SCU into the locker room with a 51-27 advantage.
- Santa Clara shot 62 percent from the floor and was 8-for-12 (67 percent) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes while allowing just 35 and 20 percent, respectively, on the defensive end. Hammond led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting at the break.
- The scoring barrage showed no signs of slowing down in half No. 2 as Allen Graves and Brenton Knapper knocked down triples on back-to-back possessions to give the Broncos a 30-point advantage at 63-33 with under 15 minutes to play in the second half.
- Santa Clara led by as much as 31 in the victory and held at least a 20-point advantage for the vast majority of the second half before Minnesota (4-4) closed the game on a 20-5 run over the final 4:30 to make it an 11-point affair at the final buzzer.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- All nine Broncos that played finished with three points or more with six finishing in double figures. It is the first time this season that SCU has had at least five score 10 or more.
- SCU's 16 triples – their fourth game with 10 or more on the season – are the most the Broncos have hit since knocking down 16 against UC Riverside last season.
- Santa Clara is now 2-2 over the last three seasons against current members of the Big 10 conference. The win was SCU's first over Minnesota in five overall meetings.
- Hammond finished 8-of-12 from the field for 20 points – his second 20-point outing of the season.
- Graves made his second-career start in place of Jake Ensminger. He scored 10 points for his fifth double figure scoring outing of the season and dished out a season-high six assists.
- Cochran scored a season-high 10 points for his first-career game in double figures
- Darlan also logged 10 points for his second double figure scoring effort of the year. He also pulled down six rebounds to lead the team.
- Knapper finished with 11 points with a 3-for-5 mark from 3-point range. It was his third double figure scoring effort of the season and 13th for his career.
- Elijah Mahi also reached double figure scoring for the sixth time on the year and 22nd time of his career, finishing with 13 points. He also had four rebounds, two assists and a block.
- The Broncos dished out 20 assists for their fourth game with 20 or more on the year.
- Santa Clara was outrebounded for the first time this season (34-26).
- SCU finished the game with a 54 percent shooting clip (31-of-57) - their second-best shooting performance of the season.
- Minnesota was led by a game-high 29 points from Cade Tyson. The Golden Gophers shot 44 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
HIGHLIGHTS:
NEXT UP:
The Broncos will host Utah Tech on Wednesday, Dec. 3, for their lone home game during the month of December. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and is set for a 7:00 p.m. PT tip. Santa Clara will honor alum Jalen Williams at halftime with the official retirement of his Santa Clara jersey.
