SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball (8-2) is set to take on Arizona State (8-2) for the second straight year in Henderson, Nev., this time at the Jack Jones Classic. The Broncos are looking to even the score after a tough 81-74 loss to the Sun Devils last season. The game is set for Saturday, Dec. 13, at 4:00 p.m. PT inside the Lee's Family Forum and will be a national broadcast through TNT Sports with JB Long, Candace Parker and Jahmai Webster on the call. Fans can watch the game either on truTV or on HBO Max (with subscription). Additionally, the Voice of the Broncos, Anthony Passarelli, will have the audio only call through Sidearm Streaming.
THE OPPONENT
Arizona State is 8-2 on the season and receiving votes in the most recent AP Poll. The Sun Devils won both of their games last week with an 86-70 win over Oklahoma and a 73-48 thumping of Northern Arizona. Led by 11th-year head coach Bobby Hurley, ASU is averaging 80.6 points per game while allowing 73.1 points defensively. They rank in the top 35 nationally in 3-point shooting at 38.4 percent. Three Sun Devils are averaging better than 10 points per game led by Pepperdine transfer Mo Odum’s 17.2 ppg.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ARIZONA STATE
Santa Clara and Arizona State have faced off nine times throughout the years and will be meeting in Henderson, Nev., for the second consecutive season. The Sun Devils lead the all-time series 6-2 and have won six straight. SCU won the first two games of the series in 1956 and 1957 (both in Santa Clara). The teams are meeting on a neutral court for the third time (Dec. 14, 1979 in Knoxville, Tenn. and Nov. 8, 2024 in Henderson, Nev.).
SENDEK AGAINST FORMER TEAMS
Herb Sendek has coached at six programs as both an assistant (Providence and Kentucky) and head coach (Miami (Ohio), North Carolina State, Arizona State and Santa Clara). During his 32-year career, he has coached against one of his former teams a total of five times - three vs. Providence, once against Miami (Ohio) and last season’s contest against the Sun Devils. He is 3-2 in such games.
At NC State:
Nov. 24, 1998 vs. Providence - L, 80-69
Mar. 10, 1999 vs. Providence - W, 92-86 (NIT Opening Round)
Dec. 4, 1999 vs. Providence - W, 64-60
At Arizona State:
Nov. 12, 2013 vs. Miami (Ohio) - W, 90-54
At Santa Clara:
Nov. 8, 2024 vs. Arizona State - L, 81-74
IN THE NET
Santa Clara debuted at No. 32 in the initial NET Rankings (12/1) and currently sit at No. 52 as the third-highest ranked team in the WCC.
LAST TIME OUT
Playing in just their second road game of the year, Santa Clara suffered their second setback of nonconference play at the hands of New Mexico, falling 98-71 inside The Pit. Christian Hammond turned in his third 20-point game of the season with 22 points while KJ Cochran logged his third consecutive game in double figure scoring. Allen Graves extended his double figure scoring streak to six with 12 points while Elijah Mahi tallied his eighth double figure scoring game with 13 points to go with eight rebounds.
RECEIVING VOTES
Santa Clara received three votes in the Nov. 24th AP Top 25 Poll. The Broncos have not been ranked inside the Top 25 since the 1995-96 season when they reached as high as No. 22 in the poll.
1K FOR SENDEK
Herb Sendek is coaching his 1,000th career game as a D1 head coach. It’s only fitting that it comes against one of his former teams.
RAINING THREES AGAIN
Santa Clara set a WCC record with 368 made 3-pointers last season and have continued to put up a high volume of attempts from beyond the arc this season (30.2 per game). The Broncos have made 10 or more treys six times this season. They had their best 3-point shooting night of the young season against Minnesota, where they were 16-for-31 (51.6) - their most makes of the year and most since also knocking down 16 against UC Riverside in the NIT last season.
GRAVES MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITY
Redshirt freshman Allen Graves is off to a big start in his first season of action. The big man ranks third on the team in scoring (9.7) and second in rebounding (6.2). He leads the team and is third in the WCC with 1.9 steals per game. The Louisiana native has scored in double figures in six-straight games and seven of the last eight outings with a season-high 13 against btoh Saint Louis and Utah Tech.
GRAVES NAMED WCC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Graves is the reigning WCC Freshman of the Week after averaging 12.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks while shooting 47.8 percent in SCU’s two games against Utah Tech and New Mexico. He stuffed the stat sheet in SCU’s 90-80 victory over Utah Tech with 13 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three steals.
Graves is the first Bronco to win a WCC weekly honor this season and first since Elijah Mahi was the league’s player of the week last season on Feb. 8th. Graves is also the first player in program history to win WCC Freshman of the Week honors, which was first recognized in 2020-21.
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 is third in the WCC in scoring at 17.2 ppg and has logged 10 or more points in each outing. In the win over Nevada, he knocked down 11-of-17 attempts for a career-high 27 points. Hammond turned in his second 20-point game of the year in the win over
Minnesota, turning in 18 in the first half alone. He tallied his third 20-point game in the loss at New Mexico, finishing with 22 points.
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Santa Clara is averaging 15.4 offensive rebounds per game, good for seventh nationally and tops in the WCC.
