I just have a bunch of stuff leftover from interviews with Kerry Keating, Matt Bouldin, Josh Heytvelt, etc. Read on.

Keating was an assistant at UCLA when Bouldin was putting together a stellar four-year run at ThunderRidge High. He regrets not recruiting Bouldin harder at that time because he believes Bouldin would have been a great fit with the Bruins.

"They're always going to have two point guards on the floor at all times (Pargo and Bouldin). That helps make them what they are," Keating said. "They have guys that can handle it, pass it. Bouldin is one of the best catch-and-pass guys in college basketball -- simply passing the ball right where he wants it, getting it where the (receiver) wants to shoot it, advancing it up the floor, getting it to the post. Matt's one of my favorite players."

--ThunderRidge coach Joe Ortiz also spoke of Bouldin's "incredible understanding of the game.

"He still might not get the credit he deserves for his feel for the game or teammates’ strengths, who is guarding him or his teammates. When he played in high school, I cannot remember one time when he made a bad pass that he shouldn't have made. At the level he's at now, with the super athletes, it's much more difficult, but he usually makes the right choices and decisions."

Ortiz has known Bouldin a long time and he sees a player getting better and better.

"It's a treat to watch him play. He was in the program since fifth grade. When he comes back now, it’s just incredible, he’s finally putting it out there because I think he's always had it."

--Bouldin thoroughly enjoyed his prep days.

"My first year, we were undefeated, I was playing for the best team in the state and it was all seniors pretty much and me," Bouldin said. "We played all over the country. We went up against (L.A. Laker Trevor) Ariza at Westchester, just great players."

Bouldin comes off as quiet and unassuming, but he said it was different in high school.

"By the way, I yapped a lot in high school. I was with my four best friends growing up. You know how it is in high school. We were j

--Bouldin learned his fundamentals and some of primary moves from his father, Ron, who played at Colorado State.

"We played 1-on-1 until I was maybe a sophomore in high school. It got pretty heated. All of a sudden, (the starting line) started getting closer and closer (to the basket). It was from the 3-point line, then it was inside the 3, then it was inside the paint.It started getting physical but it was fun."

--Heytvelt and Santa Clara counterpart John Bryant have gone at it the last few years. Bryant is bigger, but not as big as he used to be. He's trimmed down to 275 pounds. Heytvelt is about 255.

"He's a great player, a tough matchup, big, physical and he can carve out some space in the paint," Heytvelt said.

The Bulldogs forward added: "He’s kind of like J.P (Batista). I hated practicing against J.P.but definitely having J.P. around was one of the things that really helped me against (big) guys like that."

Keating said Bryant has improved his chances of playing professionally. He's rated seventh among college centers by rivals.com. Bryant had 33 points and 17 rebounds against UTEP and 27 points and 22 rebounds against Stanford.

"He’s worked on his body to give himself a better chance," Keating said. "He still has some room for improvement, to be honest. He's learning now what it's like to be the central focus of every team's game plan. That wasn’t the case last year. To his credit he's put up similar numbers."

Keating said Bryant is graduating early, so he'll have additional time to prepare for the draft or opportunities overseas.

--Keating purposely loaded his schedule with a heavy dose of games early. Santa Clara has played 18 games (GU 14) because Keating wanted to get his young players in game situations.

"We'd played the most games in the country until January," he said. "I wanted to get these guys game experience quicker because I knew we'd be playing freshmen a lot and I wanted to get them on the floor."

--Many of you probably have heard this already or seen the clip (it's on the San Francisco Chronicle Web site). Keating, in fact, challenged his team to a fight at halftime after a lackluster effort against Belmont.

"I rolled up my sleeves and said, 'Who wants to fight?, because you're not fighting on the floor.' As a coach when you're looking for leadership on a team you would hope that 

would already come out but it wasn't there and you can tell when they need a different message."

Were there any takers?

"It's a little calculated risk, I was never the biggest guy," Keating said. "If any of them stood up, who knows (what would have happened), but the fact of the matter is they understood what I was talking about. They scored 55 points (in the second half) and started with an 18-0 run."

--Ten different Broncos have started at least two games this year. Bryant is often joined by first-year SCU players (freshmen Marc Trasolini, James Rahon and Kevin Foster, and J.C. transfer Perry Petty). Foster averages 13.2 points, Petty 8.8, Rahon 9.2 and Trasolini 6.1. Another player to watch is Deceasne White, a transfer from Texas Tech who has played in nine games since becoming eligible.

Foster had 31 points against Saint Mary's. Trasolini had 24 points and 10 rebounds vs. New Hampshire.

"(White) kind of got thrown into the mix in mid-December when we had three injuries happen at the same time, so he got switched around to a couple of different positions," Keating said. "We need him. He has good size and he can defend a little bit."

--Ex-Santa Clara guard Brody Angley was a central figure in GU-SCU battles for years. He's playing professionally in Switzerland. Angley committed the silly foul with 0.3 seconds left that sent Steven Gray to the line, where he tied up the game with a pair of free throws. Angley also suffered a concussion early on in the rematch in Spokane (won by GU 88-54), but came back less than a week later with 13 points in a 52-48 loss to Gonzaga the following week in the WCC Tournament semifinals.

--SCU would appear to be better than its 7-11 record indicates.

"Over the course of the last two years, 21 of our 27 losses have been by six points or less. I know that means we're close and competitive," Keating said. "We have to get over the hump."