Game at a Glance
San Francisco Dons (17-8, 7-5 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (13-12, 7-5 WCC)
Thursday,  Feb. 9, 2017 • 8:00 p.m.
War Memorial at the Sobrato Center • San Francisco, Calif.
Series Record: Santa Clara 113-106
Last Meeting: Dec. 31, 2016 (Santa Clara 72-58)
Television: CSNBA (Barry Tompkins Play-by-Play; Kelenna Azubuike, Analyst)
Radio: 95.7 FM The Game (Pat Olson, Play-by-Play; Jim Brovelli, Analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Complete USF Game Notes (PDF) | Purchase Tickets Here

Opening Tip
USF (17-8, 7-5 WCC) plays host to the Santa Clara Broncos (13-12, 7-5 WCC) Thursday night on the Hilltop. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game will be televised in the Bay Area on CSNBA. USF ran its winning streak to three straight with a 74-64 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday while Santa Clara dropped a 90-55 decision to top-ranked Gonzaga in Spokane. 

Worth Watching

• USF and Santa Clara meet for the 220th time on Thursday, with the Broncos holding a seven-game lead in head-to-head meetings, 113-106. The two schools first met back in 1908, with the Santa Clara Missionites prevailing 19-11 over St. Ignatius College. Santa Clara represents USF's oldest rival in terms of games played.
• USF and Santa Clara represent two of the WCC's five charter schools, along with Saint Mary's, Pacific and San Jose State.
• USF has won five of the last seven games in the series and are 10-6 vs. Santa Clara since the Broncos reeled off seven straight wins in the series.
• Two of the conference's top three-point shooting teams will be on display Thursday...Santa Clara leads the conference in three-pointers made per game (9.5) while USF ranks second (9.3).
• USF has held its last seven opponents under 70 points - the program's longest streak since the 1978-79 season.
• Santa Clara guard Jared Brownridge is the NCAA's third active leading scorer with 2,172 career points. Brownridge ranks fifth on the WCC's all-time scoring list and ranks first among all-time WCC players with 1,191 points in conference games only..

The Dandy Dons

• Now 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the WCC...have won three straight after downing Pepperdine (77-56) and Loyola Marymount (74-64) last week on the Hilltop...tied with Santa Clara for fourth place in the WCC standings, one game behind third-place BYU.
• At 17-8, USF is off to its best 25-game start since the 1999-2000 season when the Dons were 18-7 at the same mark of the season...the Dons are also three games ahead of last year's pace when the team was 14-11 at the 25-game mark of the season...have already eclipsed last year's win total of 15.
• Face Santa Clara for the second time this season on Thursday...Broncos took the first meeting between he two schools on Dec. 31, 72-58 in the South Bay...SCU is USF's oldest rival in terms of games played (219).
• In a stretch of four consecutive homes games...are 10-3 on the Hilltop this season...Dons will play their last four regular season games on the road.
• Have held the last seven opponents under 70 points and are allowing just 55.7 ppg (390) total during that stretch...last time USF held the opponent under 70 points in seven straight games was 1978-79...the 390 points are the fewest allowed by USF over a seven-game stretch since Feb. 22-March 13 of the 1963-64 season...last time USF limited opponents to fewer than 70 points in eight straight games was 1964-65...allowing 66.8 ppg this season after yielding 78.7 ppg a year ago.
• Of USF's 17 wins this season, 15 have been decided by 10 points or more, including seven wins by 20+ points.
• Averaging 69.2 ppg in 12 WCC games after averaging 78.5 in 13 non-conference games.
• Rank third in the WCC in field goal percentage at 47.4...have shot over 50 percent from the floor in 11 games this season after shooting 50 percent or better in just six contests last year...are 10-1 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the floor with the only loss coming at Eastern Washington.
• Rank second in the WCC in three's made per game (9.3)...have made 233 threes on the year (18th NCAA) and have made 10 or more three's in 10 games this season, including a school-record 18 against Eastern Washington and 16 vs. Utah...233 threes rank third on USF's all-time single season list (school record is 249; 2012-13).
• Rank third in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at 37.2...if the season were to end today, the Dons' would rank as the eighth most accurate long distance shooting team in school history.
• Senior Ronnie Boyce has moved back into the WCC's top-10 in scoring with a 14.6 average...he has led the Dons in scoring in each of the last three games.
• The Dons bench has combined to score 598 points over the last 16 games (37.3) and have outscored the opponent's bench 879-432 (+447) on the season...bench has accounted for 47.4 percent (879 of 1851) total points this year.
• Have started a lineup consisting of three sophomores (Matt McCarthy, Nate Renfro, Mladen Djordjevic) and two freshmen (Charles Minlend, Jordan Ratinho) in each of the last nine games...of USF's 15-man roster, 13 players are underclassmen...an underclassmen has led/shared team in scoring 10 times this season.
• USF has compiled a 32-19 (.627) record in the month of February over the last six seasons dating back to the 2009-10 campaign.

Scouting Report

About Santa Clara
Stand 13-12 overall and 7-5 in the West Coast Conference…tied with USF for fourth place in the WCC standings…both teams trail third-place BYU by one game…with 13 wins, have already eclipsed last year's win total of 11…senior guard Jared Brownridge ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring with a 18.3 per game average…he ranks as the WCC's fifth all-time leading scorer with 2,172 career points, which places him third among all NCAA Division I active players…his 1,191 points in WCC games ranks first on the conference's all-time career list…point guard KJ Feagin is one of the WCC's best…Feagin missed the first 12 games of the season with a broken hand but Santa Clara has gone 8-5 since his return to the lineup…averaging just 66.0 points a game, which ranks last in the WCC, but lead the conference in three-pointers made per game (9.4)…being outrebounded by 4.1 boards a game...under the direction of first-year head coach Herb Sendek, who previously headed up programs at Miami (Ohio), North Carolina State and Arizona State…he was named the coach of the year in the Mid-American, ACC and Pac-12 Conferences.

USF-Santa Clara Series History
In a series that dates back to 1908-09, Santa Clara leads the all-time series with USF, 113-106. Santa Clara represents USF's oldest rival in terms of games played (219). Santa Clara won the first meeting between the two schools on Dec. 31 at the Leavey Center, 72-58. However, USF has won 10 out of the last 15 and 11 of the last 17 in the series following a seven-game Santa Clara winning streak. The Dons swept last year's season series, winning 74-61 at the Leavey Center on Jan. 21 and 89-86 (OT) on Feb. 6 on the Hilltop. The two schools have met seven times in WCC Championship play, with Santa Clara holding a 5-2 advantage.

First Meeting With Santa Clara
Santa Clara nailed 13-of-26 three-pointers while the Dons managed to make just 5-of-23 shots from distance to come away with the 14-point victory on Dec. 31 at the Leavey Center. Ronnie Boyce scored a team high 23 points for the Dons whiile Jordan Ratinho (12) and Matt McCarthy (10) also reached double figures. McCarthy also pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double double of the season. Santa Clara was led by KJ Feagin's 22 points while Jared Brownridge added 20, including 13 in the second half. Of Feagin's 22 points, 12 came from beyond the three-point line, where he was 4-for-5 on the night. The Dons shot 38.9 percent compared to Santa Clara, which finished at 43.4.

Last Time Out

USF 74, Loyola Marymount 64 
USF notched its third consecutive win as the Dons turned back Loyola Marymount, 74-64 in War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Ronnie Boyce led the Dons in scoring for the third consecutive game, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Matt McCarthy notched his third double-double of the season, matching his career high with 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds. The Dons shot 50.9 percent from the floor, making the 11th time this season USF has made at least half of its shots from the field.  USF trailed only briefly in the game after Tuach hit a three-pointer to open the scoring. With USF leading 59-57 with 5:53 remaining, the Dons then seized control of the game with a 16-9 run to boost the lead to 13 at 72-59 with just under a minute left.

Fan Guide

Ticket Information
Reserved and general admission tickets for USF's last two home games against Santa Clara and BYU are available for purchase on-line at USFDons.com/tickets or by calling (415) 422-2USF (2873).

Free Parking Information
Parking is available free of charge two hours prior to tip-off until one hour after the conclusion of the game in any campus lot, with the exception of designated green parking spots at the top of Hayes-Healy garage on Golden Gate Avenue adjacent to the gymnasium. Campus parking lots of choice include the lot at the Koret Center, located at the corner of Turk and Parker and the Hayes-Healy underground garage, located on Golden Gate Ave. just past the Sobrato Center.  View campus parking map here.

Up Next
USF will close out its regular season home schedule Saturday night against the BYU Cougars. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. Senior Ronnie Boyce will be honored prior to the game. Tickets are available on-line at USFDons.com/tickets or by calling (415) 422-2USF (2873).