Santa Clara Broncos Begin West Coast Conference Play on Saturday

After routing Bethany University 87-57 in the Leavey Center on Monday, the Broncos shift their focus to their West Coast Conference opener against the University of San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 8. Santa Clara will open up conference play with a 9-7 record in non-conference play.

"We had opportunities to do better," Bronco head coach Kerry Keating said in regards to his non-conference schedule, "but I think, for the most part, we did well—obviously well enough to have a winning record."

Since replacing Dick Davey—the man who coached the Steve Nash-led Broncos to their last NCAA tournament appearance in 1996—four years ago, Keating has yet to have a winning season. He had his best year during the 2008-09 season, when his team went 16-17 (7-7 in WCC).

This season, his team has shown promise against elite opponents.

Santa Clara defeated Arsalan Kazemi and the Rice Owls on Mission Campus at the buzzer, 66-65. They led the University of Southern California 50-47 at half and took Washington State to overtime, but lost both contests.

"It's unfortunate. We've had leads and chances to close out games, but we didn't," said Keating. "It's good to be going into conference on a winning note. That's the most important thing."

Last year they beat the Dons in San Francisco 66-65, but lost to them at home 71-68 in overtime. USF is currently sixth in the West Coast Conference at 6-9 overall and Santa Clara is fourth at 9-7.

San Francisco pulled off an early-season upset over Colorado (10-4), 83-81 in overtime, but has struggled against elite programs since. They were suffocated by Louisville, 61-35, and rolled by Washington, 80-52.

The USF offense revolves around sophomore guard Michael Williams, who has 16.1 points per game. Only Pepperdine's Keion Bell (20.7) and Santa Clara's Kevin Foster (18.4) have a better average in the WCC.

"Anytime we play it's going to be a hard-fought game. Historically it's been that way," said Keating, who is 4-2 against the Dons. "Obviously anytime we play it's going to be a war, so I expect nothing less on Saturday."

Saint Mary's currently sits atop the WCC with a 12-2 overall record. The conference's most potent offense (83.9 ppg) is led by senior guard Mickey McConnell (14.2), redshirt junior Rob Jones (13.7) and sophomore guard Michael Dellavedova (13.0).

On the other end of the court, freshman guard Stephen Holt is second in the WCC with 28 steals.

Joining the Gaels on the conference summit is Portland (12-3), a sharpshooting team that is 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. Junior guard Nemanja Mitrovic is shooting above 50 percent from the arc and leading scorer Jared Stohl (14.1 ppg), a senior guard, is just south of that mark, shooting 45.6 percent.

The Pilots, however, may be a façade. Saint Mary's has a plus-22.4 scoring margin and the Pilots, who have a lower scoring margin (plus-3.2), have played an easier schedule.

The Gaels defeated St. John's 76-71, overwhelmed Texas Tech 88-68, lost to No. 14 BYU 73-74 and were snuffed by No. 6 San Diego State, 55-69.

On the other hand, the Pilots' only notable opponents have been Kentucky (L, 79-48), Washington State (L, 84-68), and Washington (L, 94-72)—also their only three losses. 

The Pilots have wins over Boise State (88-79), Nevada (66-62) and Utah (88-79); however, while Boise State is 9-5, none of those teams are as prominent as their gridiron counterparts.

Gonzaga is in jeopardy of relinquishing their hold over the conference this season. Since 1999 the Bulldogs have won the WCC tournament in all but three years. In the three years that another team took the title, the Zags were in the championship game.

However, this year Gonzaga's scoring margin is roughly half of Saint Mary's, plus-10.9, and the team is third in the conference with a 10-5 record.

Gonzaga has played a more difficult schedule—losing games to No. 6 San Diego State (79-76), No. 17 Kansas State (81-64), No. 20 Illinois (73-61), Washington State (81-59) and No. 15 Notre Dame (83-79)—than any other team in the WCC and has beat distinguished programs like Marquette (66-63), Baylor (68-64), Xavier (64-54) and Wake Forest (73-63).

The Zags are led by senior guard Stephen Gray (14.2 ppg, 20 steals), redshirt junior Robert Sacre (12.9 ppg) and sophomore forward Elias Harris (11.4 ppg).

Both Saint Mary's and Gonzaga have received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

Loyola Marymount had high expectations coming into the season. Oregon transfer Drew Viney (16.0 ppg), a redshirt junior, was supposed to bring the program back to the glory days preceding the death of Hank Gathers. However, the team is off to a 7-6 start.

Senior guard Vernon Teel has produced 14.2 ppg and leads the conference with 29 steals, but the team lost the two games they played against distinguished opponents, UC Santa Barbara (67-77) and Florida State (63-74).

Pepperdine and San Diego sit in the WCC cellar at 6-11 and 3-11, respectively.

Santa Clara opens its WCC schedule against San Francisco on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Credit to The Santa Clara staff for editing the story.