Santa Clara (8-4, 2-2) vs. Loyola Marymount (7-5, 2-2)
Albert Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: WCC foes meet as Santa Clara takes on Loyola Marymount. Each squad is coming off of a home loss this past Thursday. Loyola Marymount lost 65-61 to Saint Mary’s, while Santa Clara came up short in a 73-50 game to San Francisco.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership could play a big role in the outcome of this game. Eli Scott, Dameane Douglas, Joe Quintana and Mattias Markusson have combined to account for 67 percent of Loyola Marymount’s scoring this season. For Santa Clara, Josip Vrankic, Christian Carlyle and DJ Mitchell have combined to score 42 percent of the team’s points this season, including 47 percent of all Broncos points over their last five.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Lions have allowed just 63 points per game to conference opponents so far. That’s an improvement from the 68 per game they gave up in non-conference play.
KEY FACILITATOR: Scott has made or assisted on 54 percent of all Loyola Marymount field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has accounted for 23 field goals and 12 assists in those games.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Broncos have recently converted buckets via assists more often than the Lions. Loyola Marymount has 32 assists on 65 field goals (49.2 percent) across its previous three contests while Santa Clara has assists on 30 of 56 field goals (53.6 percent) during its past three games.
STINGY DEFENSE: Santa Clara has held opposing teams to 38.3 percent shooting, the lowest percentage among all WCC teams.
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