WCC Championship Quarterfinals
San Francisco Dons (20-11, 10-8 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (16-15, 10-8 WCC)
Saturday,  March 4, 2017 • 1:00 p.m.
Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, Nev.
Series Record: SCU 113-107
Last Meeting: Feb. 9, 2017 (USF 61-58)
Television: CSNBA (Barry Tompkins, Play-by-Play; Casey Jacobsen; Analyst; Kelli Tennant; Sideline)
Radio: 95.7 The GAME (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
USF Audio Only: TheW.TV
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF)

Opening Tip
USF (20-11, 10-8 WCC) faces Santa Clara (16-15, 10-8 WCC) in the quarterfinals of the WCC Championships Saturday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Saturday's game will televised across the WCC's family of networks, including CSNBA in the Bay Area. Barry Tompkins and Casey Jacobsen will have the call from court side while Kelli Tennant will handle sideline duties. The game will also be carried nationally in BYUtv with Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler calling the action.

Inside the Matchup

• USF and Santa Clara split two regular season games…Santa Clara claimed a 72-58 decision in the South Bay on New Year's Eve but USF bounced back for a 61-68 victory on Feb. 9 on the Hilltop.
• Santa Clara has outscored USF on average 65.0 to 59.5 in the two meetings.
• The two teams have compiled similar shooting percentages against each other, with Santa Clara holding a slight edge at 41.3 percent to USF's 41.1. However, Santa Clara has had the best of it from long distance, making 21-of-48 (43.7) threes in two games compared to USF at 13-of-48 (27.0).
• USF and Santa Clara meet for the 221st time on Saturday, with the Broncos holding a six-game lead in head-to-head meetings, 113-107. The two schools first met back in 1908, with the Santa Clara Missionites prevailing 19-11 over St. Ignatius College. Santa Clara represents USF's oldest rival in terms of games played.
• USF and Santa Clara represent two of the WCC's five charter schools, along with Saint Mary's, Pacific and San Jose State.
• USF has won six of the last seven games in the series and are 11-6 vs. Santa Clara since the Broncos reeled off seven straight wins in the series.
• Two of the conference's top three-point shooting teams will be on displaySaturday...Santa Clara leads the conference in three-pointers made per game (9.6) while USF ranks second (9.3).
• Both teams are under the direction of first-year head coaches in Kyle Smith of USF and Herb Sendek of Santa Clara.

The Dandy Dons

• Finished the regular season with a 20-11 overall record, marking the first 20-win season since the 2013-14 campaign and third overall since 1985-86...tied for fourth with Santa Clara in the WCC standings with a 10-8 record...went 5-3 over the last eight games of the season.
• Are seeded fifth in the WCC Championships and will meet fourth-seed Santa Clara on Saturday in a quarterfinal match up at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas...split two regular season games with the Broncos this season..dropped a 72-58 decision on New Year's Eve but bounced back to claim a 61-58 victory on Feb. 9 on the Hilltop.
• Santa Clara represents USF's oldest rival in terms of games played (220)...the two schools last met in the WCC Championships in 2008, with Santa Clara coming out on top, 51-50 in the quarterfinals...SCU holds a 5-2 advantage in seven WCC Tournament games.
• USF is 17-29 all-time in the WCC Championships dating back to the first event in 1987...have reached the championship game on two occasions (1997 and '98) and won its only tournament title in 1998 with a win over Gonzaga.
• Have posted at least one win in the tournament four out of the last six years...dropped a 90-86 decision to Pepperdine in last year's quarterfinals.
• The 20 wins under Kyle Smith are also the fourth most by a first-year head coach in USF history...last head coach to post 20+ wins in their first season at the helm was Pete Barry (24-7) in 1980-81.
• Have held 12 of the last 13 opponents under 70 points and are allowing just 60.0 ppg (781) total during that stretch...are allowing 66.5 ppg this season after yielding 78.7 ppg a year ago.
• Of USF's 20 wins this season, 17 have been decided by 10 points or more, including seven wins by 20+ points.
• Over the last five seasons, the Dons are 45-43 in WCC games...during that time, USF is 2-28 against Gonzaga, St. Mary's and BYU and 43-15 (.741) against the six other conference teams.
• Shooting just 34.6 (105-for-303) over the last five games but rank fourth in the WCC in field goal percentage at 45.2...have shot over 50 percent from the floor in 11 games this season after shooting 50 percent or better in just six contests last year...are 10-1 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor with the only loss coming at Eastern Washington.
• Rank second in the WCC and t-33rd nationally in three's made per game (9.3)...have made a school-record 288 threes on the year (t-17th NCAA) and have made 10 or more three's in 12 games this season, including a school-record 18 against Eastern Washington and 16 vs. Utah.
• Rank sixth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 35.9 (288-for-802)...shooting 32.1 from distance vs. conference opponents (9th WCC)...have attempted the ninth most three-pointers in the nation.
• The Dons bench has combined to score 789 points over the last 22 games (35.8) and have outscored the opponent's bench 1070-507 (+563) on the season...bench has accounted for 48.7 percent (1070 of 2196) total points this year.
• Represented on the All-West Coast Conference team by Ronnie Boyce (Second Team) and Charles Minlend (All-Freshman) and Jordan Ratinho (All-Freshman).

Scouting Report

About Santa Clara
Finished the regular season with a 16-15 overall record and were 10-8 in the WCC…earned the fourth seed in the conference tournament by virtue of its win over BYU…dropped three of their last four games including a 70-56 decision at Saint Mary's to end the regular season…rank ninth in the WCC in scoring average (66.5) but lead the conference in three-pointers made per game (9.6)…rank third in three-point percentage at .380…lead the conference in turnover margin at 1.87…senior guard Jared Brownridge ranks third in the WCC with a 17.3 per game scoring average…the first-team All-WCC selection ranks as Santa Clara's second all-time leading scorer and is also the fourth all-time leading scorer in WCC history…senior Nate Kratch is giving the Broncos 10.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and ranks fourth in the WCC in three-point percentage 42.1…point guard KJ Feagin earned second team All-WCC honors after averaging 14.6 points and 4.4 assists during the regular season...under the direction of first-year head coach Herb Sendek, who previously headed up programs at Miami (Ohio), North Carolina State and Arizona State…he was named the coach of the year in the Mid-American, ACC and Pac-12 Conferences.

USF-Santa Clara Series History
In a series that dates back to 1908-09, Santa Clara leads the all-time series with USF, 113-107. Santa Clara represents USF's oldest rival in terms of games played (220). The two schools split the season series, with Santa Clara claiming a 72-58 decision at the Leavey Center on New Year's Eve and USF returning the favor with a 61-58 win on the Hilltop on Feb. 9. USF has won 11 out of the last 16 and 12 of the last 18 in the series following a seven-game Santa Clara winning streak. The Dons swept last year's season series, winning 74-61 at the Leavey Center on Jan. 21 and 89-86 (OT) on Feb. 6 on the Hilltop. The two schools have met seven times in WCC Championship play, with Santa Clara holding a 5-2 advantage.

First Meeting With Santa Clara 
Santa Clara nailed 13-of-26 three-pointers while the Dons managed to make just 5-of-23 shots from distance to come away with the 14-point victory. Ronnie Boyce scored a team high 23 points for the Dons whiile Jordan Ratinho (12) and Matt McCarthy (10) also reached double figures. McCarthy also pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double double of the season. Santa Clara was led by KJ Feagin's 22 points while Jared Brownridge added 20, including 13 in the second half. Of Feagin's 22 points, 12 came from beyond the three-point line, where he was 4-for-5 on the night. The Dons shot 38.9 percent compared to Santa Clara, which finished at 43.4. USF trailed, 38-28 at halftime but outscored the Broncos, 8-2 to start the second half and cut the lead to four at 40-36 with 14:50 remaining. USF crept to within three at 43-40 after a McCarthy layup but the Broncos quieted the run by reeling off the next seven points to boost their lead back to 10 at 53-43 with 8:19 remaining. USF managed to cut the lead to eight at 53-45 with 7:04 left, only to see Santa Clara score 10 of the next 12 points to take a 63-47 lead with 4:16 left. The Broncos largest lead was 18 at 69-51.

Second Meeting With Santa Clara
USF built as much as a 25-point lead in the first half against Santa Clara and hung on for dear life down the stretch to post a 61-58 over the Broncos on Feb. 9 in San Francisco. After building a 20-point lead at halftime, USF was outscored 34-17 after intermission and held its collective breath as SCU's Jared Brownridge misfired on a potential game-tying three-pointer as time expired. Matt McCarthy led all USF scorers with 10 points and seven rebounds. SCU sophomore KJ Feagin scored a game-high 26 points while Brownridge finished with 15 points, with 14 coming in the second half. The Dons never trailed in the game in picking up their 18th win of the season. With USF leading 57-42 with 6:24 remaining, Santa Clara went on a 16-2 run to cut the lead to 59-58 after Feagin drilled his fourth three-pointer of the night. USF's Chase Foster's driving, off-balance shot found its mark with :44 left, accounting for the final, 61-58 score. Santa Clara still had plenty of time left, but a turnover by Brownridge and two missed free throws by Matt Hauser down the stretch helped USF gain a split in the season series with its long-time rival.

Last Time Out: USF 76, Pepperdine 65 
USF notched its 20th win of the season with a 76-65 win over Pepperdine Saturday in Malibu. Chase Foster matched his career high with 22 points, as did Frankie Ferrari, who finished with 16 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes of action off the bench to lead the Dons to their first 20-win season since 2013-14 and third since the 1985-86 campaign. Charles Minlend also reached double figures with 16 points. Trailing 61-60 with 3:16 remaining, USF outscored the Waves 16-4 down the stretch to complete the series sweep of Pepperdine and notch its fifth consecutive win at Firestone Fieldhouse. USF took a 39-33 lead into intermission but Pepperdine outscored USF 8-2 to start the second half and tied the game at 41 on a three from Major. The game was still tied at 43 when the Dons went on a 11-2 run capped by a Minlend three to open a 54-45 lead with 9:35 remaining.Pepperdine tied the game at 59 and took a 61-60 lead after a Jeremy Major lay-in but a three-pointer by Ferrari gave the Dons a 63-61 lead and ignited a 16-4 run that secured USF's 20th win of the season. Ferrari scored seven of his 16 points during the decisive run.

Up Next
The winner of Saturday's USF-Santa Clara game will play the winner of No. 1 seed Gonzaga's game against either No. 8 Pepperdine or No. 9 Pacific on Monday at either 6 or 8:30 p.m.