Basketball Picks Up Conference Win
Broncos beat San Diego 65-53 on Kratch’s 12 points
Brent HanowerTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 14th, 2016
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Santa Clara men’s basketball team won its second conference game of the season over the University of San Diego 65-53 last Saturday. The Broncos also traveled to Provo, Utah to take on the Brigham Young University Cougars (11-5, 2-1) last Thursday, losing 61-97.
Jared Brownridge led the Broncos in points during Thursday’s matchup. Contributing 16 against the Cougars. Brownridge went 5-16 from the field including 2-7 three point field goals. Nate Kratch added six points for the Broncos while grabbing a team high eight rebounds. KJ Feagin added five assists and nine points.
BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth leads the NCAA in career triple doubles, and added his ninth against the Broncos. Collinsworth scored 21 points, secured 11 rebounds and added 10 assists for the Cougars. Nick Emery racked up 23 points for the Cougars making 5-6 threes.
Since the Broncos first played the Cougars in 1951, BYU has led the series 24-5, including wins in the last 10 matchups. So far this year, the Cougars have been dominant at home, improving to 7-0 at the Marriott Center after beating the Broncos.
BYU outrebounded the Broncos 52 to 33, leading to 11 second chance points. The Cougars entered the game leading the WCC in scoring (82.9 ppg prior) and second in 3 point field goal percentage (38.5). The high scoring Cougars dominated the Broncos early, and other than a tie at the beginning, held a lead for the entirety of the game.
“We didn’t have some shots fall early and got in a little hole that we couldn’t get out off,” said Head Coach Kerry Keating.
Early in the game, the Broncos emphasised getting the ball into Kratch’s hands. Brownridge was slow to start, scoring his first points on free throws after going 0-3 from the field early. However, he bounced back to score 14 of his 16 points in the first half. At the end of the first half of play the Broncos trailed 34-48.
As the Cougars pulled away, Brownridge went 1-6 from the field in the second half. Henrik Jadersten added eight points and three blocks for the Broncos off the bench. A Brendyn Taylor three racked on the final three points of the game, for a 61-97 final in Provo.
Sunday’s matchup against USD was quite a different narrative. The Toreros are led by a new head coach, Lamont Smith, who was a former assistant for Kerry Keating in 2007-2008. Another former Bronco assistant coach is on the USD staff, Sam Scholl; both Scholl and Smith are also alumni.
“I don’t like playing against those guys,” Coach Keating said. “Lamont and Sam had a lot to do with what we have going on here.”
Four Broncos reached double digits in points against the Toreros. Kratch led the Broncos with 17 points to go along with six rebounds, Brownridge added 12 points and Kai Healy and Feagin each added 11 points, leading Santa Clara to its first road win of the season.
Throughout the season, the Toreros’ Brett Bailey, who was previously averaging 8.6 points per game, led his team with a game high 22 points. Jito Kok entered the game as ninth in the NCAA in blocks per game, averaging 2.93 blkpg, yet only managed to block the first shot of the game.
In the first half, the Broncos led 32-26. Kratch led the scoring with 12 points, while Feagin and Brownridge added seven points each. Bailey had 11 points at the half for the Toreros. Both teams were also three of 13 in three point attempts. However, the Broncos shot 51.9 percent on all field goals while the Toreros only mustered a paltry 37.9 percent.
In the final half of regulation, the Broncos scored 33 points while USD added 27 points. Healy scored eight of his 11 points in the second half to help lead the Broncos to the 65-53 final.
On Thursday the Broncos return to the Leavey Center to host the Pepperdine Waves (10-6, 3-2) at 7 p.m. The Waves are coming off a big home win against St. Mary’s. Loyola Marymount University (7-9, 0-5) visits the Leavey Center on Saturday at 8 p.m.
With six more points Jared Brownridge will move from 16th to 15th in the school’s all time scoring list, currently standing at 1,431 career points.
“Their starting five are as good as any in the league and obviously going to be a tough task for us no matter what,” Keating said of Pepperdine. “We’re going to need it all on Thursday. We need each and every Rough Rider here in our student section.”
Contact Brent Hanower at bhanower@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.