Broncos Can't Hang with BYU

By Ryan Marshall

For the first time, the Brigham Young University Cougars entered the Leavey Center as a West Coast Conference foe, yet they required no introduction. From up above in the designated vistors' seating section, a horde of BYU fans made their presence felt. With strong fan support, the Cougars were able to defeat the Broncos 82-67 by skillfully using their size advantage to pound the ball inside and score easy buckets.

BYU's two 6-foot-8, 230 pound forwards Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock finished with 20 and 21 points respectively, accounting for half of the team's points. The Cougar big men helped the team's overall field goal percentage eclipse a respectable 58 percent for the game.

Similarly for the Broncos, junior Niyi Harrison and freshman Brandon Clark accounted for over half of Santa Clara's points by dropping in 19 apiece. Together Harrison and Clark shot 66 percent from the field while the rest of the Broncos shot a frigid 26 percent. 

The Cougars were kept in check for a large portion of the first half despite the final score. Santa Clara took a 13-10 lead (their largest of the game) on a Harrison tip-in but then went scoreless for the next three minutes. The Cougars were relatively ineffective during that time as well, and a free throw by sophomore Evan Roquemore ensured that the Broncos only trailed by one midway through the first half.  

However, a shooting foul on sophomore John McArthur and subsequent made free throws by BYU's Davies sparked a 12-4 Cougar run which opened up the gap to nine points with around six minutes remaining in the half.  

Junior Raymond Cowels III hit a three-pointer right out of the under-four-minutes TV timeout, and an ensuing 8-2 run found the Broncos only trailing by three going into the half.  

Santa Clara continued to hold their ground in the second half, the deficit freely fluctuated but never by more than 10 for the first few minutes. The Cougars converted a layup off of a steal to go ahead by 12 points with just over 11 minutes remaining. 

The two ball clubs would continue to trade baskets, fighting for an opportunity to make a run. 

Roquemore's jumpshot put the Broncos back to within ten, 71-61, with just over four minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Santa Clara, the Cougars demonstrated superior poise that led them to three consecutive assisted layups, showing off the well-oiled machine that was their offense. 

The layups, along with a Hartsock free throw, marked a 9-0 BYU run that left the Broncos down 80-61 with two and a half minutes left. Simply too few ticks remained on the clock for Santa Clara to have a shot at coming back.

The Broncos will play in their final home game of the regular season tonight against Pepperdine. The team plans to honor their lone senior, four-year walk-on Phillip Bach. Santa Clara fell to Pepperdine on Jan. 28, but are looking for some redemption on this special occasion. 

"It's our senior night for Phil (Bach) which is important," said fifth-year Head Coach Kerry Keating. "He's put a lot of time into our program and done very well in the classroom. It's our last home game and we've been competing and fighting and practicing as hard as we can given what we have."

Down in Malibu last month, Santa Clara lost the rebounding battle by 12. This time around, Keating has his team focused on rebounding and limiting Pepperdine's talented frontcourt. 

"I don't think we have to switch up anything other than just that we lost our focus on rebounding and that really cost us," said Keating. "Their two best players are their frontcourt guys, they have good, young guards and they play hard. They're out there going through different struggles for different reasons, so it should be a hard fought game." 

Given the Broncos' position, they will have to win five straight games in the WCC Tournament in order to make it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. 

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," said Keating. "It's certainly going to be difficult and daunting given where we're at, but there's a lot of experience that we're gaining from how things are going, that we have to learn from moving into next season no question."

Contact Ryan Marshall at rmarshall@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852.