2020 WCC Tournament

If the seeding holds, it should be #1 GU vs. #2 BYU on Tuesday March 10th at 6pm on ESPN.  As most will remember, last year #1 GU lost the championship game to #2 SMC, 60-47.

All games will be streamed on the WCC Network

Thursday March 5: (both games on ROOT Northwest)
#8 LMU vs. #9 USD at 6
#10 UP vs. #8 SCU at 8:30

Friday March 6: (both games on ROOT Northwest)
#5 USF vs. USD or LMU at 6
#6 PU vs SCU or UP at 8:30

Saturday March 7 (both games on ESPN2)
#4 UOP vs. USF or USD or LMU at 7
#3 SMC vs PU or SCU or UP at 9:30

Monday March 9
#1 GU vs. UOP or USF or USD or LMU at 6 on ESPN
#2 BYU vs. SMC or PU or SCU or UP at 8:30 on ESPN2

Tuesday March 10
Final at 6 on ESPN

DoubleDipper wrote:If the seeding holds, it should be #1 GU vs. #2 BYU on Tuesday March 10th at 6pm on ESPN.  As most will remember, last year #1 GU lost the championship game to #2 SMC, 60-47.

All games will be streamed on the WCC Network

Thursday March 5: (both games on ROOT Northwest)
#8 LMU vs. #9 USD at 6
#10 UP vs. #8#7 SCU at 8:30

Friday March 6: (both games on ROOT Northwest)
#5 USF vs. USD or LMU at 6
#6 PU vs SCU or UP at 8:30

Saturday March 7 (both games on ESPN2)
#4 UOP vs. USF or USD or LMU at 7
#3 SMC vs PU or SCU or UP at 9:30

Monday March 9
#1 GU vs. UOP or USF or USD or LMU at 6 on ESPN
#2 BYU vs. SMC or PU or SCU or UP at 8:30 on ESPN2

Tuesday March 10
Final at 6 on ESPN

FYP.  Thanks for the summary.

Unlike the UP women's team, the men were shutout from postseason honors. UP is the only school that had none of its athletes recognized by the WCC coaches...

If it's true that UP brought in one of the best recruiting classes a couple of years ago, then:

1. The players weren't developed by the coaches once they arrived at UP, or
2. The best players have already left the team, or
3. UP players are not very good compared to the rest of the WCC, or
4. It's a combination of all of the above.

https://wccsports.com/news/2020/3/3/wcc-announces-2019-20-mens-basketball-all-conference-team-mbb.aspx

I totally agree with the selection of Damon Stoudamire as Coach of the Year...nice to know an ex-Blazer can coach at the college level!

DoubleDipper wrote:

I totally agree with the selection of Damon Stoudamire as Coach of the Year...nice to know an ex-Blazer can coach at the college level!

At least two.

Juwan Howard is 12-6 with the Wolverines this year, including a win over Gonzaga.

I feel sorry for the staff person who has to write up the pre-game notes for the UP web site:

portlandpilots.com wrote: Portland's nine wins have eclipsed last season's total of seven, while the 76-65 victory over San Francisco on Jan. 4 snapped a 23-game WCC regular season losing streak.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2020/3/4/mens-basketball-portland-gets-rematch-with-santa-clara-to-open-wcc-tournament.aspx

Santa Clara (19-12/6-10) beat Portland (9-22/1-15) 85-61 in the Chiles Center on February 1st and again at the Leavey Center, 73-68, last Saturday.

KenPom ranks SCU at #154 and UP at #280

KenPom favors SCU by 8, and Las Vegas favors the Broncos by 7 points with a 142 o/u.

Jaden Bediako, Josip Vrankic and Trey Wertz of Santa Clara men's basketball earned All-West Coast Conference accolades...zero Pilots earned postseason accolades.

Vrankic, the team's leading scorer at 12.4 points per game, was voted to the second team, Wertz, who averages 12.4 ppg and shoots 49 percent from the floor, earned honorable mention recognition, and Bediako, who has averaged 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in his 15 starts, was an all-freshman choice.

The lone player on the roster who has suited up for the Broncos last three seasons, Vrankic leads the team in rebounding at 5.6 per game and is second in steals with 39.

Vrankic (ankle) and Wertz (concussion protocol) have missed the last two games due to injury, including last Saturday's game against UP.  It's unknown whether they'll play tomorrow.

And when those guys can't play, they get 25 points from DJ Mitchell and 20 points from Keshawn Justice, a couple of 6'7"/6'8" athletes the Pilots can't match. Nice team depth. The Broncos were 13-2 before conference play, and I am sure they are disappointed to be 6-10 in conference and playing on Thursday in Vegas.

Isaiah tells me his college basketball career is over...

It turns out his "sprained ankle" is actually a chipped bone in his ankle.  

I take solace from the idea that Cal lost to the Ducks 56-90 while the Pilots were playing.

4 more years!

You are what your record says you are.

USF scores the first upset in the men's bracket, knocking off UOP. The Dons shot very well from 3P, and the Tigers didn't. When they weren't making 3s, USF lobbed it to their 7' center. Tripp had a huge 1st half for UOP, keeping them close, but couldn't do it all in the 2nd.

Colby Ross scores 43 in the bid for the PU upset, but Jordan Ford scores 42 as SMC wins in double-OT, 89-82.

This was PU's game to win as they've got great athletic talent, but they just made too many mistakes.

Crappy officiating...worst I've seen in a tournament men's game, but the game didn't finish until 3AM (4AM if you've already set your clocks forward an hour) in the east, so 98% of the nation won't have noticed.  

Tomorrow (Monday) it's #5 USF vs. #1 GU at 6 on ESPN and #3 SMC vs. #2 BYU at 8:30 on ESPN2

Dean Murdoch wrote:The Dons aren’t really going to pull this off, are they?

Uh, no...

Good game , however.

DoubleDipper wrote:

Dean Murdoch wrote:The Dons aren’t really going to pull this off, are they?

Uh, no...

Good game , however.

I went back to the Jan. 4th box score when the Pilots beat USF by 11 points. Lull scored 20, Minlend shot 50% and scored 15. Ratinho had a bad game, shooting 1 of 9 for 3 points. The Pilots won because all nine guys that played contributed, they had 15 assists on 25 baskets, they shot 49% overall and 7-13 (54%) on 3Ps, and they got to the FT line 24 times and made 19 (79%). In other words, USF didn't lose it, the Pilots won it. What the #$!! happened to that team?

DoubleDipper wrote:If the seeding holds, it should be #1 GU vs. #2 BYU on Tuesday March 10th at 6pm on ESPN.  As most will remember, last year #1 GU lost the championship game to #2 SMC, 60-47.

The seeding did not hold as SMC prevailed over a number of annoying guys from BYU, 51-50, in a very choppy, poorly officiated game, and now they move on to play GU at 6pm tomorrow on ESPN.

Nice to see both BYU teams (and fans) go home before the final...

Oh, and GU with balanced scoring, pummeled SMC, 84-66, despite Jordan Ford's 27 points.

Not much excitement in this one as SMC looked worn-out early.

All the "experts" are declaring BYU and SMC will join GU in the Tournament.