LAS VEGAS - It all comes down to this. After an exhilarating victory over No. 21 Saint Mary's in Monday's late night semifinal round, Santa Clara men's basketball will make the quick turnaround to face off with No. 12 Gonzaga in the Credit Union 1 WCC Championship title game. Tip-off between the Broncos and Bulldogs is set for 6:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, March 10, with Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham live on the call from Orleans Arena. Anthony Passarelli and Henry Caruso will once again have the audio-only call via Sidearm Streaming.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GONZAGA
Gonzaga has historically had the upper hand in the series that dates back to 1947, leading 74-33 all-time. The Broncos have beaten the Bulldogs at least once in each of the past two seasons, and are looking to make it three-consecutive seasons. Gonzaga swept the Broncos in regular season with an 89-77 win in Spokane and 94-86 victory in Leavey Center, which put an end to the Broncos’ 13-game home win streak and stands as the SCU’s lone loss at home this season.
This will be the 11th meeting between the teams in the WCC Tournament and the first since the 2017 semifinal. The Broncos won just one of the previous 10 meetings - a 53-51 victory in the 1993 semifinal en route to SCU’s second and most recent tournament championship title. This will be the fourth time the Broncos and Bulldogs have faced each other in the title game and the first since 2007.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 2007
Santa Clara will be playing in the championship game of the WCC Tournament for the eighth time and for the first time since 2007. The Broncos are looking to pick up their third championship title (1987 and 1993).
Coincidentally, 2007 was also the last time that Santa Clara defeated rival Saint Mary’s at least twice in the same season (they did so three times that year).
GAVALYUGOV BURIES THE GAELS
Redshirt freshman Sash Gavalyugov has a knack of putting together monster performances when you least expect it. The Bulgarian native did it for the first time on Jan. 10 when he made just his second start of the year in place of an injured Brenton Knapper and took full advantage with a whopping 37-point effort at home against LMU - a tally that stands as the second-most a Bronco has ever scored in Leavey. Sash had a similar performance in the Broncos’ semifinal win over Saint Mary’s, but this time after coming off the bench and connecting on 5-of-9 3-point attempts for a team-best 23 points. None of those treys were bigger than the last one, which came with just 12 seconds remaining and the Broncos clinging to a two-point lead. The deep trey was the dagger SCU needed to officially put the 21st-ranked Gaels to rest and punch their ticket to Tuesday’s championship.
26 AND COUNTING
Santa Clara’s 26 wins are tied with the 2012-13 CBI Champs for the second-most in program history and the Broncos are only one game shy of tying the program record of 27 wins set in 1968-69. They are also the most Herb Sendek has ever won in a season throughout the entirety of his 32-year career.
600 FOR THE PRIDE OF PITTSBURGH
Speaking of Sendek, he could not have planned out a better time to pick up the 600th win of his career. The Pittsburgh native reached the milestone in the Broncos’ semifinal victory over rival Saint Mary’s and surpassed Oregon State legend Slats Gill for sole possession of the 45th-most wins in NCAA Division I history.
LOOKING BACK AT THE REGULAR SEASON
With a 24-7 record, Santa Clara posted the second-most regular-season victories in program history, just two behind the program record of 26 set in 1968-69 when the Broncos reached No. 3 in the AP Poll in route to a 26-1 regular season before falling to Lew Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA Tournament.
SENDEK AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
With Monday’s victory over the 21st-ranked Gaels, Sendek’s Broncos have defeated a ranked team in each of the last three seasons and have four such wins over the last five seasons. The first of the group was also against the Gaels on Feb. 8, 2022, which broke a 46-game losing skid for the Broncos against ranked opponents that dated back to 2004. Since then, the Broncos have twice taken down ranked Gonzaga teams with a 77-76 home win in 2024 and an unforgettable 103-99 triumph in the Kennel in 2025.
BIG NUMBERS IN THE WCC CHAMPIONSHIP
Four Broncos are currently averaging double-figure scoring through SCU’s two game of the Credit Union 1 WCC Championship. Sash Gavalyugov leads the way at 17.0 ppg and is shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range while also dishing out 6.0 assists. Elijah Mahi is averaging a near-double-double with 16 points and 9.0 rebounds while Allen Graves is averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks. Christian Hammond rounds out the group at 10.5 ppg.
TOP FOUR YET AGAIN
Santa Clara posted a top-four finish in the WCC standings for the fifth-consecutive year - the program’s longest streak since an eight-year stretch from 1995-2002. The Broncos finished in third place for the first time since doing so in back-to-back years in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
SENDEK JOINS ELITE COMPANY WITH 4TH COTY AWARD
Herb Sendek was voted by his peers as the 2025-26 WCC Coach of the Year. It is his first COTY Award in his 10-year tenure with the Broncos, and the fourth COTY Award of his 32-year career in total. Sendek has won the award at four different schools (Miami (OH), NC State, Arizona State, SCU) in four different conferences (MAC, ACC, PAC 10, WCC), and is one of just three coaches to do so in NCAA Division I history along with Dana Altman and Rick Pitino.
GRAVES TAKES HOME MULTIPLE MAJOR WCC AWARDS
Allen Graves earned a pair of major awards from the WCC after a sensational conference slate. The big man took home WCC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year honors. He is the 10th Bronco in program history to win freshman and/or newcomer of the year honors - the first since Brandin Podziemski was both the league’s newcomer and co-player of the year in 2022-23 - and the first freshman to win the award since Jared Brownridge in 2013-14.
Graves came off the bench in all 18 of SCU’s conference games to average 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds. He is the first Bronco to win the league’s sixth man award in its six years of existence.
A TRIO OF FIRST TEAMERS
Graves was one of three Broncos that earned a spot on the WCC’s 10-man all-conference first team, joining Christian Hammond and Elijah Mahi. It was the first All-WCC honor for all three players in their respective careers. The three honorees tied the 2006-07 squad’s total for the most first teamers in program history, and it is the first time that multiple Broncos have earned first team honors since 2022-23 (Podziemski and Carlos Stewart).
Santa Clara and Gonzaga are the only teams to have at least one player on the All-WCC First Team in each of the last six seasons dating back to 2020-21.
OFFENSE ON HISTORIC PACE
At 83.5 points per game, Santa Clara’s offense is going toe-to-toe with the 1969-70 team (83.7) for the best average in program history. Their 11.3 scoring margin currently checks in at No. 3 on the all-time list. Both of those averages rank top-30 nationally and top-three in the WCC.
MORE BIG NUMBERS FROM LEAGUE PLAY
Santa Clara put up impressive numbers across the board in WCC play. The Broncos had the nation’s fifth-best scoring offense in conference games at 87.2 ppg to lead the league. They also led the WCC in 3-pointers (10.4) and steals (10.00) while ranking second in FG percentage (49.1), free throw percentage (78.3) and turnover margin (4.39)
