Pilots @ LMU Thursday January 26

I doubt any of us can forget the beat-down the Lions gave UP in its 92-72 win in Portland in the first game of the WCC season in late December.  LMU was lights out from behind the arc, hitting 15-30 while four Lions scored in double figures, led by Aherns with 18.

Although we may not have known it at the time, LMU is legit, as proven by its win over GU in Spokane, and the team has moved up to #88 in the NET, just behind SCU, GU, and SMC.

Mike Meadows scored a career high 29 points in that December game against LMU but is now limited in his minutes due to injury, but UP should have Moses Wood back in the lineup after missing that game.

Portland is #163 in the NET (ahead of PU, USD, and UOP), but is not expected to lose by more than 5-8 points tonight.

Gonzaga, UP's opponent on Saturday, is home resting and eating pizza tonight, so does Legs rest his guys if tonight's game gets out of hand, or do the Pilots take LMU down to the wire with the outcome in doubt until the final minutes? We can only hope!

Don't look now, but a Pilots win tonight would pull them into a tie for 4th in the WCC standings (with LMU and BYU).

I love it when Chika gets rolling!!

Dean Murdoch wrote:Don't look now, but a Pilots win tonight would pull them into a tie for 4th in the WCC standings (with LMU and BYU).

Currently in a 3-way tie for 7th place, with GU next. Pilots are going to have to win some road games (USD, PU, USF and UOP). After GU the home games are UOP, SMC and SCU, all currently ahead of UP in the standings.

I did not watch the game.

Does anyone who did have some insights or comments  

I saw the Pilots were up early and down by only 3 at the half...

Was the team lacking fire and looking forward to GU?

Never got it going from three which is a death sentence for this particular Pilots squad. Sjolund missed 3 early triples, maybe just in the first couple of minutes, and I don't think he tried another one the entire game.

As per Kenpom, this is the poorest defensive team Coach Legans has had in his six years as a HC. This year's Pilots are now ranked 274 in the nation (and last in the WCC) in defensive efficiency, which on the surface is surprising given the amount of returners to this year's group and this coaching staff's history of putting together teams capable of defending near the D1 average.

Honestly, LMU seemed to come out a bit lethargic, which allowed the Pilots to jump out to a decent early lead. Then there was a timeout around the 8-minute mark where LMUs coach must have jumped on his guys a bit - they came out of this timeout with noticeably more energy, especially on the defensive end where they begun to clamp down the Pilots and that was about all she wrote. All in all, another frustrating performance from the boys in purple.

Kristian seems to be a microcosm of the team as a whole. Capable of great things but frustratingly inconsistent. Games full of greatness and games wondering why nobody showed up.