Broncos still have an upward climb

By Tom Schreier

The Santa Clara reporter Tom Schreier sits down with Head Coach Kerry Keating following the Broncos victory over UC Santa Cruz on Tuesday night.

The Santa Clara: You have a four-game winning streak in the WCC, five overall. What did the win against Gonzaga do for you?

Kerry Keating: All the wins did something for us because we have done a good job of taking it one game at a time. In hindsight it's given us a little bit of confidence, but the Portland game was even more important as evidenced, obviously, with what happened against St. Mary's (Portland beat St. Mary's 85-70 in Oregon). St. Mary's beat Gonzaga (73-71), albeit on the road, and lost at Portland so it's a tricky proposition when you get hyped up for one game.

TSC: How are you going to approach that game in San Francisco?

KK: ...(Last time) we had an 11-point lead at halftime, I was disappointed that we lost that lead at home, so we have a little bit to get back, but San Francisco is playing well too. We're both tied for second so there's a lot riding on it beyond just trying to win the next game...Obviously we've had a chance to watch them play in the six games since, which will give us a better idea of what they've been doing.

TSC: What message would that send to the rest of the WCC if you got that win in San Francisco?

KK: I don't know. A lot of teams are right there. Portland and Gonzaga are going to be right behind because someone has to be 5-3 at the end of that game. Obviously Saint Mary's whether they win or not are going to be at the top. It's going to take a little while before any separation happens because it seems to be pretty clogged up there. We just need to do our part and not worry about anyone else.

TSC: You are giving up 70.8 points a game. What do you need to do to crack down on defense?

KK: Our defense has actually been better. Saint Mary's skewed it a little bit because they played us so well and shot so well. In the stretch we've had recently we've played pretty solid defense—we lead the league in steals (167 total, 7.3 average per game) — that has been the way we've been able to overcome some of the percentages that are high and get some more possessions.

TSC: Do you think you'll get more attendance now that the WCC is more competitive?

KK: I hope so...It'll be hard to do, but it may be a little bit of a push and a little bit easier for us to get the continued student support that has been so good and try to make Leavey a tough place to play no matter who's playing.

TSC: Santa Clara probably needs to win the WCC Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament. Do you believe you can win March's tournament in Las Vegas?

KK: I think Saint Mary's is in the tournament, no matter what happens, unless they have a colossal collapse. They've been playing for a seed now. They've done enough and have played a good enough schedule and I think they've earned that. Obviously, we don't make those decisions, but time will tell and I think they'll be in a good position.

But it's been hard, because of the balance in our league, to separate for an at-large type of situation so obviously it puts a lot of pressure on that tournament to get what is always that automatic bid.

TSC: For years the WCC has gone through Gonzaga. Do you think Saint Mary's has taken control of the league?

KK: Not yet. They haven't won the regular season yet. I think you have to win the regular season consistently for it to go through anything and Gonzaga has still done that and obviously Saint Mary's is in that position now, but is not that far away from anyone to get that.

TSC: You have recruited people from all over North America and overseas. How has your team come together as a unit over the course of the season?

KK: They share the common denominator of being really good, motivated students. (They are) motivated players that want to win, and guys that want to get better, (and) that really care about each other and respect what each other is doing...

They've maintained over a 3.0 GPA as a team and that's a testament to their work ethic off the floor and now we're starting to see it over onto the floor by way of some wins.

We can't settle, we can't get complacent, we can't pretend that we've got it all figured out and that we're good.

We've got to keep moving on and know that we've probably gotten some more attention from some folks by winning some games so we've got to be ready to go each and every time and that starts on Saturday against San Francisco.