Mount St. Mary’s (3-6) vs. Santa Clara (6-3)
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Two junior guards will be on display as Jalen Benjamin and Mount St. Mary’s will battle Jalen Williams and Santa Clara. Benjamin has scored 21 percent of the team’s points this season and is averaging 16 over his last five games. Williams is averaging 20.4 points over the last five games.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership could play a big role in this game’s outcome. Keshawn Justice, PJ Pipes and Josip Vrankic have combined to score 42 percent of Santa Clara’s points this season. For Mount St. Mary’s, Malik Jefferson, Nana Opoku, Mezie Offurum and Deandre Thomas have collectively accounted for 53 percent of all Mount St. Mary’s scoring, including 72 percent of the team’s points over its last five games.
KEY CONTRIBUTOR: Williams has either made or assisted on 47 percent of all Santa Clara field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has accounted for 24 field goals and 11 assists in those games.
WINLESS WHEN: Mount St. Mary’s is 0-6 when scoring fewer than 60 points and 3-0 when scoring at least 60.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Mountaineers have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Broncos. Santa Clara has an assist on 43 of 75 field goals (57.3 percent) across its previous three matchups while Mount St. Mary’s has assists on 31 of 54 field goals (57.4 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Santa Clara is ranked second among WCC teams with an average of 77.9 points per game.
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