2009 brings uphill battle for Broncos

By Matthew Cucuzza

Despite a promising close to 2008 that included comebacks, overtime thrills and cameos from both former Broncos head coach Dick Davey and legend Kurt Rambis, the Santa Clara men's basketball team started the new year with close losses and a sub-.500 record.

Santa Clara (7-9) all but stopped the momentum they had generated during December's Cable Car Classic and lost two close games on a road trip to New England, falling 73-68 to Harvard on Friday and losing 58-54 to New Hampshire on Sunday.

"We didn't have it at Harvard or New Hampshire," said head coach Kerry Keating. "We really didn't play well, and I know we're better than both those teams.

"Letting that opportunity go was really our first big disappointment of the season."

Close losses are something of a theme for the Broncos, a team that Keating feels is not accurately represented by its record.

Eight of the Broncos' nine losses this season have been by eight or fewer points. Of those losses, seven were by six or fewer points.

A quick look at the team's overall record suggests that Santa Clara could have a 14-2 record in an alternate reality.

The team's average margin of loss this season is only 5.7 points.

The Broncos battled through a sloppy first half in their 83-80 comeback victory over Belmont on Dec. 29 and capitalized on an avalanche of overtime officiating errors to defeat University of Texas at El Paso to win the Cable Car Classic and finish out 2008.

Keating says his team has struggled with consistency since guard Troy Alexander injured his shoulder against Sacramento State on Dec. 6, and he has been forced to get creative with his lineup.

"It's the only thing that hasn't been consistent for us," Keating said of the point guard position. "We need that consistency because we keep turning the ball over."

The Broncos turned the ball over 39 times over their last two games.

In their win over UTEP, the Broncos reaped the benefits of an untimely turnover.

Santa Clara trailed 88-87 in overtime when an official inadvertently blew the whiste with 2.3 seconds left in overtime after Santa Clara guard James Rahon stole the UTEP inbound pass.

The Broncos had no timeouts left.

By NCAA rules, the play would have resulted in a technical foul against Santa Clara and free throws for would-be winners UTEP.

Keating and Rahon denied calling a timeout and the officials admitted their mistake, claiming an inadvertent whistle and allowing the Broncos to keep possession.

The referees then permitted both Santa Clara's John Bryant and UTEP's Claude Britten to sub into the game.

NCAA regulations forbid substitutions during stoppages for inadvertent whistles that occur in the final 59.9 seconds of regulation or overtime.

Bryant received the inbound pass and muscled his way to the basket to score.

The officials called a foul and the UTEP bench began to celebrate, believing that the big center was called for a charge, but the whistle was against UTEP and sent Bryant to the line with 0.7 seconds left in overtime.

UTEP head coach Tony Barbee was furious at the mishaps, which were eventually acknowledged by the West Coast Conference last Friday and resulted in one-game suspensions for the three officials from that game.

"I've never felt so violated in my life," Barbee said of the officiating.

Keating said that his team was due for a break this season.

"As (assistant coach Dustin) Kerns likes to tell me late at night watching film, the basketball gods will eventually help us," Keating said.

Perhaps that help will come sooner than he thinks.

Freshman Marc Trasolini led Santa Clara against New Hampshire with a career-high 24 points and added 10 rebounds, tying a career-high.

Freshman Kevin Foster averaged 12.6 points per game and is shooting .400 from beyond the arc.

Foster was also instrumental in the second half of Santa Clara's comeback victory over Belmont, apparently in response to Keating's half-time speech challenging Santa Clara to never stop fighting.

Rahon, a freshman, is third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game.

"We're really happy with them and we're really looking forward to having the school embrace them as part of our future because they're going to become the face of our program," said Keating.

The Broncos will need to win the fight of their lives tomorrow night. Santa Clara faces Saint Mary's (13-1) in Moraga to open conference play.

"We have to fight if we want to be a tournament team," said Keating.

If the first week of 2009 is any indication, the fight for an NCAA Tournament berth will rage all season long.

Contact Matthew Cucuzza at (408) 551-1918 or at mcucuzza@scu.edu.