Cal Poly @ Pilots 12/13 @ 7pm

Cal Poly's is 3-6 on the season after beating PSU on Saturday night, and their RPI NET is 286, making them the 9th ranked team in the Big West out of 11 teams.

UP is now 7-3 on the season after losing to VMI 10 days ago and going through a week of final exams. UP's RPI NET is 227, making them the 8th ranked team in the WCC.

The oddsmakers generally rate UP as a 5-point favorite, but as most know, coming out of finals a beating their opponent has not always been easy for the Pilots.

This is expected to be a slow-paced game if dictated by the Mustangs, and the o/u is currently 131.

I was going to give you the business for using RPI but I see that Gonzaga is currently ranked 77, which makes me happy. I'll let it slide this time.

Kenpom - Portland #294, Cal Poly #299 (Pilots 66-62)
Barttorvik - Portland #234, Cal Poly #289 (Pilots 67-61)
Haslametrics - Portland #270, Cal Poly #302 (Pilots 67-61)

Difficult 10-day stretch coming up here for the Pilots. Hopefully the exam rust gets shaken off in a hurry.

Dean Murdoch wrote:I was going to give you the business for using RPI but I see that Gonzaga is currently ranked 77, which makes me happy. I'll let it slide this time.

Haha, in my haste to get something posted this morning, I wrote RPI....but the numbers I used for Cal Poly 286 and Portland 227 are their NET ratings!  Not RPI!

I only half deserve to be given the "business."  

Besides beating PSU, Cal Poly's only other D1 win is versus 1-5 Idaho on a neutral court, by 4 points. They beat Idaho by 3 points, and lost to N, Dakota St by 3, Sac St by 1, Nicholls St by3, and San Deigo by 1. Larger losses to SCU and Cal Baptist. I think it might be a close game.

They have 8 players getting significant minutes. Nobody averages more than 27 min/gm. As a team they shoot 30% from 3P. They are only 64% on FTs. Leading scorer at 13.3 ppg is a 6'8" PF from Sierra Leone, Alimamy Koroma. Another player to watch out for is 6'4" G Jacob Davison, who had 16 against PSU and is averaging 11.0 ppg after missing their first 3 games.

up7587 wrote:Another player to watch out for is 6'4" G Jacob Davison, who had 16 against PSU and is averaging 11.0 ppg after missing their first 3 games.

Davison, you might recall, was an All-Big Sky Conference player in his sophomore and junior years at EWU, but apparently lost his starting position to Mike Meadows last season and put up very average numbers in comparison to the year before.

A very good player, it would not surprise me to see him rise to another level against his former coaches and teammates now at UP.

I missed that. Davison played in 110 games at EWU over 4 seasons and started 68. Normally he'd be done, but he is using his free year. His shooting percentages are the worst of his career in every category. Maybe without Coach Legan's system he is not as successful. Let's hope so tonight.

https://watchstadium.com/live/cal-poly-at-portland/

"What a fun game" said Ann Schatz. Yes, but not for my heart.

Post-game radio with Coach Legans: https://vocaroo.com/1dUX0Um8Ntmx
Post-game radio with Kristian: https://vocaroo.com/1nnrSP9uB9un

[quote="Sound Voltex"]"What a fun game" said Ann Schatz. Yes, but not for my heart.]

Fun? I think not. That jump ball followed by a turnover and a Cal Poly bucket took 5 years off my life.

A frustrating game to watch for long periods of time, but the numbers look a little better than I thought they would. 

Sure can’t fault the battle level of this team. They play hard, they like each other, and it’s fun to watch.

Glad to get a W here. Go Pilots.

Well, we did beat them by the same margin that USD did, so there is that.

What a heartbreaking loss...FOR CAL POLY!!

Either the scouting report was faulty, or Cal Poly was just playing like never before, or UP's defense was not up to the task, but #2, Trevon Taylor, played light-out and scored 21-points more than his average, the Mustangs played much quicker than usual, and as a team scored 14 points more than their average while shooting over 50% from the field...10% better than usual.

Nice game, Kristian Sjolund.  First college start ever, 5-10 from 3-point range, a career high 20 points, zero turnovers, four rebounds, and just enough defense for the Pilots to win by 1 point, 78-77.

Fun game!  I brought a guest to his first ever Pilots game and assured him they were all like this.  

Yeah, Taylor, who's playing for his 3rd school and in his first year as a Mustang, maybe took a few games to get settled at Cal Poly. He looked nothing like his YTD stats. His best FT game to date was 4-4, tonight he was 10-10. Against PSU he was 3-5/2-2/2-2 for 10 points with 6 rebounds. Tonight, he was 8-11/1-3/10-10 for 27 points with 8 rebounds. The Pilots are fortunate he fouled out with 57 seconds to go. I don't like our chances if he was putting up the follow-up shot of Davison's miss at the buzzer.

DoubleDipper wrote:Fun game!  I brought a guest to his first ever Pilots game and assured him they were all like this.  

Seemed like a good guy. Introducing him to this mental agony may not be something he thanks you for.

Anyone else have flashbacks to the UNLV loss after that SLOB play in the final minute?

Dean Murdoch wrote:Anyone else have flashbacks to the UNLV loss after that SLOB play in the final minute?

Really glad I'm not the only one!

A solid, gritty win from the Pilots. My observations:
-Tyler Robertson is a stud.  Such a smart player and plays with a great "cadence," so to speak (as well as confidence).
-Sjolund had a great game in his start, building off of his minutes from the VMI game - let's hope that continues.
-Pilots showed a trapping full court press ("14" they called it) a couple of times to great success - forced a couple of turnovers.
-Man, would it be nice to get a few minutes from a reserve guard. I was hoping after the week+ off from games maybe Yaru Harvey would get some minutes/show something tonight. Alas, 0 minutes for Yaru and 38 and 39 minutes for T Rob and Meadows, respectively. Unfortunately seems Legs doesn't have much to trust on his bench at the guard position.

Dean Murdoch wrote:Anyone else have flashbacks to the UNLV loss after that SLOB play in the final minute?

Do you mean the OT loss in Las Vegas about 7 years ago?

Nope, I have forgotten that one!

Pilot14 wrote:-Pilots showed a trapping full court press ("14" they called it) a couple of times to great success - forced a couple of turnovers.

Yes, that is a new wrinkle in the Pilots defense that we will probably see more of in WCC play unless it completely backfires.

As most know, Legs is a great supporter of the women's basketball team, and no doubt watches their success at employing a 40-minute pressing defense. However, Coach Meek has the luxury of a long bench while Coach Legans' bench has become much shorter due to inexperience and Jack's season-ending injury.

I WAS SURPRISED NOT TO SEE THE PRESS EMPLOYED IN FIRST HALF AS OUR SHOOTING AND THEIR DEFENSE PUT US ON OUR HEELS FOR THE LAST MINUTES OF FIRST HALF. WE COULD NOT - MY PERCEPTION - GET BALL INSIDE AND ENDED UP WITH CLOCK RUNNING DOWN AND JACKING UP SOME ILL ADVISED 3’S. THANK GOD A FEW WENT IN BUT OUR SHHOTING PERCENTAGE DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY.

I WAS SURPRISED NOT TO SEE THE PRESS EMPLOYED IN FIRST HALF AS OUR SHOOTING AND THEIR DEFENSE PUT US ON OUR HEELS FOR THE LAST MINUTES OF FIRST HALF. WE COULD NOT - MY PERCEPTION - GET BALL INSIDE AND ENDED UP WITH CLOCK RUNNING DOWN AND JACKING UP SOME ILL ADVISED 3’S. THANK GOD A FEW WENT IN BUT OUR SHHOTING PERCENTAGE DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY.

Snus Junction wrote: CLOCK RUNNING DOWN AND JACKING UP SOME ILL ADVISED 3’S. THANK GOD A FEW WENT IN BUT OUR SHHOTING PERCENTAGE DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY.

Overall Shooting: 25-56 (44.6%)
3-Pt Shooting: 11-25 (44%)
FT Shooting: 17-19 (89.5%)

I will take those numbers most any day...

Free-throws sealed the deal for UP last night, and UP is now SECOND in the nation in FT percentage at 83.1% (Kent St. is #1 83.2% and VMI #3 at 82.1%).

DoubleDipper wrote:

Snus Junction wrote: CLOCK RUNNING DOWN AND JACKING UP SOME ILL ADVISED 3’S. THANK GOD A FEW WENT IN BUT OUR SHHOTING PERCENTAGE DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY.

Overall Shooting: 25-56 (44.6%)
3-Pt Shooting: 11-25 (44%)
FT Shooting: 17-19 (89.5%)

I will take those numbers most any day...

Free-throws sealed the deal for UP last night, and UP is now SECOND in the nation in FT percentage at 83.1% (Kent St. is #1 83.2% and VMI #3 at 82.1%).

Considering how many short shots in the paint they missed, think how much better they could be if they developed more touch. Shooting 50+% overall would be nice.

I was speaking about end of first half - things must have got better!
Also - on what streaming channel can i watch away games?