Brownridge key as Broncos advance
LAS VEGAS — Jared Brownridge entered Saturday’s game needing 170 points to tie Kevin Foster for No. 1 on Santa Clara’s all-time scoring list.
For a while during a WCC tournament quarterfinal at Orleans Arena, it looked like the senior guard might try to make up the entire difference in one game.
Brownridge scored more than a third of the fourth-seeded Broncos’ points and came up big in all the clutch moments as Santa Clara defeated fifth-seeded USF 76-69 and advanced to Monday’s semifinals.
He hit a step-back threepointer that was well contested by Chase Foster to put Santa Clara up 67-63 with 42 seconds remaining. After Ronnie Boyce’s tough layup attempt missed, Jarvis Pugh knocked down two free throws with 30.3 seconds on the clock.
Boyce (33 points) made an NBA-length three-pointer to trim USF’s deficit to three points with 28 seconds left, but Brownridge’s free throws extended the Broncos’ lead to 71-66 with 22 ticks on the clock. Boyce made three free throws sandwiched around a foul shot by Pugh to trim the Dons’ deficit to 72-69 with 10.3 seconds left.
Of course, Brownridge calmly knocked down two free throws to put the capper on his 28-point outburst and the clincher on the Broncos’ victory. Brownridge went 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, and senior forward Nate Kratch added 16 points.
Santa Clara (17-15) moved into a semifinals matchup with top-seeded Gonzaga (30-1). The Broncos dropped both regularseason games to the Zags, losing by a combined 66 points.
Santa Clara has won five of its past seven games, mixing and matching lineups while missing seven players because of injuries.
“I thought they played with a lot of heart and courage,” Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said. “… The way our guys prepared, concentrated, executed the game plan and made plays, it just showed tremendous heart and constitution. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The Dons (21-11) had won six of their previous nine games in a turnaround season by firstyear coach Kyle Smith. But the team that starts three sophomores and two freshmen was no match for Santa Clara’s experience in a grind-it-out game.
“They showed up every day, pushed and got better,” Smith said. “That’s all you can ask as a coach.”
The Broncos made 10 of 20 three-pointers after a rough start. Santa Clara went 0-for-12 from the field during a first-half stretch of nine minutes, 43 seconds, and USF used the shooting slump to build a 25-17 lead.
Pugh ended Santa Clara’s field-goal drought with a layup to get the Broncos going again. They outscored USF by six points in the half ’s final 4½ minutes to go into the break trailing 35-33.
Pugh’s three-pointer with 12:15 remaining tied it 41-41, and the teams weren’t again separated by more than four points until Brownridge made a wing three-pointer to put Santa Clara ahead 59-52 with 4½ minutes left.
Boyce scored the next 11 points for USF, trimming the Dons’ deficit to 64-63 on a reverse layup with 1:13 on the clock and setting up the ending.
“These guys have really presented the best versions of themselves as we’ve gone along,” Sendek said. “It’s been a tremendously enriching experience.” Gonzaga 82, Pacific 50: The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 14-2 run after the Tigers (11-22), who lost twice to Gonzaga by a combined 41 points during the regular season, trailed only 27-25 at halftime. Gonzaga guard Jordan Matthews, a graduate transfer from Cal, scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, and Nigel Williams-Goss added 20 points.