WCC Saturday Wrap Up

WCC Saturday Wrap Up: February 11, 2012

WCC Standings:
1. Saint Mary’s: 12-1, 23-3 (#13 Coaches, #16 AP)
2. Gonzaga: 10-2, 20-4
3. Brigham Young: 9-3, 21-6
4. Loyola Marymount: 9-4, 16-10
5. San Francisco: 7-6, 17-10
6. San Diego: 5-8, 10-15
7: Portland: 3-9, 6-19
8: Pepperdine: 2-12, 8-17
9: Santa Clara: 0-12, 8-17

Saturday’s Results:
Pepperdine 48, Brigham Young 86
Loyola Marymout 59, Gonzaga 78
San Francisco 81, San Diego 70
Santa Clara 67, Saint Mary’s 82


The Big Game:
Last night as I wrote the preview I picked Loyola Marymount at Gonzaga as the WCC’s best game of the night. At that time the Lions were a half game ahead of BYU for third place and the Zags were sitting in second, a game and a half behind Saint Mary’s. LMU was undefeated on the road in league play including a win at BYU’s gigantic and tough Marriott Center (Capacity 22,700, 166-16 over the past 12 seasons). Gonzaga was coming off a hugely important win over Saint Mary’s and looking to save their streak of 11 straight WCC regular season titles. It should have been a close, exciting game. As they say, that’s why they play the game. Because this game did not go as planned, it wasn’t close in the least.
The Lions got into foul trouble early, a bad call on their starting forward Ashley Hamilton at the 7:30 mark was his second. Ten seconds later double digit scoring reserve Jarred DuBois picked up his third and from then on the Zags were in the double bonus. Gonzaga hit 17 of their 19 free throws, which is a solid 89.5%. Not committing fouls wasn’t the only thing the Lions had trouble with. They made only 10-28 shots in the first half 7 of which came from Anthony Ireland, who had a stellar game. Gonzaga’s big men were dominant on defense and the Lions failed to score a point in the paint for the first 18+ minutes. As it went all half it was the 5’ 10’’ Ireland who scored their first points in the paint with a transition layup with 1:15 left. The Lions made only 2 shots not counting Ireland’s baskets in the half.

David Stockton rolled his ankle and had to go to the locker room, but came back before halftime and was fine. Other than the brief Stockton scare everything was going the Zags’ way. They shot 50% from the field in the half, 15-30, and won the rebounding battle 19-14. Elias Harris almost had a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Kevin Pangos’ strong play carried over from the Saint Mary’s game. He hit 3-4 from long range, 5-8 overall for 13 points as well as having five assists to zero turnovers. Gonzaga led 40-30 at the break.

The second half was quite dull as far as competetion goes. For Zag fans though it was excellent. Small forward Guy Landry Edi, who missed the first 8 games of the season had been a primarily defensive player since becoming eligible, finally broke through offensively. He hit double figures 5 minutes into the second half and finished with 13 points on 6-10 shooting. Edi’s performance was a good sign for the Zags, who hadn’t had a solid option at the small forward position all season. While Edi was out at the beginning of the season Mike Hart was starting. He too is a strong defender but is virtually unable to score and averages only 1.7 points per game.

Loyola Marymout seemed to give up about half way through the second period. Only Drew Viney played with intensity, he finished with a game high 24 points. Anthony Ireland had 23.
For the Zags Kevin Pangos led the way offensively, again, finishing with 21 points. He hit 5 of 7 from deep. Elias Harris had a strong game with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Robert Sacre and Edi both finished with 13 points.

Loyola Marymount has essentially fallen out of the title race. The Lions are now three games out of first place, one and a half behind Zags and a half game behind BYU for third. They should still be set for a bye in the WCC tournament though, as they are two games ahead of San Francisco. Next up for Loyola Marymount is a game at Saint Mary’s on Wednesday.

Gonzaga is one and a half games behind Saint Mary’s. The Zags have now played all but one game against the top four teams in the conference. That remaining game is February 23rd when BYU comes to town. Gonzaga lost the previous match-up in Provo. For being such a dull game I ended up writing a lot about it.

The Other Games:
Saint Mary’s played host to Santa Clara in this cross bay match-up. The Gaels won by a comfortable 15 point margin. Though they weren’t able to get comfortable until the end, as the Broncos, who are by far the worst team in the WCC, hung with the leaders until there were only 8 minutes left. The two teams traded leads multiple times in the first half but Saint Mary’s kept the lead throughout the second. The Broncos cut the lead to 3 at the 8 minute mark but fell flat after that.
 
Rob Jones recovered nicely from his 8 point performance against the Zags with 25 points Saturday. Jones also grabbed 12 rebounds. Similarly, Stephen Holt, who was held scoreless on Thursday had 11 points. Matthew Dellavedova showed why he’s a finalist for this year’s Bob Cousy award for the nation’s best Point Guard. Dellavedova played every minute of the game. He scored 16 points, had 11 assists to 1 turnover and committed only one foul. Next Saturday he will face off with Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan, who is another of the 11 finalists. The list will be narrowed down to 5 on March 1st, with that match up sure to play an important role in determining who makes the cut.

Santa Clara can’t seem to get anything going in WCC play, especially since losing Kevin Foster. His replacement, freshman Denzel Johnson, has proven up to the task though. He played a team high 37 minutes and in an eerily Foster-like fashion scored 17 points, 17.8 is Foster’s average. Also, he needed 20 shots to accumulate his points, as he converted only 8 attempts. Foster is also a “volume shooter” to put it nicely. Unlike Foster, who is a Junior, Johnson is only in his first year with the Broncos and has plenty of time to work on his aim.
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Pepperdine was thrashed at Brigham Young, 86-48. Charles Abouo led the way with 23 points, matching his season high, and 12 rebounds for the Cougars. BYU led from the beginning and did not let off the gas until there were about 2 minutes left in the game. At which point the score was 85-39. This was a statement win for the Cougars on their home floor. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the Waves are only 8-17, had this game been in Malibu a lead that large would have been impressive. I’m sure the Cougar faithful were pleased with the result, and can safely assume garbage did not rain from the stands during this one.
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San Francisco traveled South to San Diego and proved they are indeed the 5th best team in the conference. Their 81-70 win improves them to a nice 17-10 on the season, though they’re only one game above .500 in WCC play at 7-6. The Dons have a 2 game cushion above San Diego, but Loyola Marymount also has a 2 game cushion above San Francisco. A 20 win season seems unlikely for the Dons, despite playing their final 3 games at War Memorial Gymnasium. The Cougars, Zags and Gaels head to San Francisco to end the season, though top teams have tripped up there in recent years, seeing all three fall is improbable.
 
Perris Blackwell had 18 points on 70% shooting from the field, along with a 4-4 mark from the free throw line. 4 of his 11 rebounds were on the offensive glass in what was a strong effort offensively for the 6’ 9” junior. Angelo Caloiaro added 16 points, Michael Williams and Cole Dickerson both pitched in 15. Cody Doolin was just one point short of being the fifth Don in double figures, he also finished one assist short of double figures. The Dons played a very balanced game offensively. They were 51.9% from the field, 36% from 3 and hit 16-17 free throws. As a result they had the lead throughout the game except for San Diego’s brief 6-5 lead 1:45 into the contest.

San Diego had 3 players in double figures. Johnny Dee poured in 23 points, hitting 4-8 from long range. Christopher Anderson had 15 points and John Sinis had 16 off the bench. Beyond those three the Toreros didn’t have much to answer the Dons’s multi-faceted offense with. At 10-15 on the season that win over Connecticut in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament sure seems like a long time ago.

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There’s a big week ahead for the WCC, as both Saint Mary’s and Loyola Marymount are participating in the Bracket Busters event. Also, we’ll hear from Portland! I’m still getting used to the 9 teams but only 8 can play a night set up.