Broncos don’t figure

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The numbers don’t quite add up.

Crunch Santa Clara’s statistics and it would appear the Broncos are a top 75 team, perhaps top 50. In six key statistical categories, Santa Clara ranks in the top one-third of Division I schools and much higher in field-goal percentage (16th nationally), 3-point percentage (29th), scoring defense (43rd) and rebounding (53rd).

Yet the Broncos enter today’s West Coast Conference men’s basketball game with Gonzaga sporting a pedestrian 11-9 record, 3-2 in conference, and an RPI in the 150s.

“It’s a case of ifs and buts,” first-year head coach Kerry Keating said. “Certainly we’re trying to develop a program that will show better than an 11-9 record and certainly we’ve lost some games that we could have won. We’re trying to teach our younger kids to learn how to win.

“We’ve had four one-possession games that if we would have controlled one or two possessions it might be different.”

Still, the Broncos are one of only three WCC teams better than .500, joining Gonzaga (16-5, 5-0) and Saint Mary’s (17-3, 4-1). The Bulldogs visit the Gaels for a showdown Monday night, but there’s little chance they’ll overlook the Broncos.

As coach Mark Few pointed out, Santa Clara ended Gonzaga’s 50-game home winning streak last season against “many of these same (GU) guys.”

Keating replaced Dick Davey, who resigned last February and went on to earn WCC coach of the year honors as his Broncos nearly dethroned Gonzaga. None of the current players is a Keating recruit, but they are becoming comfortable with his system.

Keating, an ex-UCLA assistant, has modeled his defense on the Bruins’ approach under his former boss, Ben Howland. Santa Clara’s efficient offense (49.1 percent on field goals, 40.3 percent on 3-pointers) is borrowed from Keating’s time as an assistant at six NCAA schools.

“The way we’re organizing our program is indicative of (Howland’s influence),” Keating said. “I don’t know if it’s reflected in games quite yet.”

The Broncos rely on 6-foot-10, 305-pound center John Bryant at both ends of the court. Bryant averages 17.5 points and 9.4 rebounds, far exceeding last season’s averages of 10.4 and 6.7. He’s made 59.5 percent of his shots and 72 percent at the free-throw line.

“He’s hard to guard in practice,” Keating said of Bryant, who has also blocked a conference-leading 42 shots. “He’s big and strong, and he’s doing a better job of working for position and where to get his shot in the offense.”

Senior point guard Brody Angley has started 100 games in his career and is closing in on 1,000 points.

“He’s just a great college point guard,” Few said.

Senior forward Mitch Henke (9.2 points, 4.3 rebounds) provides another experienced hand, but Keating has had to experiment with the rest of the roster.

“We don’t have the true freshmen like (Portland coach Eric) Reveno or (Loyola Marymount’s) Rodney Tention, but we still have an inexperienced team other than those three (Bryant, Angley and Henke),” Keating said. “We’re starting a freshman at the ‘4’ and we’re playing some upperclassmen that haven’t had significant time before.”

Keating said Gonzaga has “eight or nine guys that could be starting for anyone in our conference. There’s no real dropoff when they get into the bench.”

Rebounding will be crucial, Keating said.

“I expect both defenses to be very solid,” he said. “Both of us lead the conference in field-goal percentage and in field-goal percentage defense, so it’s going to come down to rebounding because you can’t make all of your shots.”