Santa Clara, Calif.-----Tim Pierce scored a career-high 23 points for San Jose State University, but Santa Clara University posted a 71-53 victory over the Spartans in a Rivalry Series men’s basketball contest.

The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward had his best shooting night of the non-conference season making 7-of-13 from the field including 5-of-9 from three-point range.

Menelik Barbary was the only other Spartan in double figure scoring with 10 points. He was the top San Jose State rebounder with seven.

“Tim shot the ball well tonight, but we didn’t knock down shots,” said San Jose State coach George Nessman about the Spartans who made just 25.5 percent of their field goal tries. “You have to make some perimeter jump shots and we didn’t make enough.

“They’re really good post defenders. They use their size really effectively. The biggest problem was we weren’t finishing shots around the basket. We got a lot of interior touches and not a lot of production. Whereas Santa Clara took advantage of their interior touches and got a lot of production, especially out of (Josh) Higgins.”

The 7-foot, 275 Higgins had a season-high 16 points making all eight of his field goal tries for Santa Clara which jumped out to an early double-digit advantage and never relinquished the lead. Sean Denison, a 6-foot-11 senior who is the Broncos’ leading scorer, scored 12 points and collected a game-high 13 rebounds.

Guard Danny Pariseau provided the outside punch to the Santa Clara attack with 15 points on 6-of-7 from the field and handed out eight assists. The Broncos (3-2) made 50 percent of their field goal tries.

“The highlight of our night was Kevin Buggs. He showed some floor generalship at the point, really was competing and created some plays for other guys,” added the San Jose State coach about the 6-foot freshman who dished out a season-high five assists in 25 minutes of action.

San Jose State (0-5) takes on Saint Mary’s College, Wednesday, November 29, at McKeon Pavilion. Game time is 7:05 p.m. (PST).

San Jose State (53)
Pierce 7-13 4-4 23; Holloway 1-3 0-0 2; Barbary 3-11 4-10 10; Hill 1-9 2-2 5; Goins 0-2 0-0 0; Richardson 0-1 0-0 0; Buggs 0-5 04-4 4; Thomas 1-2 3-4 5; Brown 0-5 4-4 4; Lee 0-0 0-0 0; Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-51 12-28 53.

Santa Clara (71)
Denison 6-14 0-2 12; Henke 2-6 0-0 4; Bryant 1-2 1-2 3; Angley 2-4 0-0 4; Pariseau 6-7 0-0 15; Higgins 8-8 0-0 16; Johnson 3-7 2-2 11; Rohe 0-2 0-0 0; Gnderson 0-2 2-2 2; Dougherty 1-6 0-0 2; Mbanugo 0-0 0-0 0; Latimer 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 30-60 5-10 71.

Halftime score – Santa Clara 35, San Jose State 22. Three-point field goals – San Jose State 6-23 (Pierce 5-9, Goins 0-1, Hill 1-6; Richardson 0-1, Buggs 0-3, Thomas 0-1, Brown 0-2), Santa Clara 6-18 (Henke 0-1, Angley 0-1, Pariseau 3-3, Johnson 3-6, Rohe 0-1, Gunderson 0-2, Dougherty 0-4). Rebounds – San Jose State 32 (Barbary 7), Santa Clara 40 (Denison 13). Assists – San Jose State 8 (Buggs 5), Santa Clara 20 (Angley 9). Total fouls – San Jose State 12, Santa Clara 18. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. Attendance – 1,575.