SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball (9-4) is set to open conference play this Sunday against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ernie Kent and Rich Burk on the call and is set for a 3:00 p.m. PT tip.
THE OPPONENT
Oregon State finished nonconference play 7-6 and ended things on a high note with a 78-75 road victory over Arizona State. Led by 12th-year head coach Wayne Tinkle, the Beavers average 73.2 points per game while surrendering 72.8 to opponents. They are among the top free throw shooting teams in the nation, ranking 16th at 78.1 percent. Junior guard Josiah Lake II leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game and is second in the WCC with 25 steals.
SERIES HISTORY VS. OREGON STATE
The Broncos and Beavers have met 12 times in a series that dates back to 1929. The Beavers hold the upper hand at 7-5 and have won all but one of the six prior meetings in Corvallis, including an 83-69 victory last season. The teams split the games last season with the Broncos coming out victorious in overtime at the Leavey Center with an 82-81 victory. Elijah Mahi had a team-high 21 points to go with six rebounds and five assists while Tyeree Bryan scored the game-winning bucket with three seconds remaining.
BRONCOS HISTORY AT GILL COLISEUM
Santa Clara played in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 1952-54 and each appearance led the Broncos to Gill Coliseum. SCU won the 1952 West Regional there with victories over No. 19 UCLA and No. 16 Wyoming to advance to the program’s only Final Four. Santa Clara defeated Wyoming once again at Gill Coliseum in 1953 before falling to No. 2 Washington in the regional final. SCU played inside Gill one last time in 1954, defeating Texas Tech and No. 19 Colorado State before falling once again in the regional championship game, this time in double overtime to USC.
The Broncos are 1-6 against the Beavers inside Gill Coliseum and are looking for their first victory since Dec. 12, 1952 (68-66).
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Clara came up on the wrong side of a hard-fought back-and-forth affair against Loyola. The game featured 21 lead changes and eight ties with neither team holding more than a five-point advantage for the final 15 minutes. Loyola finally took a five-point lead with 2:30 left and held on for a 80-78 win. Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi both scored 20-plus points with Hammond logging 25 and Mahi posting a season-high 21. It was the second time that SCU has had multiple 20-point scorers this season (Nevada).
SCU IN WCC OPENERS
Santa Clara has won their WCC opener in eight consecutive seasons dating back to 2017-18 and have done so in eight of Herb Sendek’s previous nine years at the helm overall.
2024-25 vs. Pepperdine W, 91-80
2023-24 at LMU W, 68-57
2022-23 vs. USF W, 79-67
2021-22 at Pacific W, 84-70
2020-21 at Saint Mary’s W, 66-64
2019-20 vs. San Diego W, 80-63
2018-19 vs. San Diego W, 68-56
2017-18 vs. Pepperdine W, 72-65
2016-17 at BYU L, 59-89
HAMMOND MAKING NOISE
Christian Hammond has established himself as one of the top players in the WCC since assuming a full-time starting role after redshirting last season. The Denver native ranks third in the WCC in scoring at 17.3 ppg, has scored 10 or more in all but one game with eight games of 15 or more and five 20-point outings. He scored a career-high 27 points against Nevada (11-17 FG) and also has 20-point outings against Minnesota (20), New Mexico (22) and Arizona State (22). He is coming off his fifth-20 point game with 25 points against Loyola.
Hammond opened the season by scoring 10 or more in 10 consecutive games - the longest such streak to open a season since Keshawn Justice (11) and Jalen Williams (18) in 2021-22.
HAMMOND INCLUDED ON LOU HENSON AWARD WATCH LIST
Christian Hammond is one of 50 players that was listed on the initial Lou Henson Award Early Season Watch List. He is also one of just two WCC players on the list (Saint Marys’ Paulius Murauskas). The award is handed out annually to the top mid-major player in the nation.
LAST FIVE FOR HAMMOND
Christian Hammond is averaging 19.0 points on 51.6 percent shooting over his last five games and has scored 20 or more in four of the five outings. That includes a three-game streak which stands as the longest 20-point scoring streak by a Bronco since Brandin Podziemski (3) in 2022-23.
MAHI OFF TO A BIG START
Preseason All-WCC pick Elijah Mahi has lived up to the billing in his senior campaign. The Toronto native ranks second on the team and 12th in the WCC in scoring (14.4). He has logged double figure scoring in all but two games and has done so in seven-straight games. He is coming off a season-high 21 points vs. Loyola, his fifth 20-point game over the last two seasons.
DYNAMIC DUO
Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi are one of four duos that rank inside the top 12 in the WCC in scoring joining Gonzaga’s Braden Huff and Graham Ike, Saint Mary’s Paulius Murauskas and Mikey Lewis, and LMU’s Myron Amey Jr. and Rodney Brown Jr.
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 fourth on the team in scoring (8.6), leads the team and is fifth in the WCC in rebounding (6.6) and is third in the WCC with 1.9 steals per game. The big man has reached double figure scoring in seven games and leads the team with three games of 10 or more rebounds, including his last outing against Loyola.
Graves is one of just three freshmen nationally that are averaging more than one block and one steal per game, joining North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson and Siena’s Francis Folefac.
