2021-22 Other Games

LMU/PU went to OT and all the other WCC games were close last night with the outcome in doubt for the SMC/SCU and BYU/USD games until about 2:30 to go, and the GU/USF game was excellent until USF started turning the ball over and had foul trouble that allowed Holmgren and Timme to finally begin scoring.

I usually watch just the last 8 minutes of games that are close, but all the games had my attention for much longer last evening, and it is very obvious that the top 4, GU, BYU, SMC, and USF, are very well coached.  

It is tough to win in the WCC, but as up7587 pointed out, all the home teams held serve last evening.

dholcombe wrote:The byu USD result was somewhat surprising to me as well given Portland and USD went to overtime. I don't expect us to be within 8 points of byu this year, but perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I just don't see that happening.

I have drunk a lot of beer during my many years of rooting on the Pilots...

I thought you just did that to annoy BYU fans.

In other games tonight, SMC was down 17 at halftime at USF, and down 23 at one point, and came back to win 72-70.
And BYU lost in a crazy finish at SCU. BYU had the ball up 4 with 45 seconds to play. They were inbounding and threw a length of the court pass that went over the player and out of bounds. So SCU got the ball under their basket with no time lost. They immediately made a 3P shot off the inbound pass to pull within 1. Then they traded buckets, so BYU still led by 1 with 9 seconds to go. BYU had a very poor inbounds play but got bailed out by a foul call. They were not in the double bonus. The BYU player missed the first free throw, knew it, and committed a lane violation by following his shot too early. SCU inbounded the ball with 6.5 seconds left and went the length of the floor to lay it up at the buzzer and win 77-76.
In a less dramatic game, GU beat LMU 89-55. And PU remains winless, losing at USD 64-56.

up7587 wrote: BYU lost in a crazy finish at SCU.

I too watched that game when I got home, and it was fun.

My head knew I should be rooting against SCU, so they'd have the same record at UP, but my heart wouldn't allow it, as it is always such a pleasure to see the Cougars fall during WCC competition.

Pilots win. Gaels win. BYU loses.

The world is healing.

BYU losses again. Leaonard Perry knows how to shake hands!

Pacific beat BYU 76-73. It felt like watching the old version of us at the end as Pacific nearly gave up the complete comeback in the final minutes.

I’m sure BYU fans will offer a myriad of excuses for how Pacific beat them: shot clock malfunction, officiating, or other uncouth comments about the quality of WCC teams/facilities.

Maybe they will need that game against us?

USD moves into third place in the conference standings at 6-3, ahead of BYU (5-3) and USF (4-3).
USD won at LMU 69-65.
USF beat SCU 88-85.
SMC beat PU 81-57.

Dean Murdoch wrote:

FloridaPilot wrote:Maybe they will need that game against us?

That game could well be the difference between the 3 seed and the 4 seed for BYU unless the WCC does some real trickery with the standings. The good thing for BYU is that the Pilots are at 224 NET so it will only be a Q3 loss for them

Of course, Deaner is talking about the WCC Tournament, but BYU can't continue to be careless for the rest of the season or they could jeopardize their chances at the NCAA Tournament.

Yesterday's loss to Pacific dropped them from 28 to 34 in the NET, and only 36 teams will get at-large bids after the 32 automatic qualifiers join the 68-team bracket.  The winner of the WCC Tournament will get the automatic bid, and if the winner is GU, then BYU at 34 and USF at 38, could be looking at the "bubble" if they experience losses to Quad 4 teams.

The number of Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 3/4 losses will be incredibly important when it comes time for NCAA tournament selection and seeding.

Quadrant breakdown by NET ranking:

Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

As Deaner mentioned, a BYU @ UP game would be a Quad 3 game for them because it is a road game and UP has a 224 NET.  For UP, a game in the Chiles Center against BYU would be a Quad 2 game because the Pilots are at home against a team with a 34 NET.  Got it?

As of this morning, UP moved up from 232 to 224 in the NET, LMU dropped from 186 to 204 after their loss to USD, and as mentioned, BYU dropped from 28 to 34 after losing in Stockton where the big gainer was Pacific, moving from 303 to 291 NET.

1 1 Gonzaga
24 24 Saint Mary's
34 28 BYU
38 38 San Francisco
80 82 Santa Clara
162 169 San Diego
204 186 LMU
224 232 Portland
287 287 Pepperdine
291 303 Pacific

Getting four WCC teams in the Tournament is important for WCC $,$$$,$$$ and prestige, otherwise I couldn't care less about BYU's chances.

Another Pacific upset in the making? UOP leads Santa Clara 35-29 at the half!

Never mind...

SCU went on a 28-0 run!!

#291 UOP loses to #80 SCU on the road, 81-59.

52-25 is a heck of a 2nd half for SCU. Wonder how the handshake went.

DoubleDipper wrote:As of this morning, UP moved up from 232 to 224 in the NET, LMU dropped from 186 to 204 after their loss to USD, and as mentioned, BYU dropped from 28 to 34 after losing in Stockton where the big gainer was Pacific, moving from 303 to 291 NET.

1 1 Gonzaga
24 24 Saint Mary's
34 28 BYU
38 38 San Francisco
80 82 Santa Clara
162 169 San Diego
204 186 LMU
224 232 Portland
287 287 Pepperdine
291 303 Pacific

Getting four WCC teams in the Tournament is important for WCC $,$$$,$$$ and prestige, otherwise I couldn't care less about BYU's chances.

Until Shantay gets the ship fully turned in the right direction NCAA berths and advancements for our conference brothers is all I really care about. #getthoseunits

Seems the WCC is moving forward with not rescheduling some postponed games.

http://guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?71408-Zags-at-UOP-quot-No-Contest-quot

"Thank you for your interest in the Pacific v. Gonzaga men’s basketball game. Due to the numerous postponements that occurred in January, there are a few WCC games that have not been rescheduled to date. At this point, the WCC office has declared some of these a “no contest” as a new date is simply not feasible for both teams based on their current schedules. Unfortunately, this is one of those games, which we just recently learned, so it will not be rescheduled (unless there are further postponements that open a new date).

Our external team is working on a public communication to share with folks so they can select another game, request a credit on their account, or request a refund, etc..

Thank you,
Janet D. Lucas
Director of Athletics
University of the Pacific"

2/3/22 Games

GU handles USD 92-62
SCU beats LMU 79-60
UOP holds court against winless PU 81-76.  Down 15 at half, UOP outscores them by 20 in the 2nd half.
USF goes to BYU, is up by 15 at half, and wins 73-59.  Hope they spend a long time celebrating that one.  BYU M and W both lose tonight, DD celebrates.

Pilots and UOP tied for 7th place, behind #6 BYU(!).  The bottom 4 teams fall further behind the pack.