WCC Championships on horizon

By Brian Witter

The men's basketball season to this point has been filled with ups and downs, but at 5-2 in the West Coast Conference, the second place Broncos are setting themselves up to be an imposing force at the WCC Championships in March, which will be held in the Leavey Center.

After early successes in the preseason, including an astonishing victory against then-ranked No. 4 North Carolina and a home victory against Stanford, the Broncos dropped six of their last nine non-conference games in December. However, since Jan. 6 when the WCC conference play began, Santa Clara has made quick work of their opponents.

"Shot selection continues to be an issue for us," Head Coach Dick Davey said. "When you can't get anything started offensively in a game, re-evaluating what kind of shots are being taken from the post is essential, and I think that was certainly a factor in some of those close losses.

Davey believes the team's quality wins are a reflection of improved defensive play, though he admits his team needs to work on rebounding the ball better.

The Broncos are 12-10 overall and tied for second in the WCC with Gonzaga. Saint Mary's is currently alone at the top of the standings, a team the Broncos soundly defeated by 23 points on Jan. 15. Their 5-2 start in the WCC is the second-best ever under Davey, who is in his 13th season as Santa Clara head coach. With seven games left before the conference championships, the Broncos are seeking to stay in a winning groove during the second half of their WCC match-ups.

"How we're really going to prove ourselves is on the road," senior guard Doron Perkins said. "You can have a large amount of fans coming out to support you at any home game and win, but a huge part of college basketball is winning road games. If we can establish ourselves as a major threat to the other teams playing at home, we'll always have an advantage."

Santa Clara travels to the Pacific Northwest to face conference opponents Portland and Gonzaga this weekend. On Jan. 6 against Gonzaga, the Broncos kept the score relatively close throughout the game, until some poor outside shooting and foul trouble late in the game prevented a win. This will be the Broncos' first trip to Spokane, Wash. to face the Bulldogs after two near wins at Leavey, including a one-point loss in last year's WCC semifinal.

"Obviously, Derek Raivio had his breakthrough game against us last time around so we'll need to be wary of his scoring ability this weekend, but our defense overall is going to be important against a tight team like Gonzaga," Davey said of Gonzaga's point guard. "To shut them down is going to take a lot of physical effort, so we need to use size to our advantage as well as shoot the ball effectively to secure a win."

The Broncos have outscored their opponents this season by a margin of 2.9 points per game, while committing an average of roughly two less turnovers than their opponents. Three Broncos are averaging double-digits in points: Junior power forward Travis Niesen leads the team with 15.8 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field; Seniors Doron Perkins and Kyle Bailey follow, averaging an identical 14.3 points per game. Perkins also leads the team in rebounds and steals.

"I see our season as broken down into three smaller seasons," Davey said. "Season one was marked with some great wins but also some losses to teams we should have beaten. We're now into season two and trying to correct most of our mistakes before season three in March, which is what really counts."

The WCC Championships return to the Leavey Center this March for the second-straight year.

A major theme of the current season has been fan support at home games. One of Athletic Director Dan Coonan's first acts was the announcement that the school would offer students seats at center court in Leavey if they decided to show up. So far, the heavy presence of Bronco fans has generated the team's most impressive and solid wins.

"I've been at Santa Clara for some time now and definitely noticed the presence of fans at our games," Davey said. "The fans give the players something to play for and a heavy attendance probably counts for eight to 10 extra points on any given night."

The Portland Pilots enter Thursday night's game with a 2-5 WCC record, after having won nine of their first 12 games. Portland is in the midst of a three-game losing streak and has lost five of their last seven.

Santa Clara will be vying for position in the WCC along with the other top two teams, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga, who are also facing off on Thursday.

"The conference is really good this year," senior forward Jordan Legge said. "Gonzaga has proved beat-able and its hard to predict where we'll be in a few days. Hopefully, we'll be on top but it's up to us to get there."

* Contact Brian Witter at (408) 551-1918 or bwitter@scu.edu.