Santa Clara @ Portland, Feb. 29th

A strong Bronco team comes to Chiles Thursday evening.  Game time is 6:00pm, meaning those traveling from the south fight rush hour traffic to get there in time for the pre-game Pilot Club meal.

SCU is 18-11, and 9-5 in WCC play.  They are led in scoring by 6'7" guard Adama Bal (wasn't he on BSG?), who scored 15 the last game against UP.  And they are big, starting 6'9", 6'10" and 7'0" players.  Their two starting bigs O'Neil and Tilly combined for 34 against GU last Saturday.  And they bring 7'1" Argentinian Franciso Caffaro off the bench.  I'll bet he can't wait for Juanse to switch onto him.  As a team they tend to play inside more than some, taking 39% of their shots from 3P range and making about 36% of them.  On the other hand, their 6'10" F O'Neil takes the most 3P shots for them.  Watch to see if they attack that obvious Pilot defensive weakness.  And they rebound the offensive board well, so hopefully the Pilots will have all their bigs available.

This game is an opportunity game.  A win would be a major step away from the poor results of this season.  T-Rob had 34 last game at SCU, but the Pilots need to have several players step up, hit 3s, rebound well, and play better defense.

I still recall how SCU stiffed us by refusing to play a game a few years ago, and also the very disrespectful attitude they showed after winning at Chiles the next year.  They have mostly different players now, but the same coach in Randy Bennett mini-me Herb Sendek.  Go Pilots.

I think a win tonight at least sets up a UP/LMU showdown for 7th place? Playing for something still, at least.

No Harris, no Yuto by the looks of it?

Both are injured still.

They can never just make it easy.... great win Pilots!!

And the following still applies, whether my heart likes it or not.

Post-game radio with Coach Legans and Bol: https://vocaroo.com/1fPW8uyyotZX

Dean Murdoch wrote:I think a win tonight at least sets up a UP/LMU showdown for 7th place? Playing for something still, at least.

Confirmed.  Saturday is for 7th place.  And it is Senior Night.  Hope the guys have something left in their tanks.  Tyler played 45 minutes, Bol played 44 minutes, and Juanse played 40 minutes.

I can’t believe we won that game. We tried really hard to give it away in regulation, but couldn’t quite finish the job. What a roller coaster.

up7587 wrote:This game is an opportunity game.  A win would be a major step away from the poor results of this season.  T-Rob had 34 last game at SCU, but the Pilots need to have several players step up, hit 3s, rebound well, and play better defense.

Pre-game, Coach Legans said the keys were rebounds and defense.  The Pilots did both.  They were very active on defense, doubling down in the low post.  In January, 7 footer Tilly was 10-12 with 22 points.  He was 1-4, scored 2 points and got 3 rebounds.  7 footer sub Caffaro was 2-2 (once when Juanse was switched on him), and scored 4 points with 0 rebounds.  Amazing.  

The Pilots also got onto the 3P shooters fairly well.  Adama Bal got on a hot streak in the 2nd half to get them back into the game.  But otherwise the Pilots did well keeping a hand in their face.  The Pilots did not shoot great from 3P, but made some key 3s when it helped stall SCU's momentum.  And while they were adequate from the FT line at 15-22 (68%) with a missed front end 1&1, the 9 more FTs scored than SCU was a critical difference in the game.  T-Rob's 32 points were also critical, as the Pilots continually isolated him and SCU could not double team and force him to give up the ball.

Dean Murdoch wrote:They can never just make it easy....

In the last two minutes of regulation, Masic missed a dunk, Robertson missed a layup, and Gorosito missed the first of a 1&1 FT opportunity. No points.
In the last two minutes of overtime, Austin made a layup and the FT, Masic made a 3P, Gorosito made 1 of 2 FTs, and Masic made 1 of 2 FTs. Eight points.

There has been some sniping at the coaching staff this season, and no doubt not without cause, but last evening the SCU staff and the well known Herb Sendek succumbed to a much better game plan by the Pilots staff and Shantay Legans.

The Broncos had much more talent and ability on the floor and could substitute freely (outscoring UP 27-3 off the bench), but SCU was often stymied by UP's defensive schemes, and the Pilots' ability to move the ball on offense against SCU's part-time defense certainly made a difference in the first 30 minutes of the game and in OT.

There are always cries on the part of the losing team about the refereeing, but last night's crew was experienced and controlled the game while allowing the players to play while seeming to overlook fouls by both teams.

I have been a season ticket holder for several years.
The "Pilot 7" played one of the best games ever!.
Glory to them and to Coach Leggins for masterminding a game plan that worked.
We may lose Gorosito, Bol, and Tyler Robrtson, either NIL to another school or graduation.
I don't know what the future holds, but for one glorious night they did it!!!

SCU beat USF 69-62, with C. Tilly scoring 16.