Southern Utah -- Sunday @ 1 PM

Las Vegas is betting the Pilots will beat the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds out of Cedar City Utah by 18 points……
 
But on Saturday night:
 
Cal Poly was favored, but was beaten by Pacific
Utah St. was favored, but was beaten by BYU
Santa Clara was favored, but lost to Rice
USF was favored, but lost to Illinois St.
 
Southern Utah’s 12 man roster shows 5 freshman and 2 seniors….but one of the freshmen, #4, Trey Kennedy, is from the same class at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas as Rashad Muhammad, the young man from San Jose St. who gave the Pilots fits last Wednesday.  And Kennedy too appears to be the engine that runs the team with his assists and shot making.
 
There are 351 D-1 basketball teams, and Pomeroy ranks SUU No. 345 (the Pilots are No. 144).  They are members of the Big Sky Conference and are 0-3 against D-1 opponents Utah St. (57-90), Cal (47-75), and UC Riverside (59-74).
 
SUU is a very good free-throw shooting team, (Kennedy is shooting almost 85%), so keeping them off the line could be important, and 6-11/250 senior center Jayson Cheesman is one of the best shot blockers in the country….so Thomas may have his work cut out for him.
 
Game time 1 PM PST @ the Chiles Center.

Oh, and SUU's head coach Nick Robinson, who took over last year, is a Stanford graduate.....
 
Apparently he is also the "eighth head men’s basketball coach in the school’s four-year history."
 
At least that's what his bio says....but a check of the public school's history shows there have been eight head coaches in 50 years....the school as been around since 1898 and it has been a university since 1991.

Pilots with a 96% chance of winning according to Pomeroy. Line's at Pilots -18. If the Pilots have been this heavily favoured to win a game over a D1 opponent in recent years, I certainly can't remember it.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Pilots with a 96% chance of winning according to Pomeroy. Line's at Pilots -18. If the Pilots have been this heavily favoured to win a game over a D1 opponent in recent years, I certainly can't remember it.

Um, no, I'd say this is by far the biggest margin the Pilots have been favoured by--and I don't like it!!  
 
As everyone dresses rather glamourous to come to Pilots games, just remember SUU's prominant school colour is red....remind your neighbour!
 
I blame Ben Franklin for dropping many of the "U's" from the proper English language.

DeanMurdoch wrote:Pilots with a 96% chance of winning according to Pomeroy. Line's at Pilots -18. If the Pilots have been this heavily favoured to win a game over a D1 opponent in recent years, I certainly can't remember it.

Well, there was the time the Pilots were favored by more than that over  Purdue And beat the spread, winning 110-66.

It wasn't that long ago. Love the Pilot wheel logo.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Well, there was the time the Pilots were favored by more than that over Purdue
And beat the spread, winning 110-66.

It wasn't that long ago. Love the Pilot wheel logo.

Ha-ha, you're stretching it, Geez, but I love it when you honour the "Wheel."

Chipotle!!!!

Nice team win today. Good assist to turnover ratio, especially Alec with 10 assists and ZERO turnovers. Love that from our PG.

This is my first year really being able to follow the Pilots and get to most of the home games after being out of town for a few.  

Another good win against a D1 opponent, but the thing that I came away most impressed with was on the ride home listening to the post game show on the radio.  I think it was Pressley that was being interviewed, and after talking about the game, he was actually asked about school.  He went on to talk about his major, and how he enjoys the small class sizes at UofP, and being able to get to know the professors.  I've listened to and watched a lot of college hoops, but not sure I've ever heard a player actually have the chance to talk about being a student athlete.  To me, it really made U of P look really good.  

Now, it's on to take down Tim Douglas and the Vikings.

jumpstop wrote:Another good win against a D1 opponent, but the thing that I came away most impressed with was on the ride home listening to the post game show on the radio.  I think it was Pressley that was being interviewed, and after talking about the game, he was actually asked about school.  He went on to talk about his major, and how he enjoys the small class sizes at UofP, and being able to get to know the professors.  I've listened to and watched a lot of college hoops, but not sure I've ever heard a player actually have the chance to talk about being a student athlete.  To me, it really made U of P look really good.  

Welcome, jumpstop!  Yes, it was Bryce, and YES it is great to hear the student-athletes talk about their classes and studies.  I think you'll find that Bill Johnson makes it a point to ask each player a little about school, home, family, etc. during the post-game interviews......it's a refreshing change from the usual, and as you say, it puts UP in a good light.  
 
The players are only interviewed on the radio after a WIN.....so it will be nice to see all 13 student-athletes get interviewed twice....

jumpstop wrote:

Now, it's on to take down Tim Douglas and the Vikings.

Alec will tower over him. Post up time. 

A pretty stress-free game to watch......and if you look at all the statistics you'll find it was even more lopsided than it appeared live.
 
Too many highlights to mention, but a couple that might have gone unnoticed by many were the great reactions from the Pilots' bench when John Bailey worked his butt off for a bucket, and when Tanner Riley hit back-to-back 3-pointers.   You've got to love the team chemistry and selflessness the guys are exhibiting this year.
 
My only criticism: not enough stops!!  Too many times the Pilots were just trading baskets in the second half instead of clamping down on defense.  UP might be able to get away with a few lapses in their offense during games, but against a stiffer opponent, they've got to play 40 minutes of intense defense or they’ll lose!!

DoubleDipper wrote:Um, no, I'd say this is by far the biggest margin the Pilots have been favoured by--and I don't like it!!

I kind of DID like it! Let's face it, the Pilots haven't been on that end of a lopsided projection too many times over the last few years. Nice for them to have a different challenge, and if all goes well they might even be heavy favourites in a WCC game or two this year.

DoubleDipper wrote:I blame Ben Franklin for dropping many of the "U's" from the proper English language.

Always happy to oblige. Hope you all enjoyed the win at the Chiles Centre today.

10 turnovers tonight according to the stats and I'm surprised it was even that high - I'd have guessed seven or eight.

I know the competition wasn't of the highest caliber today, but it's incredible how this team has not only upped the tempo from last year but also managed a drastic reduction in turnovers. Props to the coaching staff and the players for putting in the work.

DoubleDipper wrote:
I blame Ben Franklin for dropping many of the "U's" from the proper English language.

I think people obsesce over how words are spelt anyway. I'm a sceptic that there is a right way. What is proper in spelling  is always a bit of a grey area. And quarreling over wether it was Ben's fault is just crying over spilt milk.

jumpstop wrote:Now, it's on to take down Tim Douglas and the Vikings.

Tim D. is leading the Vikings in minutes played, points scored, shots made and shots attempted. He has 23 assists in 6 games, but also 18 turnovers. He is also the Viking's 2nd leading defensive rebounder.  

The Vikings are guard oriented, with 4 of their top 5 scorers being guards.