STOCKTON, Calif. - Following a 24-day pause due to COVID-19 concerns, the Pacific men's basketball team (3-1, 0-0 WCC) returns to the court to open West Coast Conference play in a matinee at 2:00 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Thursday afternoon.
Pacific welcomes Santa Clara (7-2, 1-0 WCC) to Stockton in what will be the Bronco's second league contest and tenth game overall this season.
GAME DETAILS:
Date: Thursday, January 14, 2020
Matchup: Santa Clara (7-2, 1-0) at Pacific (3-1, 0-0)
Location: Stockton, California
Venue: Alex G. Spanos Center
Time: 2:00 p.m. PST
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THINGS TO KNOW:
- For the Tigers, this marks their fifth game of the season and the first of back-to-back home games as they host Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 3:00 p.m PST.
- Pacific last played on Dec. 20 at Westmont College (NAIA) in Santa Barbara and defeated the Warriors 92-64. The game was supposed to be the front end of back-to-back road games for the Tigers, but their contest scheduled for Dec. 22 at Cal State Northridge was subsequently canceled. In the game at Westmont, the Tigers raced out to a 41-28 halftime lead and outscored the Warriors 51-36 in the second half. Broc Finstuen tallied a game-high 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting while Jeremiah Bailey notched his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds. As a team, Pacific shot 47.8 percent from the field while holding Westmont to just 33.3 percent overall from the floor.
- The Tigers' most recent Division I contest came on Dec. 2, 2020, a 74-70 overtime win at home over the Montana State Bobcats.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS:
- Santa Clara, which has played the bulk of its home games in Santa Cruz due to a Santa Clara County ordinance, opened its season 6-0 before suffering its first loss of the season on Dec. 22 to Colorado State by a final of 70-57. It marked the first of back-to-back losses for the Broncos as they fell 86-63 at USC on Dec. 29 in their final non-conference game of the season.
- After seeing their first two scheduled conference games versus Loyola Marymount and at Gonzaga postponed, the Broncos went on the road and upset Saint Mary's 66-64 in Moraga last Saturday behind a 23-point effort from Keshawn Justice, who went 8-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Josip Vrankic added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Broncos, who shot 46.9 percent from the floor and 6-for-12 from three-point range while holding the Gaels to just 39 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from distance.
- The Broncos are led by Vrankic, who enters Thursday's contest averaging 15.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Justice is averaging 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest under fifth year head coach Herb Sendek.
- Since rejoining the WCC, Pacific is 5-10 versus Santa Clara, including matchups at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas. Each team held serve at home last season, with the Broncos winning 84-80 at the Leavey Center on Jan. 18 and the Tigers earning an 87-74 victory at the Spanos Center on Feb. 22.
FOLLOW US:
For more updates and more information on the 2020-21 Pacific men's basketball team, be sure to follow @PacificMensBB on Twitter, @pacificmensbb on Instagram and @PacificMensBB on Facebook.
