SAN FRANCISCO – Santa Clara men's basketball picked up their 14th win in West Coast Conference play Saturday evening with a 94-73 win against rival San Francisco at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. The victory gives the Broncos their most conference wins in program history with two more opportunities ahead next week to tack on to the record.
Elijah Mahi led the charge with one of his best performances in a Bronco Uniform, finishing with a career-high 30 points (11-of-21 FG) to go with seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block. Three other Broncos also scored in double figures in the blowout victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Both offenses were clicking out of the gate, especially from 3-point range. The Broncos (23-6, 14-2) started 4-for-7 from distance while the Dons were 5-for-8 heading into the under-12 timeout in which SCU held a slim 26-21 advantage. The Broncos then knocked down two more quick triples as part of an 11-0 run to push the lead up to 13 at 37-24 with 8:52 left in the half.
- Santa Clara maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the remainder of the half until the Dons (15-15, 7-10) closed it out with a 10-2 run, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ryan Beasley, to make it a 44-38 affair in favor of the Broncos at the break.
- The teams combined for 16 3-pointers in the opening half – the most in a WCC game this season. The Broncos were 8-for-17 from distance while the Dons were a hair better at 8-for-15.
- Christian Hammond tied his career-high for 3-pointers in the first half alone, knocking down 4-of-5 attempts for 16 points. Elijah Mahi was 2-for-5 for 12 points himself and also had four first-half steals.
- Santa Clara regained the momentum with a quick 6-0 spree to open the second half and pushed it up to 16 on a Thierry Darlan 3-pointer with 14 minutes remaining that made it 62-46.
- The Broncos surged ahead even more with a 9-0 run to take a commanding 22-point advantage at 73-51 with less than 10 minutes to play.
- San Francisco made another push with an 8-0 run to cut into the deficit, but the Broncos responded with four quick points of their own to take control for good. SCU led by no less than 14 the rest of the night. Mahi put the finishing touches on the game with a triple from the top of the key inside the final 10 seconds to cap off the 21-point victory.
- The Broncos shot 48.6 percent while San Francisco shot 40.7 percent. SCU won the rebounding battle in commanding fashion (38-23), including 12 offensive boards.
- SCU converted 25 points off of 17 USF turnovers while committing just 10 turnovers of their own.
- Beasley led the Dons with 22 points while Junjie Wang added 19 points.
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- With 23 wins, Santa Clara has tied the 2022-23 campaign for the most of the Herb Sendek Era. The 14 conference wins are the most in program history, breaking a tie with the 1967-68 and 1968-69 NCAA Tournament teams.
- Mahi's 30 points are tied for the second-most by a Bronco this season (Allen Graves – 30 at Washington State). The Toronto product scored in double-figures for the 22nd time, and it was fourth game with 20 or more points on the year. His four steals tied his career high.
- Hammond finished with 18 points and his four 3-pointers tied his career high. The sophomore has now reached double-figure scoring in a team-best 24 games.. It was also his 18th game with at least 15 points and fourth-straight such game.
- Jake Ensminger pulled down 10 rebounds for his fourth game with double-figure boards on the season. The Ulm, Germany product also had six points.
- Darlan also logged a career-high scoring night with 15 points with a 3-for-4 3-point shooting night, and came away with a career-best four steals.
- Freshman Francis Chukwudebelu saw extended minutes with freshman phenom Allen Graves suffering an ankle injury early in the first half following a dunk. Graves played just four minutes in which he had a pair of points and a steal.
- Chukwudebelu logged 11 minutes in which he tallied three assists and a block.
- Brenton Knapper forced three steals for his eighth game with at least three on the year to go with 10 points – his 11th in double-figures on the season.
- Santa Clara logged their 15th game with double-digit steals, finishing with 14.
- The Broncos improved to 18-1 when scoring at least 80 points.
- The Broncos finished 13-of-31 from 3-point range for the 18th game with double-digit triples.
- Santa Clara completed the regular-season sweep over San Francisco for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
UP NEXT:
The Broncos will head to Moraga for a Wednesday evening showdown against rival Saint Mary's, Feb. 25, at 8:00 p.m. PT.
