2015-16 Other Games

Would that be the same Pacific team that only scored 43 points and lost by 11 at USD two days ago? Crazy!

WCC is impossible to figure out.  SCU's Jared Brownridge scored 23, and then 38 lead them to two wins over the Pilots.  Tonight, against USF, he has 1 point at halftime, and SCU went from up 29-21 to down 33-45.

Update: SCU comes back in the 2nd half, and USF chokes a last minute 6 point lead to go into overtime.  USF hangs on in OT for a 3 point win.

After watching GU edge PU by 3 points tonight,  I'm convinced Sabonis is the best player in the WCC.

 Quick, smart, skilled, and the ultimate teammate, he's a joy to watch (I probably won't say that on Thursday), and should be in the NBA next year.

Yeah. I fear what Sabonis will do to our interior guys Thursday.

Waves gave the Zags all they wanted. But GU shot 91% on FTs (21 of 23), while PU shot 65% (11 of 17). GU was only 4 of 19 from 3P, and PU squandered a chance with their mediocre FT shooting.

"GU was only 4 of 19 from 3P"

Oh well, in other conference games Thursday:
- BYU blitzed USF 114-89,
- Pepperdine beat SMC 69-63
- SCU beats USD 74-71
- LMU beat UOP 77-72 in Stockton (not good for UP)

This all leaves UP in the #7 seed. Pilots are one game up on LMU, and a half game behind SCU. But they hold the tie-breaker with LMU, and SCU holds it against UP.

Most favorable outcomes Saturday when Pilots are idle would be a BYU win at SCU, and SMC beating LMU. A Pacific win over Pepperdine (SMC hangover?) might be nice, but the Pilots (5-9) have little (i.e. zero) chance of catching PU (8-6) with only 4 games remaining. Pilots might catch USF (6-7), and any loss for Rex is a good thing, so a USD (3-10) win would help, even though the Pilots need to stay ahead of them.

Looking at the rest of the season, I can come up with a best realistic case for UP to finish 6th place, ahead of SCU, LMU and USD, and right behind USF. SCU plays BYU, then three on the road (LMU, PU, SMC) and finishes with UOP. Need them to lose 4 of those at least. LMU plays four at home (SMC, SCU, USF, PU). Need them to lose two at least. And Pilots have to win two of the last four (SMC, UOP, @BYU, @USD). It's possible.

2/13 Results:
BYU continues their high-scoring ways, and beats SCU 96-62.
USD scores 17 first half points, and loses to USF 68-51.
Pepperdine escapes with an OT win at UOP 65-63.
And in the final conference game of the night, SMC had a 20 point lead on LMU (without Jacko) and hung on to win 68-62.

These results leave the Pilots in a 3-way tie for 6th place with SCU and UOP, and still the #7 seed position for the tournament. Next up, St. Mary's.

Just watched Wiltjer miss 3 open shots on one possession against SMU.

up7587 wrote:Just watched Wiltjer miss 3 open shots on one possession against SMU.  

While Sabonis strengthened his position to be a NBA lottery pick tonight, Wiltjer played as so many have said he would if he were to go to the NBA.

GU generally counts on Wiltjer to carry them offensively (IMO he's weak defensively), but tonight he shot 2/17 (including 0/8 from behind the arc) and scored a total of 4 points as the Zags fell to SMU in Dallas.

GU also counts on Sabonis at both ends of the court, and he did not disappoint, scoring 20 while pulling down 16 rebounds.  

I don't know if Wlitjer will end up on an NBA team, but if he does, I hope he doesn't end up like Adam Morrison.

On the other hand, I would imagine nine of the WCC teams would love to see Sabonis begin a successful career in the NBA next year.....

up7587 wrote:These results leave the Pilots in a 3-way tie for 6th place with SCU and UOP, and still the #7 seed position for the tournament.  Next up, St. Mary's.

1. GU  12-2
2. SMC 11-3
3. BYU 10-4
4. PU  9-6
5. USF 7-7
6. (T) UOP 5-9
6. (T) UP  5-9
6. (T) SCU 5-9
9. LMU 4-11
10. USD 3-11

GU beat UOP easily, 90-68.
BYU edged @USD, 69-67.
@Pepperdine lost to USF, 82-72.
SCU won @LMU, 76-72.

Other than GU-UOP, all the results are surprising to me. USD's offense has been horrible, and I am surprised they gave BYU a game. Pepperdine had been great at home. After two road wins including in Moraga, they lost again to make three straight home losses. I thought LMU would win at home against SCU. And of course the Pilots gave SMC all they could handle.

This doesn't change the conference race too much. I still think UP can get 6th seed, but the margin for error is gone with SCU's win. They now need to lose to UOP at home for the Pilots to stay ahead of them. But heck, a #7 seed and a rematch against SMC feels better now than it did earlier.

Current standings:
1. Gonzaga 13-2 (21-6)
2. Saint Mary's 12-3 (21-4)
3. BYU 11-4 (20-
4. Pepperdine 9-7 (16-11)
5. San Francisco 8-7 (15-11)
6. Santa Clara 6-9 (10-17)
7. Portland 5-10 (11-17)
7. Pacific 5-10 (7-18)
9. Loyola 4-12 (11-16)
10. San Diego 3-12 (8-18)

That BYU game at USD was just plain ugly, but UP knows USD makes teams play very, very ugly.....their ugly win at UP in January was probably the low point of the season for the Pilots.

But UP bounced back to beat BYU two nights later!!!

Pilots travel to USD for the final game of the season after playing in Provo next Thursday.....it could be another of those "must win" games.

On Thursday BYU beats USD by 2 on the road.
On Saturday BYU beats USD by 58(!!) at home.

That's quite the home court advantage they've got in Provo. Let's see what our Pilots can do down there on Thursday night.

Pepperdine was favored by 5 at LMU this afternoon, and lost in OT 90-83. Not a strong finish for the Waves. After beating SMC, they have a narrow OT win at UOP, and lost two of three against USF, SCU and LMU, all below them in the standings. With Davis and Murray, they should be a better team.

SCU beats UOP tonight 69-65, which I think locked up the #6 seed for them no matter what UP did.

GU held off a big GU comeback to win 71-68. Locks BYU in to #3, GU waits for the SMC-USF result to decide #1/#2.