Santa Clara University’s men’s basketball team will face its first road challenge of the season against Xavier University at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati on Monday, November 10. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on FS1.
Xavier enters the game with a 2-0 record under new head coach Richard Pitino, having secured victories over Marist and Le Moyne. Senior guard Malik Messina-Moore leads Xavier with an average of 16.5 points per game.
This will be only the third meeting between Santa Clara and Xavier, both previous games also taking place in Cincinnati. Xavier won their first encounter in 1949, while Santa Clara claimed victory in their most recent meeting in 1963.
Santa Clara comes into this contest following a win over McNeese State, where they dominated the boards with a 47-28 rebounding advantage, including 25 offensive rebounds. Elijah Mahi and Sash Gavalyugov each scored 19 points for Santa Clara, while Christian Hammond added 12 points and Jake Ensminger contributed 11.
Elijah Mahi has averaged 16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists through two games so far this season. Sash Gavalyugov provided a key spark off the bench against McNeese State by scoring seven unanswered points to give Santa Clara its first lead of the night and finished with five three-pointers for a career-high total of 19 points.
After two games, Gavalyugov is averaging 13.5 points per game on nearly 44 percent shooting from the field.
Santa Clara currently leads the West Coast Conference (WCC) in offensive rebounds per game (19.5) and ranks third overall in total rebounds (47). Their rebound margin stands as fourth-best in the conference.
The Broncos have continued their focus on three-point shooting after setting school and WCC records last season for made threes. Through two games this year, they rank among national leaders with an average of over eleven made threes per game.
Christian Hammond has returned from redshirting last season to post strong performances—tying his career high with thirteen points against Cal Poly Humboldt and recording double-digit scoring along with eight rebounds versus McNeese State.
Jake Ensminger has contributed across multiple categories, starting his season by scoring twelve and eleven points in consecutive games while adding rebounds, assists, and steals to his stat line.
Redshirt freshman Allen Graves stepped into the starting lineup against McNeese State due to injury to Bukky Oboye and responded by grabbing thirteen rebounds—including seven offensive—in just his second collegiate appearance.
