25-26 Around the WCC (and beyond)

League Play
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Getting this thread started for updates on conference foes, etc.

The most notable result from last night was Wazzu losing to Idaho. The Vandals have supposedly brought back more decent players that usual, but that’s a baaaad loss for Wazzu. There may have been something in the water up there because Boise State (preseason top 60) lost to a D2 squad.

SMC got a healthy win against a decent St. Thomas team. I watched about 40% of it. Saint Mary’s had more turnovers than I’ve ever seen a Bennett team give up. But that defense is still deadly, and they look much improved from behind the arc and cannot be left alone out there.

Oregon State almost fell to the NDSU Bison, a bit like SCU last season. But they pulled it out.

Oh, and Pepperdine barely pulled a win against Life University. Yikes.

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Funny part is Boise losing to a D2 squad is FAR less damaging. Doesn’t count for the NET, etc.

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Naive question here…. With the advent of multiple closed scrimmages, you would think that teams would be more polished coming into their first games, especially against weaker-on-paper opponents. So the SMC turnovers, and the OSU, Pepp, WSU and BSU poor showings either says they are deficient or severely deficient or is it that the scrimmages are just not true game settings (mixing line ups, trying new things, etc.) to be good prep for real action?

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The scrimmage rules aren’t actually different from prior seasons in terms of number. You still get max two scrimmages before the games start counting, for record purposes at least. What has changed is that the scrimmages used to be “secret” by rule. Now they allow for “charity exhibitions” where the scrimmages can be open and even televised if there is some sort of charitable cause behind them. That changed a couple of seasons ago but really exploded this year.

I think the variable that matters here is continuity, which has been destroyed by the transfer portal and unlimited transfers. SMC is likely just a result of having a young team and losing most of their starters. I don’t think they are as TO prone in 8 weeks as they are now. But Wazzu, OSU, Pepperdine, etc. are all dealing with very new teams each year (like SCU). Getting all of those players to work together crisply and efficiently is very hard with so much turnover.

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Makes sense. Every team is under the same paradigm of trying to be a “team.”

I couldn’t recall how long it’s been that these scrimmages were sanctioned. The years are running together as I get older (especially since there have been no NCAA appearance to mark the time. :-()

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I watched a bit of Xavier vs LeMoyne this evening. The Musketeers had a tough time hanging on against a scrappy LeMoyne team. Xavier seems to have brutal droughts on offense that allowed LeMoyne to stay close and have a shot to win all the way to the final 2 minutes or so.

Point being, Xavier is plenty vulnerable at this point in the season. Hopefully, SCU can get some momentum tomorrow to bring to Ohio.

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I just tuned into Wazzu at Davidson. Wow. Wazzu looks baaad. Kudos to them for going to Davidson but only 24 points in the first half and down 16. They’re looking like the 11th place team in the WCC at this rate.

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Between graduation and transfers, Wazzu lost a ton of talent. They’d look a lot different if Lejuan Watts (Texas Tech w/ Tyree), Nate Calmese (Wake Forest) and Isaiah Watts (Maryland) had returned.

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Some interesting WCC games today:

  • USF @ Memphis at noon (ESPN+)
  • Pacific @ Nevada
  • Oklahoma @ GU (Spokane arena, not on campus), 7:30 on ESPN2

Last night: SMC cruised vs. Chattanooga without Wessles who’s out w/ an injury not sure how serious. Mikey Lewis had a big game: 28pts, 5 assists, 4/6 from 3, 10/10 FT’s. Marauskas w/ 22 and 8.

Oregon St. squeaked by UIC by 3. Everyone else lost: Pepp to UCLA, WSU to Davidson, USD to Idaho St.

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USD is going to be lousy again this year, I suppose. How much more rope does Lavin happen?

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USF getting embarrassed in Memphis, down 48-25 with 17 minutes left in the game.

Dons go on a massive run and are only down 8 with 11 minutes left in the game.

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The Dons are making it respectable, but it’s likely too little too late.

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A few notable results in recent days:

  • Idaho State beats USD, 71-68 – It’s possible or even likely that the Idaho teams (sans Boise) are much better this season than they have been historically. But a bunch of folks were predicting/hoping for a Lavin turnaround season at USD, and it’s not off to a great start.
  • Saint Mary’s dominates Chattanooga, 87-66 – SMC is still SMC. Bennett is still Bennett.
  • Nevada escapes Pacific at the buzzer 78-77 – The Tigers had two tip-ins at the buzzer to win this one, and neither went in their favor. But the more interesting aspect is that the game was so close in Reno. Pacific is likely improved under Dave Smart, and Nevada is not as good as last year. Don’t expect for Pacific to be as easy of an opponent; and be very, very dismayed if SCU gets boat-raced by this Wolf Pack team like last year.
  • Cal Poly hits a buzzer beater to beat Seattle, 73-71 – Seattle should have had this one, but Cal Poly hit a buzzer beater three to beat the Redhawks. Cal Poly may be better under their new coach, but this is a bad loss for Seattle.
  • Portland wins a close one against UC Davis, 67-63 – There are only 6 undefeated teams left in the WCC: Gonzaga, SMC, Santa Clara, Oregon State, LMU, and…Portland. And the Pilots are the only team in that group with a win in a game in which they were the underdog. Portland still looks like a bottom-3 team in the WCC. But nice to see them get a hard-fought win where several WCC teams are looking dysfunctional (looking at you, Washington State).
  • Bonus Game: North Texas edges Loyola-Chicago, 64-62 – Two late OOC opponents for SCU squared off in a game that was close throughout. LUC starts 1-2 with a brutal loss to Mercyhurst. Hopefully, they turn it around. Santa Clara will want both to be highly respected mid-major teams when they come to Santa Cruz.

Overall, it’s only the very beginning of the season. But the WCC seems down, if not from Gonzaga to the bottom, then at least from the high-middle to the bottom. Oregon State is technically undefeated but looks primed for a bad loss; too early to tell whether the USF in the first half against Memphis or the second-half USF is more representative; Wazzu seems hell-bent on exploding Riley’s wunderkind reputation.

We will learn a lot tonight as to which side of the “disappointing” line Santa Clara sits on.

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The WCC served up a perfect night last night, going 5-0 with at least one miraculous comeback.

The most compelling game by far was Oregon State narrowly escaping future-SCU opponent North Texas by a score of 66-64. If you get a spare few minutes in front of your tv or computer today, absolutely go watch the last 5 minutes of that game. At the 5-min mark, UNT has a 10-point lead and, per ESPN, a 90%+ chance of winning. Two minutes later, UNT still has a 7-point lead and a similar likelihood of victory (64-57). Then UNT fails to score for the final three minutes. In the final 20 seconds, this sequence happens:

  • OSU foul to force 1-1 with UNT winning 64-62 →
  • UNT misses the front end, OSU rebound →
  • OSU misses a layup on the other end and is forced to foul →
  • UNT misses another front end of a 1-1 →
  • UNT fouls OSU with three seconds left →
  • OSU makes both free throws to tie the game →
  • UNT player gets the baseline inbound and immediately calls timeout upon crossing half-court even though UNT has no timeouts →
  • OSU makes both technical free throws → UNT misses a hail mary heave from three, game over.

It was truly one of the greatest collapses I have ever seen in sports. If you believe that Gil Colosseum has some weird voodoo around it, here’s more evidence.

Pacific also had to mount a much less impressive or dramatic comeback against Long Beach, winning 69-66 at home despite being down as much as 11 points in the middle of the game.

USD barely hung on against Idaho, winning 78-74. Juanse Gorosito, the former Portland Pilot, got 22 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals.

The less dramatic games were a blowout by Seattle of Eastern Washington, 94-67. And a less comfortable-than-desired but never particularly doubtful victory by USF over Portland State on the Hilltop by a score of 80-70. This Dons team has some real vulnerabilities, especially in their front court. Beasley did well with 23 points with wings Riley, IV and Cook both pitching in effectively. That was enough to keep Portland State at bay.

A bonus game for Santa Clara was Nevada getting by the Salukis of Southern Illinois, 86-81 in OT. The best outcome for SCU is that Nevada comes into Leavey undefeated but maybe a little tired or bruised from a hard-fought overtime tilt. UNR is a very poor 3P shooting team so far this season, very unlike last year. But they are a good rebounding squad and stayed afloat with 18 offensive rebounds against Southern IL. So the next game will be a good test for Graves, and hopefully he can get some good help from Hammond, Darlan, and the other guards/wings with a nose for the ball because it’s the thing that will keep the Wolf Pack in the game.

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Looks like Nevada relied heavily on just the starting 5 players. Of their 86 points, 80 of them were by the starters, collectively playing 165 minutes. They also collected 34 rebounds and generated 16 assists. The other 5 who played the remaining 60 player-minutes scored 6 points, with 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Playing on the road, after 3 home games, on just 2 days rest, versus a Broncos squad on 4 days rest (albeit traveling back from Cincinnati), that spreads the minutes nicely across 10 productive guys, does not bode well for Nevada.

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Also, it’s way too early to draw big conclusions but interesting to track: the WCC is the sixth highest rated conference on Torvik and is closer to the Big East (no. 5) than the Mountain West (no. 7).

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