Men's basketball recap
By Gabe Taylor
In one week's time, Santa Clara picked up two more West Coast Conference wins to improve their conference record to 3-8. With only three games left before heading to the WCC Tournament, the Broncos (11-17) are 7th in the WCC.
After pulling out a dominant 59-43 victory on the road against the San Diego Toreros on Feb. 6, the Broncos home woes continued against Loyola Marymount with a 73-67 defeat.
Santa Clara, who had not won a home game since Jan. 2 when they played host to New Hampshire, finally brought the drought to an end with a 62-54 win over Pepperdine last Saturday.
"We came off a disappointing loss at home two days before and were able to turn around and do what we had to do to win that game against Pepperdine," said Head Coach Kerry Keating.
Santa Clara fell short in previous contests against both San Diego and Pepperdine but was able to turn the tables around to garner two wins in their last three games.
"It's always tough to play a team twice," said freshman forward Ray Cowells.
Freshman guard Robert Smith has been a clear offensive threat, scoring in double-figures the past 7 games.
Smith recorded 12 points against Pepperdine to add his name to the four Broncos who scored in double-digits.
However, Keating sees Smith's improvement in another area as being key to the team's success. That area is ball control.
Despite five first half turnovers against Pepperdine, Smith's second half mindset kept the ball safe and sound. Even with the pressure put on by the Pepperdine defense, Smith managed to not even turn the ball over once in the final 20 minutes of the game.
"That's really where it all starts, with us taking care of the ball," said Keating.
To add to Smith's success, sophomore Marc Trasolini is on a scoring and rebounding frenzy.
Trasolini scored 16 points and grabbed 10 boards against Loyola Marymount before nearly mimicking this performance two nights later against Pepperdine, when he topped the team with 16 points alongside 8 boards.
"Marc did what he's capable of doing when he plays hard in there, which is demanding the ball," commented Keating following Santa Clara's win over Pepperdine.
Keating has consistently noticed fatigue as a factor in many of the games. With a youth-filled roster and Kevin Foster out for the season, players have had to increase their playing time.
Keating wants to see the minutes more spread out, to where approximately eight players stay on the floor for 25 minutes per game.
"Hopefully that'll help keep us fresh, keep us more defensively able, more able to make shots," said Keating.
Santa Clara will play their final home game this Saturday against University of San Francisco at 7 p.m. in Leavey Center, before facing Portland and Gonzaga on the road to close out league play.
"It's all about having some confidence and knowing you can beat anyone in the conference or anyone in the league when you go into Vegas," Keating said.
Contact Gabe Taylor at gtaylor@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.