SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball (10-4, 1-0) will look to carry over the momentum from Sunday's 102-64 win at Oregon State on Tuesday as they get set to take on the Portland Pilots (7-7, 0-1) in the final game of 2025. The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. PT tip inside the Chiles Center and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Ann Schatz and Jennifer Mountain on the call.
THE OPPONENT
Portland is coming off a narrow five-point home loss to Washington State in their WCC opener after navigating through nonconference play with a 7-6 record. The Pilots are on a three-game losing skid but have fared well on their home court with a 7-3 record inside the Chiles Center. Led by fifth-year head coach Shantay Legans, Portland boasts the WCC’s third-highest scoring offense at 80.3 points per game led by freshman Joel Foxwell’s 13.1 points per game - one of five Pilots averaging more than 10.0 ppg. Foxwell also leads the conference and ranks 10th nationally in assists with 7.0 per game.
SERIES HISTORY VS. PORTLAND
The longstanding series between the Broncos and Pilots dates back to 1946. In 109 meetings, Santa Clara holds a 75-34 advantage and has won 17 of the last 18. They are 30-22 all-time in games played in Portland.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE PILOTS
SCU and Portland faced off just once in 2024-25, doing so on Feb. 6 in Portland. After taking a 41-31 lead into the locker room, the Broncos controlled the second half handedly with a 56-19 advantage to run away with a 97-50 victory. The 47-point margin of victory stands as the Broncos’ largest in a road game in program history. SCU knocked down 16 treys while five players scored in double figures, including Brenton Knapper (15) and Elijah Mahi (11), who also pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos extended their streak of winning WCC openers to nine straight in dominating fashion with a 102-64 win over Oregon State in Corvallis. SCU shot 63.6 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from beyond the arc (15-of-27) and led by as much as 40 in the victory - the team’s first over the Beavers inside Gill Coliseum since 1952. Six Broncos scored in double figures led by a season-high 23 points from Elijah Mahi, who knocked down a career-best five treys in addition to pulling down six rebounds. Theirry Darlan and Jake Ensminger both notched season-highs with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Ensminger flirted with a double-double by pulling down eight rebounds. Brenton Knapper also scored 13 to tie his season-high and big men Allen Graves (12) and Bukky Oboye (10) also reached double figure scoring before fouling out.
MORE ON THE WIN IN CORVALLIS
Santa Clara put on one of their best offensive performances in recent years in the win over the Beavers in Corvallis. SCU’s 63.6 percent shooting clip was the program’s best since knocking down 63.9 percent in a 106-55 win over Pepperdine on Feb. 16, 2017. Their 102 points are their highest total of the season and most since scoring 103 at Gonzaga last season. The 38-point margin of victory is also tied for the sixth-largest in a road game in program history.
IN THE NET RANKINGS
Santa Clara rose 27 spots in the NET rankings following the win over Oregon State. The Broncos are currently 62nd, which is third-best in the WCC behind Gonzaga (2) and Saint Mary’s (28).
LOOKING FOR 2-0
Winning the first game of conference play has been no problem for the Broncos over the last decade, but following up with a win in game No. 2 hasn’t come as easy. SCU is looking for a 2-0 start in league play for the second time in three seasons (2023-24), but just the third time since 2003-04.
MAHI NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Elijah Mahi was honored by the WCC as the league’s Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 29 after his 23-point performance at Oregon State. It is the second weekly honor of the season for the Broncos with Allen Graves winning Freshman of the Week earlier in Decemeber, and the second such award for Mahi in his Bronco career.
MAHI ON A TEAR
Preseason All-WCC pick Elijah Mahi has lived up to the hype in his final season in the red and white. The Toronto native leads the team with 12 double figure scoring games and has done so in eight consecutive games, including 20-point outings in his last two games. Mahi ranks ninth in the WCC in scoring at 15.0 points per game and is eighth in field goal percentage (.464).
Over the last five games, Mahi is averaging 18.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
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 fourth in the WCC in scoring at 16.7 ppg, has scored 10 or more in all but two games 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.
DYNAMIC DUO
Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi are one of three duos that rank inside the top 10 in the WCC in scoring joining Gonzaga’s Braden Huff and Graham Ike 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 third on the team in scoring (8.8), is second on the team and is eighth in the WCC in rebounding (6.4) and is third in the WCC with 2.0 steals per game. The big man has reached double figure scoring in eight games and leads the team with three games of 10 or more rebounds. He is coming off another night where he stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists.
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. He has 28 steals on the season, which ranks second in the WCC and 28th nationally.
MR. EFFICIENCY
Jake Ensminger has done a little bit of everything for the Broncos this season. The Ulm, Germany product missed three games due to injury, but has started every other game and currently leads the team in both rebounding (6.5) and assists (3.8). Those marks rank sixth and eight in the WCC, respectively. The junior also averages 7.1 points per game and is coming off a season-high 13 points at Oregon State where he also pulled down eight rebounds and had a pair of steals to go with three assists.
Ensminger boasts the second-best assist-to-turnover margin in the WCC (3.8), which ranks 20th best nationally.
HIGH SCORING OFFENSE
Santa Clara currently boasts the second-highest scoring offense in the WCC at 80.7 points per game, second only to Gonzaga’s 92.6. The Broncos have posted a top-three scoring offense in the league in each of the last four seasons.
2024-25 2nd 81.9
2023-24 3rd 76.9
2022-23 2nd 80.1
2021-22 2nd 77.5
CLEANING UP THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Santa Clara continues to clean up the offensive glass better than anyone else in the WCC. The Broncos lead the conference and are 23rd nationally in offensive rebounding at 14.3 per game.
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 (29.8 per game), which leads the WCC and ranks 26th in NCAA D1. The Broncos also lead the league with 9.8 made treys per game and have made 10 or more nine times this season. They have twice connected on 15 or more with a season-high 16 against Minnesota and shot a season-best 55.6 percent (15-of-27) at Oregon State.
