Men's Basketball Takes On Santa Clara Monday Night
11/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sacred Heart (1-2) at Santa Clara (2-2)
Monday, Nov. 21 - 10 PM
Leavey Center - Santa Clara, Calif.
Setting the Scene... The Pioneers look to bounce back from Friday night's loss at top-10 Arizona Monday night at Santa Clara in SHU's second game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
Last Time Out... SHU fell 95-65 to #9/10 Arizona Friday night at the McKale Center in the first meeting between the two programs. Sophomore guard Quincy McKnight scored over 20 points for the third straight game, putting up 22 to lead SHU in scoring. Joseph Lopez added 15 points, making 7-of-11 shots from the field. Matej Buovac made four three-pointers off the bench for 12 points. Lauri Markkanen led Arizona with 22 points as Rawle Alkins added 18 points. Dusan Ristic had a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
All-Time vs. Santa Clara... Monday marks the second meeting all-time between the Pioneers and Broncos. Santa Clara won the first meeting 70-61 on Dec. 18, 2013.
Last Meeting... SHU led the Broncos 31-27 at halftime on Dec. 18, 2013, but Santa Clara came back by shooting 52% from the field in the second half and made 15-of-18 free throws to win 70-61. Santa Clara's Brandon Clark led all scorers with 30 points. Evan Kelley led the Pioneers with 20 points. De'von Barnett added 10 points off the bench.
The Case For Quincy... Quincy McKnight made a solid case for NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honors last week, averaging 25 points per game as SHU split matchups with Hofstra and #9 Arizona. McKnight scored a career-high 28 points last Tuesday in the Pioneers' 90-86 win over Hofstra last Tuesday. He scored six points in SHU's 16-3 run in the final four minutes that won the game. McKnight then scored 22 points at Arizona. He scored 20 of those points in the second half after falling into foul trouble early in the game. After not scoring 20 points in a game all of last season, McKnight has scored at least 20 in each of the first three games this season while going a perfect 17-for-17 at the foul line. He has made his last 18 free throws dating back to last season.
Mighty Matej, Off The Bench... Fifth-Year forward Matej Buovac is SHU's leading returning three-point shooter after making 36 three-pointers last season. Buovac shot 33.6% from the arc and hit at least one three in 13 of the last 15 regular season games in 2015-16. In two games this season, Buovac is 7-of-15 from the arc and averaging 13 points per game.
Scouting the Broncos... Santa Clara is 2-2 on the year after an 88-72 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday. Jarvis Pugh led all scorers with 26 points, adding eight rebounds. Matt Hauser had a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists. The Broncos were picked fifth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll.
