Santa Clara

Brian has them in the play-in in his latest bracket. They’re 34th in KenPom. They’re also so close to being a lock. Let’s take a look at Arizona’s worst nightmare.

The Broncos has some agonizing losses. 1- point to St. Louis. Bad losses to Loyola Chicago and Arizona State by a combined 5 points. Mix in a blowout loss at New Mexico and you get the bubble. Those 3 losses, by a total of 6 points might just haunt this team.

To make matters worse, they were swept by Gonzaga in league play. Even a split would have gone pretty far. They travel to St. Mary’s tonight in what feels like a must win game.

Head coach Herb Sendek has seemingly spent his career on the bubble. Even more wild is, this is his 10th year at Santa Clara. He hasn’t been to the tournament since 2014 with any school. If this team doesn’t dance, I’m not sure I can sum up Sendek’s career much more than this season. 

This is a solid club that is a 9-10 seed unfortunately stuck in a mid-major. They’re 27th in AdjO and 57th in AdjD. They’re a very good offensive rebounding team and very good at forcing turnovers. A decent shooting team but have a slightly below average defensive real shooting %. They’re a 9-10 seed as you analyze them.

I’ve been loosely following them as I’ve waited for a 3rd WCC team to emerge as I do yearly. Tonight is a big game. A win will go a long way, a loss puts a lot of pressure on the WCC Tournament that begins next week. The Herb Sendek experience continues as it always has.