SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Three-pointers and free throws – one team made them and another didn't and as a result USF dropped a 70-64 decision to Santa Clara Saturday afternoon at the Leavey Center.
 
The Broncos connected on 10-of-21 of their shots from beyond the arc while the Dons managed to make just 4-of-22 of their long distance tries and fell for the fifth time in the last six games.
 
Santa Clara's Brandon Clark, who made four threes on the afternoon, finished with a game-high 23 points while backcourt mates Jared Brownridge and Denzel Johnson scored 18 and 11 points respectively.
 
Kruize Pinkins led all USF scorers with 16 points, Mark Tollefsen added 14 while Devin Watson chipped in with 13. Matt Christiansen added nine off the bench. Tollefsen also had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Matt Glover scored just two points before fouling out while Tim Derksen managed seven points before picking up his fifth foul.
 
USF (8-11, 2-5 WCC) shot 40.4 percent from the field while Santa Clara shot 45 percent. In addition to its 10 three-pointers, Santa Clara made 23-of-28 shots from the line and also outrebounded USF, 32-31. After making 28-of-32 free throws a week ago  at Portland, USF made just 14-of-24 of its charity tries this afternoon.
 
With nothing falling from the outside, USF relied heavily on its inside game where the Dons outscored the Broncos in the paint, 32-14.
 
"We didn't come out aggressively on defense and we were a little passive," said head coach Rex Walters after the game. "Their guards really broke us down. They have three guys who can pass and shoot. We didn't play well offensively. We had good looks, but just couldn't knock them down."
 
Clark hit two of his four three-pointers in the game's first minute as the Broncos jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Santa Clara (9-10, 3-4) then missed its next seven shots from the floor and watched as the Dons scored the next eight points to take an 8-7 lead. USF extended its lead to 15-10 and still held a 25-23 advantage with 3:32 left after Chris Adams drained a long three.
 
Santa Clara made its final four shots from the floor and outscored USF 16-3 over the final three and a half minutes of the first half to take a 39-28 lead at intermission. A pair of three-pointers by Denzel Johnson and Clark's fourth try of the first half keyed the Broncos late second half run.
 
Brownridge, who did not have a field goal in the first half, connected on two early second half three-pointers to help Santa Clara increase its lead to 51-34 The Broncos enjoyed their largest lead at 61-41 with 8:21 remaining in the game.
 
USF did not go down without a fight. Trialing by 20 with left eight and half remaining, the Dons went on a 14-3 run to cut the lead down to nine at 64-55 on a Devin Watson layup with 2:50 left. After Matt Hubbard misfired on a three, Pinkins' rebound basket off his own miss trimmed the lead to six at 66-59 with 1:38 remaining.
 
The Dons had a chance to cut the lead down to four after forcing a Santa Clara shot clock violation with a little over a minute left in the game. However, after Chris Adams misfired on a three-point attempt, Jarvis Pugh was fouled on the rebound and made both of the subsequent free throws to boost the Bronco lead back to seven at 66-59 with 44.8 remaining
 
Brownridge was then fouled after gathering a Corey Hilliard miss and iced the game with a pair of free throws that give Santa Clara a 68-59 lead with 18.2 left. A banker by Matt Christiansen near the buzzer accounted for the final 70-64 score.
 
USF will return to action Thursday night when the Dons play host to the fast-starting Pepperdine Waves beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Memorial Gymnasium.