Sportsnet preview of Santa Clara

[The PonyGrad]

GAME NOTES: One team's season will come to an end, while the other squad will head to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament championship game when the SMU Mustangs host the Santa Clara Broncos in semifinal action at Moody Coliseum this evening.

Tonight's winner will take on either Iona or East Tennessee State in the championship game of this event.

The Broncos have claimed three postseason wins in one year for the first time in school history. Santa Clara opened this event with a 68-63 victory over Northern Arizona, and that was followed by an 88-75 decision over Air Force in the second round. Santa Clara's 95-91 win over San Francisco on Tuesday propelled the Broncos into the semifinals.

As for the Mustangs, they have won three straight postseason matchups before, but that happened just one other time and it was back in the 1956 NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs have reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign as they defeated Northern Iowa, 57-50, in the quarterfinals of this event. SMU opened this tournament with a 64-57 overtime decision over Oral Roberts and that was followed by a thrilling, 63-62 win over Jacksonville.

This will be the third ever matchup between the two schools on the hardwood. SMU claimed the first victory back in 1987, but the Broncos responded the following season to even the series.

The Broncos put forth an outstanding effort in their recent win over San Francisco, as they exploded for 95 points in a narrow victory. Santa Clara connected on 49.2 percent of its attempts in the matchup and also finished 24- of-33 from the foul line. Santa Clara, which committed just six turnovers in the win, was led by Evan Roquemore and Kevin Foster. Roquemore poured in 30 points in the win, while Foster added 27 points. Others joined in the fun, as Troy Payne and Ben Dowdell finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Roquemore has been a duel threat, as the guard is netting 12.3 ppg, to go along with a team-high 132 assists. Foster however, has been the top scorer on the roster, and comes into this game averaging 20.0 ppg.

SMU was a tenacious bunch at the defensive end of the floor throughout the season and the Mustangs have continued their strong defensive play in this tournament, most recently limiting Northern Iowa to just 50 points. The Mustangs held UNI to a woeful 27.5 percent shooting effort, and allowed the Panthers to make just five of their 25 three-point attempts. At the other end of the floor the Mustangs shot 50.0 percent and were led by Papa Dia's impressive double-double of 17 points and 21 rebounds. Collin Mangrum and Robert Nyakundi added 11 points apiece in the win. Dia and Nyakundi have been the top two players throughout the season, as Dia is leading the team with 18.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 78 blocks, while Nyakundi is posting 14.3 ppg.

The Broncos were outstanding in their last matchup, but they should have a much tougher time finding points against SMU. The Mustangs have been stingy in terms of defense and that should propel SMU into the championship round.



Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/25/ ... z1HciPgB5V

[ponyboy]

Are we seriously talking stingy defense? Love it.

[SMU Spartan]

I want 3's ringing in the basket all night.

[Mustangsabu]

Is there a line on this game? I like that this article backs us to win!

[hoopmanx]

Frog vs Roque! Here's what I know, we should have grabbed both lol

[Junior]

Smu -4