Half-time report
Santa Clara overcame an early deficit to regain the lead in this one. They jumped out to an early 35-27 lead against San Diego.
If Santa Clara continues to play like this, their record will drop to 10-6 in no time. On the other hand, San Diego will have to settle for a 4-11 record unless they turn things around (and quickly).
Who’s playing
Santa Clara Broncos @ San Diego Toreros
Current records: Santa Clara 9-6, San Diego 4-10
How to watch
What you need to know
Santa Clara is 8-2 against San Diego since January 2020, and they will have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The two will face off in a West Coast battle at 10 p.m. ET at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Broncos know how to score points – the team has finished with 82 or more points in its last five games – so I hope the Toreros like a good challenge.
Santa Clara probably heads into the game with a chip on its shoulder considering San Fran. just ended the team’s six-game winning streak on Monday. They narrowly fell short to the Dons by a score of 97-94. Despite an even higher score than in their previous match on Saturday (91), the Broncos still had to take the defeat.
Johnny O’Neil gave a good effort for the losing team shooting 4 of 5 from long range and posting a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds. This dominant performance also gave him a new career high in field goal percentage (87.5%). Christoph Tilly was another key player, scoring 20 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, there’s no place like home for San Diego, which bounced back from a tough road loss Saturday. They came away with a 75-65 win over Pacific on Monday. This success was a return to normalcy for the Toreros, who in their previous outing suffered a shocking 68-55 defeat against the Antelopes.
San Diego can attribute much of its success to Steven Jamerson II, who had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jamerson II’s performance made up for a slower game against Grand Canyon on Saturday. Another player who made the difference was Bendji Pierre, who scored 13 points as well as six rebounds and two steals.
Even though they won, San Diego struggled to get the ball on offense and finished the game with only five offensive rebounds. It was the fewest offensive rebounds they had all season.
Santa Clara’s loss dropped their record to 9-6. As for San Diego, the victory ended their six-game losing streak and leaves them with a 4-10 record.
Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday’s game: Santa Clara has made deep shots easy this year, averaging 10.1 threes per game. It’s a different story for San Diego, as they only have a 5.9 scoring average. Given Santa Clara’s considerable advantage in this area, San Diego will need to find a way to close that gap.
Santa Clara won against San Diego in the teams’ last matchup in March 2024 by a conclusive 104-79. Will Santa Clara repeat its success, or does San Diego have a better game plan this time around? We’ll know soon enough.
Odds
Santa Clara is a big favorite with 13.5 points against San Diego, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The punters were in perfect agreement with the betting community on this point, as the game opened with a 13.5 point spread and stayed there.
The over/under is 152.5 points.
See college basketball picks for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Santa Clara has won 8 of its last 10 games against San Diego.
- March 9, 2024 – Santa Clara 104 against. San Diego 79
- February 17, 2024 – Santa Clara 82 against. San Diego 69
- February 3, 2024 – San Diego 70 vs. Saint Clare 59
- February 25, 2023 – Santa Clara 81 vs. San Diego 63
- February 9, 2023 – Santa Clara 80 against. San Diego 75
- February 5, 2022 – Santa Clara 79 against. San Diego 66
- January 24, 2022 – Santa Clara 78 against. San Diego 74
- February 18, 2021 – San Diego 71 vs. Santa Clara 60
- January 17, 2021 – Santa Clara 69 vs. San Diego 63
- January 25, 2020 – Santa Clara 65 against. San Diego 52
