LAS VEGAS — Santa Clara dominated San Diego on the boards on the way to a 104-79 victory in the quarterfinals of the Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship on Saturday night.
The No. 4 seed Broncos will need that same kind of performance on Monday night when they tangle with regular-season champion Saint Mary’s — the nation’s top rebounding team — in the tournament semifinals at Orleans Arena. Tipoff is 6 p.m.
Junior Adama Alpha Bal scored 24 points and 6-foot-10 junior Johnny O’Neil had 20 for Santa Clara (20-12), which reached the 20-victory plateau for the third straight season and the fourth time in five years. It’s just the third time in program history the Broncos have put together three straight 20-win campaigns.
But it was a massive rebounding discrepancy that jumped off the stat sheet. Head coach Steve Lavin was concerned about the Broncos’ strength inside after USD’s win over Pepperdine on Friday night. And he was right to be worried.
The Broncos outrebounded the Toreros, 55-25, forged a 17-2 advantage in second-chance points and allowed San Diego just seven offensive rebounds.
“That’s a big talking point that our coaches emphasize every game and it’s something we take pride in,” O’Neil said of the Broncos’ work on the boards. “It’s something we try to focus on, getting those offensive rebounds and trying to get extra points and extra opportunities. Tonight, we did a pretty good job of it.”
It was more than the Toreros could overcome.
“They came out very aggressive,” USD freshman Keyon Kensie said. “Our coach told us to come in physical but obviously, we didn’t. It was very tough out there.”
“They’re as physical a team as we’ve faced this season,” Lavin conceded.
Next up for Santa Clara is 24th-ranked Saint Mary’s (24-7), which beat the Broncos in both regular-season meetings and has won the past five in the series. The Gaels lead the nation in rebounding margin at plus-11.9. They won the battle of the boards, 36-27, in their first matchup vs. Santa Clara, before the Broncos carved out a 33-32 rebounding advantage in the rematch.
Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek expressed great respect for the Gaels.
“Saint Mary’s is not only the No. 1 rebounding team in the country, they’re in the conversation among the toughest teams in the country,” he said. “They’re one of the better teams in the country, and for them it starts with defense and rebounding.”
Lavin used an old-school football analogy to describe how he thinks Monday’s semifinal might unfold, referencing Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears of George Halas.
“Physicality will be on display,” Lavin said. “Both programs have a very solid winning brand of basketball. They’ll play through the pain. The physicality and the depth of Santa Clara will present Saint Mary’s some challenges.”
The fifth-seeded Toreros (18-15), who over-achieved after being picked last in the WCC by the league’s coaches, used their aggressive defense to create 18 Santa Clara turnovers, which led to 28 USD points.
But Santa Clara built a 51-34 halftime lead and never let the Toreros’ press alter the script.
“We just did a good job in the second half at running our press break,” O’Neil said. “I think we got sped up a bit in the first half. Being a little bit smarter and a little bit stronger with the ball helped us kind of fight back on that disparity.”
Freshmen Keyon Kensie and Kevin Patton Jr. each had 16 points for the Toreros, but they also shot just 4 for 19 from the 3-point arc, had 16 turnovers of their own and fouled the Broncos 28 times.
Santa Clara converted 35 of 41 foul shots, 11 of those makes by Bal, the native of LeMans, France, who had his eighth game of at least 20 points. Reserve Cameron Tongue drew seven fouls and converted 8 of 9 free throws on the way to scoring 12 points.
Carlos Marshall Jr. had 13 points for the Broncos, as did reserve Tyree Bryan, who also led the team with nine rebounds. Christoph Tilly had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Lavin praised his young team, which improved from 11 wins a year ago.
“Really proud of this team’s development,” he said. "There’s lessons to be learned. This will be motivation going into the offseason in terms of getting stronger and coming back with an opportunity to be better next year.”