LAS VEGAS – Santa Clara men's basketball leaned on the 3-ball early and often to punch their ticket to the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Men's Basketball Championship semifinal with a 76-68 victory over 6-seed Pacific Sunday evening in Orleans Arena. The 3-seed Broncos tied their WCC Tournament record of 15 3-pointers to power their way to the semifinal round for the fourth time over the last six seasons.

Four Broncos scored in double figures with Allen Graves leading the charge at 19 points while Elijah Mahi turned in a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Santa Clara improved to 25-7 overall, reaching the 25-win marker for just the third time in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Santa Clara opened the game with the first seven points of the contest, including a 3-pointer from Bukky Oboye – just his eighth of the season. The trey was the first of a 6-for-9 start from beyond the arc for the Broncos as they used the 3-ball to mount a double-digit lead at 24-14 at the under-12 timeout.
• SCU added two more triples to finish the half 8-of-17 from distance (47.1 percent) and took a 45-38 lead into the half. The Broncos shot 53.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while limiting Pacific to just 42.9 percent. The Tigers' Elias Ralph was 4-for-5 from 3-point range to help Pacific keep things tight.  
• Graves was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 14 points in the first half while Christian Hammond turned in nine points and Jake Ensminger chipped in eight points to help SCU build the seven-point advantage at the break.
• Pacific scored the first five points to open the second half to quickly make it a one-possession game before Mahi knocked down a corner trey to preserve the lead. The Tigers once again worked the lead down to two at 50-48 with 17:05 on the clock, but the Broncos answered in a monster way, using a 12-0 run courtesy of triples from Hammond, Mahi, Sash Gavalyugov and Graves to push the lead back up to 62-48.
• SCU maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the game until a late scoring drought that spanned nearly five minutes allowed Pacific to cut the lead down to eight with 2:43 remaining. Graves finally put an end to the drought with 39 seconds remaining with a layup to push the lead back up to 10 at 76-66.
• The Broncos shot 44 percent for the night and converted on 42 percent from 3-point range (15-of-36). They edged Pacific on the boards, 37-36, and dished out 21 assists on their 27 field goals.
• Ralph finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including a 5-for-9 mark from 3-point range. The Tigers shot 40 percent as a team and were 8-of-27 from beyond the arc.

NOTABLE NUMBERS:

• Mahi is the first Bronco with a double-double in the WCC Tournament since Brandin Podziemski in 2023 against San Francisco.
• The Broncos' 15 3-pointers tied the program record in the WCC Tournament previously set in 2001 against Gonzaga.
•  Mahi's 11 rebounds were a career best. He also dished out four assists to go with a block and a steal. The Toronto product scored in double figures for the 24^th time on the season.
• Graves scored in double figures for the 23^rd time, knocking down 7-of-10 from the field with a 3-for-4 clip from 3-point range.
• Hammond tallied 14 points for his team-leading 26^th game in double-figure scoring.
• Gavalyugov tallied a career-high six assists and logged his eighth game in double-figure scoring with 11 points (3-8 3PT).
• Ensminger had yet another stat-stuffing night with eight points, six rebounds and six assists. It was his ninth game with five or more assists on the year.
• SCU tallied their 20^th game with 10 or more treys this season.
• Santa Clara committed just two fouls in the first half – their fewest in a half this season.
• SCU led at the half for the 24^th time this season.
• Herb Sendek picked up win No. 599 of his career to move into a tie with legendary Oregon State coach Slats Gill for the 45^th-most wins in NCAA Division I history.
• 25 wins are tied for the most by a Sendek-coached team in his 32-year career (2008-09 Arizona State).
• Santa Clara improved to 3-0 all-time against Pacific in the WCC Tournament.

POSTGAME COMMENTS:


UP NEXT:
The Broncos will square off with rival No. 21 Saint Mary's in Monday's semifinal at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2. The rematch comes after splitting the series in the regular season.