Portland @ San Fransisco 1/29 7PM

Note the Wednesday Night game. Usually WCC games are on Thursday/Saturday, but Wednesday Night game here.

Game is broadcast on the W tv, which I have enjoyed this season, just a personal note.

Does anyone know why this game is being played on Wednesday night?  That is another day that the team will miss class... on top of the already disproportionate number of days our guys will miss compared to other teams...  

Reminder: All away games have watch parties at the Buffalo Wild Wings at Lloyd Center.  I dont think I can make it tomorrow night, but Saturday night is looking good...

Unfortunately Wednesday night is the PN bowling night, so I won't be making it out to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Hopefully Wtv will have a replay to watch.

PilotNut wrote:Does anyone know why this game is being played on Wednesday night?  That is another day that the team will miss class... on top of the already disproportionate number of days our guys will miss compared to other teams...  

I was told the game was changed from Thursday to Wednesday "for TV."   Hmm, do you suppose the Wtv is also now dictating the already ridiculous schedule?

You're correct, Nut, the basketball schedule this year is by far the worst ever in terms of missed class for the UP student/athletes.  

UP also plays next Wednesday in Spokane, but too late to make it back for classes on Thursday....

Do you suppose someone in the WCC HQ is waging a personal vendetta on AD Leykam from his days there? Doubtful, but it would sure seem so!!

PilotNut wrote:Does anyone know why this game is being played on Wednesday night?  That is another day that the team will miss class... on top of the already disproportionate number of days our guys will miss compared to other teams...  

Scott Leykam has pointed this out to the conference office as well. He told me they're missing almost half of the first 30 days of the semester because of the schedule.

Oh, wait....I may have figured out the TV angle.  The game has been moved to Wednesday so the GU @ SCU game can be on TV (Root and CSBy) and GU is UP's travel partner....

Las Vegas opening odds:

USF by 2.5 over UP.....I like those odds!!

GU by SCU by 11.5

Rev addressed the Wednesday game on the radio last night. He said the GU-SCU game was scheduled for Wednesday, and for fairness, to allow UP the extra day to prepare for SCU (and USF the extra day to prepare for GU), the two schools agreed to move their game to Wednesday as well.

USF is alone in 3rd place in the WCC with a record of 6-3, and obviously they are doing just fine without Cody Doolin….they are not scoring at the same rate, but the ball is going in the hoop a higher percentage of the time.

USF is shooting 45.4 percent from the field in conference games, despite a 25.5 percent (14-for-55) effort at Gonzaga. Mark Tollefsen (57.3) and Cole Dickerson (52.6) rank sixth and 10th respectively in WCC field goal percentage.

The Dons made just 4-of-18 of their three-point tries in their win over Santa Clara after shooting at a 42.2 percent (38-for-90) clip in over the previous six games.

USF made 23-of-28 of its free throw tries Saturday vs. Santa Clara and have made 73.9 percent (105-of-142) of their free throws over the last six games.

USF has outrebounded each of its last four opponents and rank sixth among WCC teams in rebound average at 35.3. Opponents are averaging 31.7 boards a game, the second-lowest average in the conference.  USF is averaging 12.1 offensive rebounds a game, third-best in the WCC.

But the big stat is USF beat UP 87-81 in OT in Portland on Dec. 28th after a miraculous buzzer-beater in regulation.  Most fans, in retrospect, thought UP should have fouled to prevent the three.

DoubleDipper wrote:But the big stat is USF beat UP 87-81 in OT in Portland on Dec. 28th after a miraculous buzzer-beater in regulation.  Most fans, in retrospect, thought UP should have fouled to prevent the three.

Hmmm, I just had a thought - was there similar "should have fouled" reaction from the BYU faithful after Sharp's triple late in double OT?

DeanMurdoch wrote:Hmmm, I just had a thought - was there similar "should have fouled" reaction from the BYU faithful after Sharp's triple late in double OT?

Ha-ha, many of us think he WAS fouled (in the act of shooting).  I think he came off the screen so quickly that BYU really never had a chance to get to him BEFORE he heaved it up.

Mark Tollefsen killed us in the first game going 9-11 and 3-3 from the foul line. As a team they were 27-39 in 2 point shooting (69%). Even with this the Pilots still should have won. This would be a good win and an excellent start to the 2nd half.

USF only losses in the first half were Gonzaga and SMC on the road and BYU at home.

USF 78, Portland 74 is kenpom.com's prediction. 37% chance of a Pilots win.

With the way this season has gone I don't think it'll possible to be surprised at any outcome. Let's hope they can get one back tonight after letting it slip away at the Chiles last month.

Does Pomeroy factor-in this statistic?

All of UP's WCC wins (4) have come on Thursday night!  

.....and obviously Thursday falls on a Wednesday this week..... 

So... 4-5 was the record for the "easy" half of the conference schedule. Now we're on to the more challenging second half, with 7 of 9 games on the road, including at Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary's.

Not off to a good start with tonight's anemic performance against USF. We had a few chances to make a game of it in the second half, but squandered the opportunity each time by letting the Dons get numerous offensive rebounds, committing turnovers, and missing free throws and -- yet again -- several layups.

I predict that our final conference record will be 7-11.

DoubleDipper wrote:Does Pomeroy factor-in this statistic?

All of UP's WCC wins (4) have come on Thursday night!  

.....and obviously Thursday falls on a Wednesday this week..... 

I guess Wednesdays don't work.

NoPoNeighbor wrote:I predict that our final conference record will be 7-11.

This team can win, or lose, to any team in the WCC on any given night. An enigma wrapped in a shroud of mystery, if you will.

I think they'll beat Santa Clara on Saturday and finish as an eight-win team.

Where this team ends up at the end of the season is anyone's guess. If one month ago today you would have told me that we would have wins over Pacific (who at the time looked like a really solid team), Gonzaga and BYU, I'd be stoked. But the losses have really taken away from that.

There has been a lot of talk of the depth and parity in the WCC this year and I think that it's a good point. With the new format for the WCC tournament, combined with the quality of teams, I really believe that odds of the field (basically not Gonzaga, BYU, or Saint Mary's) are better this year than they have been since the tournament moved to a neutral site. I know this is projection, but I really think we could see a team in the championship that we haven't seen in that game in a long time. It should be fun.

After watching the GU @ SCU game last evening....Sam Dower sank a 3-pointer with less than 2 seconds left to win it for GU....I have to agree it could be a real shoot-out in Las Vegas.

As stated before, with the new format in Las Vegas, I doubt finishing among the bottom 4 in WCC play will hurt much....it might even help to get a game in on Thursday before taking Friday off.

And now USD absolutely pummels Saint Mary's.

What a wild season. Make that six losses now for "big three" schools to the "field", none of which were to seven-win USF.

It's anyone's guess from here on out.