SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Santa Clara men's basketball came up on the right end of a defensive slugfest against North Texas, coming away with a 63-60 victory at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Wednesday evening. The Broncos held the Mean Green to just 40 percent shooting, including a 1-for-13 mark from 3-point range in the winning effort.
Santa Clara erased a nine-point deficit and led by as much as nine themselves with under four minutes to play, but a late North Texas run tied the game inside the final minute. Redshirt senior
Brenton Knapper scored what would prove to be the game-winner with 37 seconds remaining.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Broncos (9-3) trailed for the majority of the opening half as 12 first-half turnovers took their toll. The Mean Green (8-4) took advantage by mounting as much as an eight-point advantage at 23-15 with 10:34 to play in the period. Allen Graves buried a deep desperation triple at the buzzer to cut the deficit to four at 33-29. It is just the second time on the season that SCU has trailed at the half.
- North Texas shot 50 percent in the opening half while Santa Clara was held to 37 percent.
- The Broncos used the 3-ball to erase the deficit early on in the second half. After being held scoreless for the first 20 minutes, Christian Hammond knocked down triples on consecutive possessions and Elijah Mahi hit one of his own in front of the SCU bench to tie the game at 42-all with 13:42 to play.
- Santa Clara grabbed their first lead since the opening moments of the game on a Jake Ensminger jumper in the paint that made it 44-43. Mahi followed with a quick bucket of his own to push the lead up to three. In total, the Broncos outscored the Mean Green 17-6 over an eight-minute stretch.
- Both defenses locked in to keep it a one-possession game until the Broncos found some breathing room following a quick 7-2 spree from Bukky Oboye and Mahi. Oboye had the final blow during the stretch with a thunderous and-1 dunk that made it 57-50 with just over four minutes remaining in the contest.
- North Texas responded with an 8-0 run of their own to erase the deficit and tie the game at 60 with less than a minute to play, however Knapper gave SCU the lead right back and for good on a quick cut to the basket for a tough layup that made it a 62-60 affair.
- The Broncos got a stop and pushed the lead up to three after Knapper drew a foul and went 1-for-2 at the free throw line. The Mean Green had one last chance at a tie, but Hammond and Knapper locked down defensively to prevent the tying 3-point attempt from ever going off.
- Santa Clara flipped the script in the second half, shooting just under 50 percent while limiting North Texas to just 32 percent.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Mahi finished with 17 points for his 10th game in double figure scoring on the year. He has scored 10 or more in six-straight games dating back to the Saint Louis match up.
- Oboye notched his fifth double figure scoring game of the season, posting 10 points to go with seven rebounds.
- Knapper finished with nine points while Graves flirted with a double-double with eight points and a team-best eight rebounds.
- Sash Gavalyugov tied his season-high in assists with five.
- The Broncos out-rebounded North Texas 32-27 and improved to 7-0 on the season when winning the rebound battle.
- Santa Clara committed a season-high 21 turnovers resulting in 20 Mean Green points.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
HIGHLIGHTS:
UP NEXT:
The Broncos will stick around Santa Cruz for one more game as they take on Loyola Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2:00 p.m. PT.
