SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara men’s basketball (20-5, 11-1) will look to hold on to its spot atop the West Coast Conference standings on Saturday, Feb. 7, when it closes out a three-game road trip in Pullman, Wash., against Washington State (11-14, 6-6). The Broncos have won seven straight games and are coming off their 20th victory of the season, extending the program’s streak to five consecutive years with 20 or more wins. Tip-off against the Cougars is set for 3:00 p.m. PT on ESPN+, with Trevor Williams and Stephanie Freeman on the call.
THE OPPONENT
Washington State saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday evening as Oregon State erased a double-digit deficit to win 74-64 in Corvallis. The Cougars are 11-14 overall and are in a four-way tie for fourth place at 6-6 in conference play. Led by second-year head coach David Riley, WSU has the fifth-best scoring offense in the WCC at 76.9 points while allowing 76.8 defensively. Freshman Ace Glass is among the most dangerous scorers in the conference at 16.4 points per game and ranks fifth in the league at 16.9 points per outing in league games.
SERIES HISTORY VS. WASHINGTON STATE
The Broncos and Cougars have met 12 times dating back to 1946 and have split the series with six wins apiece. Santa Clara has had the upper hand in recent years, taking six of the last eight meetings, including three-straight. SCU is 2-4 in games played in Pullman, including last year’s trip where they dropped 109 points.
LAST SEASON AGAINST THE COUGARS
Santa Clara swept last year’s series with blowout victories in both venues. The Broncos took down Washington State 93-65 in the teams’ first meeting in Leavey Center as five players scored in double figures and the team knocked down 13 3-pointers. Things went even better when they revisited in Pullman on Feb. 22. SCU opened the game with a ridiculous 15-of-19 start from 3-point range in the opening half and finished the game with 23 made triples. That total is tied for the most in NCAA D1 history by a team in a road game (2021 Alabama at LSU and 2018 Campbell at Liberty). Five Broncos again scored in double figures, including a then-career high 18 points from Brenton Knapper and 19 points from Elijah Mahi.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos were firing on all cylinders in a 104-73 rout at LMU to complete the regular-season sweep against the Lions. The 104 points are SCU’s most this season and most since dropping 109 at Washington State last year. Five Broncos reached double-figure scoring for the first time since Dec. 28, 2025 at Oregon State with senior Brenton Knapper leading the charge with a career-best 22 points. Allen Graves posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while fellow freshman KJ Cochran also logged a new career-best with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. SCU’s two-leading scorers, Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi, each contributed 12 points in the victory. Santa Clara forced 22 turnovers resulting in 28 points and connected on 12 treys.
A NEW LEADER IN THE STANDINGS
Santa Clara currently finds itself on top of the WCC standings at 11-1. Gonzaga is just behind at 10-1 having played one less game while Saint Mary’s is third at 9-2. This is the first time a program other than the Bulldogs or Gaels have occupied the top spot in the standings at this stage of the season since 2002 when Pepperdine eventually won the regular-season title at 13-1.
BEST START SINCE THE NASH ERA
The Broncos are off to an 11-1 start in conference play with their lone blemish coming on the road against No. 8 Gonzaga, and sit at 20-5 overall. Both of those records stand as their best starts since the 1994-95 campaign when Santa Clara was 21-5 overall in the regular season and finished 12-2 in conference play to capture the WCC regular-season title. That team, led by Dick Davey, Steve Nash and company, was the second of three squads to play in the NCAA Tournament over a four-year stretch from 1993-96.
ON A STREAK
Santa Clara is currently riding a seven-game win streak - their longest in conference play since also winning seven straight to close out the 2022-23 season. Those two streaks are tied with a seven-game stretch in 1997-98 as the longest since the 1994-95 Broncos won nine consecutive contests.
NATIONAL LEADERS
Santa Clara leads the nation in scoring margin in conference games. The Broncos have defeated opponents in league play by an average of 17.3 points.
RECEIVING VOTES
Santa Clara is once again receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 Poll (Feb. 2). It is the second time this year that they have done so after receiving three votes in the Nov. 24th edition. The Broncos have not been ranked inside the Top 25 since the 1995-96 season when they reached as high as No. 22 in the poll.
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. With six opportunities remaining, the Broncos will next set their sights on tying the program record of 13 wins set in 1967-68 and 1968-69.
...AND FIVE STRAIGHT WITH 20
At 20-5, 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.
ELITE STAT LINE FOR GRAVES
Allen Graves is one of just two players in the nation that is averaging better than 10 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, joining Utah Valley’s Jackson Holcombe.
THE TAKEAWAY ARTIST
Allen Graves has a knack of finding ways to force opponent turnovers. Despite his large frame, Graves has become a master at coming away with steals and has 52 total on the season already. That mark ranks 16th nationally overall and is the most by a freshman in NCAA D1. It also eclipsed Steve Kenilvort’s Bronco freshman record set in 1982-83 (49) and is just outside of breaking into the program’s top-10 all-time for a single season.
