SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men's basketball (22-6, 13-2) will look to get back on track Saturday evening when they take on rival San Francisco (15-14, 7-9) in a 7:00 p.m. PT battle at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. The game will be nationally broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Jordan Kent and Mike O'Donnell on the call. Fans can also tune in to Anthony Passarelli and Henry Caruso's audio-only call on Sidearm Sports.
THE OPPONENT
San Francisco enters the rivalry game just above .500 at 15-14 overall and is battling for fourth-place in the WCC with a 7-9 mark in league play. Led by fourth-year head coach Chris Gerlufsen, the Dons are averaging 75 points offensively while allowing 72.7 points on defense. Ryan Beasley leads the team in scoring at 14.6 ppg in conference play while David Fuchs is pulling down the third-most rebounds in the league at 8.1 per outing to go with his 11.7 points per game.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAN FRANCISCO
The long-time Bay Area rivals have met consistently since 1909 with the Broncos holding a 121-117 advantage in the series, including an 88-73 victory earlier this season. SCU also leads all-time in games played in San Francisco, 32-28, but are looking for their first win at War Memorial since Feb. 4, 2023 after dropping back-to-back games there over the last two seasons.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE DONS
SCU led by just three at the half, but Christian Hammond scored all of his game-high 21 points in the second half to help the Broncos run away from San Francisco with an 88-73 final on Jan. 28 in Leavey Center. Elijah Mahi (18), Allen Graves (11) and KJ Cochran (11) also scored in double-figures while SCU knocked down 12-of-26 attempts from 3-point range in the victory.
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Clara gave No. 12 Gonzaga all they could handle, but couldn’t hold on down the stretch as the Bulldogs reclaimed sole possession of first place with a 94-86 win in Leavey Center. The loss broke a streak of nine consecutive wins (longest since 1994-95) and was SCU’s first loss at home on the season (13-1). Christian Hammond logged 16 points to lead SCU in scoring followed by Elijah Mahi (15), Allen Graves (13) and Sash Gavalyugov (10).
BATTLE AT THE TOP
Santa Clara currently finds itself tied with Saint Mary’s for second in the WCC standings at 13-2 while Gonzaga has taken sole possession of the top spot at 14-1. The Broncos are set to face the Gaels on Feb. 25 in Moraga while Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga will close the regular season against each other, also in Moraga, on Feb. 28, as the three programs look to lock up their spots ahead of the WCC Championship Tournament.
OFFENSE ON HISTORIC PACE
At 83.7 points per game, Santa Clara’s offense is currently tied with the 1969-70 team for the best scoring average in program history. Their 11.8 scoring margin currently checks in at No. 3 on the all-time list.
BEST START SINCE 1969-70
At 22-6, Santa Clara is off to their best start since the 1969-70 campaign, the final year of a historic three-year stretch that saw the Broncos win three consecutive WCC titles and NCAA Tournament
appearances.
The Broncos’ 13-2 record in conference play matches the program record for conference wins. Both the 1967-68 and 1968-69 teams were 13-1 in league play en route to winning conference titles. They also advanced to the Elite Eight under the guidance of legendary head coach Dick Garibaldi. Both teams eventually fell victim to Lew Alcindor (better known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and the UCLA Bruins during their historic run of seven consecutive national titles.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE...
Another victory would give the Broncos their 23rd of the season and would tie for the most of the Herb Sendek Era (23-10 in 2022-23). It would also be their 14th win in WCC play and would break a tie for the most in program history.
HIGH SCORING NUMBERS IN CONFERENCE SCORING
Santa Clara ranks fifth nationally in scoring average in conference games (87.7). SCU is one of just two teams in the league (LMU) that has three individuals averaging better than 13 points per game in league play - Christian Hammond (15.6), Allen Graves (13.8) and Elijah Mahi (13.3).
FIVE STRAIGHT WITH 10 OR MORE...
Santa Clara has recorded double-digit conference victories for the fifth-straight season, extending their program record that began back in 2021-22.
...AND FIVE STRAIGHT WITH 20
At 22-6, Santa Clara has reached the 20-win marker for the fifth-consecutive season. Excluding the 2020-21 campaign in which SCU only played in 20 games total, that streak extends to six consecutive seasons. Prior to this stretch, the Broncos had never won 20-plus games in more than three-consecutive seasons at a time, doing so in both 1968-70 and 1983-85.
THE ALLEN GRAVES AWARD (AKA WCC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK)
The West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week Award has belonged to Allen Graves in four of the last five weeks, including three straight dating back to Feb. 2nd. The big man has won the award a total of five times this season for the most weekly honors (POTW or FOTW) won by a Bronco in program
history. His five awards are second-most to Portland’s Joel Foxwell (6) this year in the WCC, however half of Foxwell’s awards came in nonconference play.
