SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball's first road test comes in Big East territory as the Broncos get set to take on the Xavier Muskateers inside the Cintas Center on Monday, Nov. 10. The game will be aired live on FS1 with tip set for 5:30 p.m. PT.
THE OPPONENT
Xavier has opened the season 2-0 with wins over Marist (66-62) and Le Moyne (74-69) in head coach Richard Pitino’s first year at the helm. The Musketeers are averaging 70 points per game and led individually by senior guard Malik Messina-Moore, who is averaging 16.5 points per game.
SERIES HISTORY
Monday’s meeting will be just the third-ever between the Broncos and Musketeers. Both prior meetings also came in Cincinnati. Xavier won the first meeting, 76-41, in 1949. The teams met again on Jan. 27, 1963 with the Broncos coming out on top 69-66.
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Clara out-muscled McNeese State with a dominating 47-28 advantage on the boards, including a whopping 25 offensive rebounds, as the Broncos took control in the second half and cruised to a 79-67 victory inside the Leavey Center. SCU’s 25 offensive rebounds were their most since grabbing 27 against San Diego on Feb. 3, 2024. Elijah Mahi and Sash Gavalyugov each scored 19 points to lead the way while Christian Hammond (12) and Jake Ensminger (11) also finished in double figures for the second-straight game. Redshirt freshman Allen Graves got the starting nod at center and pulled down 13 rebounds, seven off the offensive glass.
MAHI OFF TO A BIG START
Through two games, preseason All-WCC pick Elijah Mahi has lived up to the billing. The Toronto native is averaging 16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The forward was 7-of-13 for 19 points in his last outing against McNeese State.
GAVALYUGOV A SPARK OFF THE BENCH
Villanova transfer Sash Gavalyugov was a major catalyst for the Santa Clara offense after a sluggish start against McNeese. The Bulgaria native came off the bench to score seven unanswered points to give SCU their first lead of the night and later knocked down a deep trey before the halftime buzzer to send the Broncos to locker room with a four-point advantage. Gavalyugov finished the game 5-of-8 from 3-point range for a career-high 19 points.
Through two games, Gavalyugov is averaging 13.5 points on 43.5 percent shooting.
CLEANING UP THE BOARDS
It’s a small sample size, but through two games, Santa Clara is one of the top rebounding teams in the WCC, leading the conference in offensive boards with 19.5 per game and third in total rebounds at 47.0 per game. The Broncos’ plus-19 rebound margin also ranks fourth-best in the league.
3-POINTERS A BIG EMPHASIS ONCE AGAIN
It’s no surprise that after setting a school and WCC record with 368 made 3-pointers in 2024-25 that the Broncos would look to put up more shots from distance this season. That has certainly proven to the be the case so far as through two games the Broncos rank 34th nationally in 3-point attempts (33.5). SCU has made 10 and 12, respectively, and their 11 made 3s per game leads the WCC.
HAMMOND’S COMING OUT PARTY
After redshirting the 2024-25 season, sophomore Christian Hammond has put together back-to-back big outings Against Cal Poly Humboldt, the Denver, Colo., product tied his career-high for points with 13 on 6-of-11 shooting, and also set career-bests in rebounds (9) and steals (5). He followed up by flirting with a double-double yet again against McNeese State with 12 points and 8 rebounds, and dished out a career-high four assists.
ENSMINGER BRINGING THE ENERGY
One of the vocal leaders on the Broncos’ roster, redshirt junior Jake Ensminger has a done a little bit of everything in his first two games. A career 3.8 ppg scorer, the Ulm, Germany, product is off to a great start with 12 and 11 points, respectively, to open the season. He was 6-of-9 for 12 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and a career-high four steals against Cal Poly Humboldt. He impressed once again against McNeese, knocking down his first three 3-point attempts, and finishing with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and a career high-tying six assists.
GRAVES MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITY
Reshirt freshman Allen Graves made a splash in his first two collegiate games. The Louisiana native came off the bench in the opener vs. Humboldt to score seven points and grabbed four rebounds. He was thrown into the starting lineup against McNeese in place of injured Bukky Oboye and absolutely rose to the occassion by pulling down 13 rebounds (seven offensive).
