Tough Night for WCC

Gonzaga lost 51-47 at home to Washington State, USF lost 84-57 at home to Pacific, LMU lost 77-52 at Long Beach State, and Pepperdine lost 68-57 at UCSB.

Thankfully San Diego beat San Jost St. 60-40 to prevent a clean sweep for the conference.

http://wccsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/west-m-baskbl-body.html

Anyway... figured I would post the WCC's overall results so far:

SMC 6-0
GON 7-2
SCU 5-2
USD 5-5
PEP 4-6
USF 3-5
POR 2-6
LMU 2-7

Makes me mad... if the Pilots could have picked up wins against Oregon State and Portland State (who, by the way, squeeked past Lewis & Clark 61-60 last night), they would be right there in the middle of the pack. Call me crazy, but I think that once the Pilots get Ito back and if the young guys can keep improving, Portland can be right there in the mix for those 3-5 spots in conference.

I agree, Stonehouse... I think once Ito comes back we have a legitmate chance to fight for a spot in the top half of the standings... seeds 3 - 8 are pretty wide open.

As a Willamette Bearcat, I'm now officially scared of L&C. Any D-III team that loses to any D-I team by a point is sufficient enough to be flat out ridiculous at D-III.

I could care less about TSIS (That School in Spokane), but the other losses are tough, particularly Pepperdine's loss to UCSB (a game they probably could have won). I think the Pilots will be shooting for 5th place, behind TSIS, SMC, SCU, and USD. I definitely think we're better than LMU, Pepperdine, and maybe even USF.

Lews & Clark put up a fight against the Pilots last year, if my memory serves me correct. I think what happened this pre-season all across the country proves that a small school can run with the big boys on any given night.

As for the WCC... I think Pepperdine might wreck some havoc in the conference. I don't necessarily believe that they are one of the best teams in the WCC, but I can see them giving teams fits, especially since a lot of teams are having down years or don't have a ton of depth. They started the season off terribly, but have been playing better lately... a loss by under 10 at UCSB isn't a poor showing at all - the Gauchos are a darn good team.

As for USF... things aren't looking to great for them. Dior Lowhorn is everything he was advertised to be (averaging 25+ points a game to lead the WCC), but their depth at guard just isn't there and their post play has been bad. (Of course, I've never seen them play... it's just going off of hear-say.) If they get Watkins back soon that will help, but in my mind there's no reason the Pilots couldn't beat that team.

LMU... about what I expected. They are really young and don't have a ton of talent. Things look good for them in two years, but not really now.

I suppose the same could be said for the Pilots, but I see a spark in this team... Sikma is legit, Ito and Raivio are solid, Watson has been a pretty steady contributer, and Smeulders - while erratic sometimes - has proven that he can score. And Stohl is gaining in confidence... I don't know, I just get the sense that this team can play and be competitive. Of course there are some issues (perimiter defense, matching up against big posts, turnovers) and our record is 2-6, but here's the way I look at it: last year heading into WCC play, I was scared that we would win only one or two games. This year, I am fairly confident that we can pick up six, maybe even seven wins.

Of course, how the Pilots fare over the next few games may alter that perspective!

The next few games will indeed be telling... 3 road games, @ Montana, @ UW and @ EWU. We should be able to win @ EWU, but the other 2 will be very tough... a good reality check on our progress.

We are 2-6, but we have played a tough schedule. UO & BYU are both ranked, @ Fresno St (who is now 5-3), SDSU (8-1 record, only loss @ Cal), and losses to OSU & PSU were without Ito (and I say we win at least 1 of the 2 with him, if not both)!

Liberty is now 5-4, and ISU is 2-6 (with losses @ Iowa, @ LBSU, @ BYU, @ Or. St., and Boise St; all decent teams).

All that being said, our 2-6 record isnt as bad as it sounds, and we might be 3-8 after the next 3 games. But if we can get some momentum with a win @ EWU and NCU (and Cascade College) at home... then @ Yale and @ Army are certainly winnable games heading into conference play. That would be 6-8 (Casc. College doesnt count)...

Our first 2 conference games are @ Pepp & @ LMU. I like our chances if we are on a bit of a roll w/ confidence at that point...