Thanksgiving Weekend's Second Act

Quick recaps of the WCC action from Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A more editorial, in depth look will follow as there is much to be learned from the Thanksgiving weekend action. The WCC went 7-4 during the Friday-Sunday span with every team taking the court in that time. Even future member Pacific got involved (and spoiled what was supposed to be an Orange County party).



Friday, November 23rd:

Saint Mary's 66 - Pacific 76
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA
DirecTV Classic
Saint Mary's falls to 4-1
This is a loss for the WCC for two reasons. 1: Pacific is not a WCC school yet and they won. 2: This is not a sign of things to come, Pacific will look considerably different next year because they're in line to lose a massive chunk of their team including 25 year head coach Bob Thomason. The Gaels were once again led by the duo of Matthew Dellavedova and Stephen Holt with 16 and 15 points respectively. Beau Levesque chipped in 15 as well. The Gaels committed 21 fouls compared to the Tigers 12. Pacific capitalized on the foul differential and scored 21 points (on 26 attempts) compared to the Gaels nine (on 10 attempts) from the line. No Gael played a clean game and only two committed just one foul.

Loyola Marymount 78 - Texas State 63
Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, AK
Great Alaska Shootout
Loyola Marymount improves to 3-2
The Lions rebounded, literally, from their opening round loss to Oral Roberts. Pulling down 46 rebounds compared to Texas State's 28. Ashley Hamilton became the first non-guard to lead the team in rebounds. He went for a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Anthony Ireland led the team in points, again, with 23. Ayodeji Egbeyemi added 14 points of his own on seven of 11 shooting. The Lions played very comfortably at a fast pace with a season high 74 possessions.

Santa Clara 89 - Eastern Washington 74
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, CA
CBE Sub-Host Round
Santa Clara improves to 5-0
Marc Trasolini continued his strong senior season with a game high 25 points by going 9-16 from the field and 5-6 from the line. Kevin Foster, Raymond Cowels III and Evan Roquemore also hit double figures with 17, 12 and 11 points respectively. The Broncos were outrebounded 37-27 but managed to hold the Eagles to 37% shooting inside the arc. Santa Clara handled Eastern Washington easily throughout unlike Saint Mary's when they hosted the Eagles earlier this week. The Broncos look strong so far this season and remain undefeated.

#17 Gonzaga 72 - Oklahoma 47
HP Fieldhouse, Orlando, FL
Old Spice Classic
Gonzaga improves to 5-0
Bouncing back from their ugliest game of the year Gonzaga rocked the Sooners. After a close, but always in control, first half the Zags ran away in the second stanza. The Zags had only 66 posessions (they had 83, 70 and 80 in their first three games before the Clemson grind match) but put up 72 points to show that their offense was still alive. The Zags' defense was the most impressive, holding the Sooners to 32% shooting and only .69 points per possession (Gonzaga had 1.09ppp). Elias Harris had a game high 18 points. No other Zags scored in double figures but Kevin Pangos, Gary Bell Jr., Kelly Olynyk and Przemek Karnowski each had eight a piece and Guy Landry Edi added seven.

Saturday, November 24th:

San Diego 66 @ Montana 67
Dahlberg Arena, Missoula, MT
San Diego falls to 3-4
This one came down to the wire and San Diego could should have won. Johnny Dee led the way for the Toreros with 22 points but fell one very important point short. No, not just because Mathias Ward of the Grizzlies had the game high of 23 but because he missed a free throw with nine seconds remaining in the game. The young Toreros had the lead all to themselves for nearly the last nine minutes but blew it at the end. Dee's miss resulted in a game winning three pointer with three seconds remaining. While Dee's miss resulted in the game winning bucket at the other end the Toreros were horrible at the line overall, hitting only seven of 13 free throws good for only 53%. Montana made the NCAA tournament last year but were without their star guard Will Cherry, despite that their experience beat out the still young Toreros in what could end up being the one that got away come March (for the NIT that is, this team is pretty much already out of NCAA contention).

Brigham Young 87 - Cal. State Northridge 75
Marriott Center, Provo, UT
BYU improves to 4-2
Coveted recruit Jabari Parker was in attendance on his official visit to the campus. He got to see the Cougars pick up a second straight win over a team that had run up a 6-0 record. Tyler Haws had an(other) incredible game with a career high 32 points on 9-17 shooting from the floor and a perfect 12-12 from the line. He has scored 20+ points in each of BYU's games this season. He sits at 9th in the nation in scoring with 23.3ppg. Matt Carlino bounced back somewhat from his discouraging game against Texas-San Antonio but Craig Cusick still ran the offense for the majority of the game. Carlino was statistically far better than Cusick this time out which is great news for the Cougars going forward.

San Francisco 79 - Columbia 59
War Memorial Gymnasium, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco improves to 3-1
The Dons demolished the Lions at home thanks mainly to their defense, rebounding and three point shooting. Columbia's last D-1 game was an 18 point statement win at Villanova, which makes this win for the Dons even more impressive. The Dons shot 56% from behind the arc. They held the Lions to 35% shooting and outrebounded them 40-26. UCLA transfer De'End Parker's immediate eligibility is making an immediate impact as he scored a career high 31 points on 12 of 18 shooting. Cole Dickerson had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Cody Doolin added 13 points on four of seven from the field.

Pepperdine 72 - California-Irvine 62
Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, CA
Pepperdine improves to 3-2
The Waves' defense held the Anteaters to only 34% shooting from the field. On the whole the Waves' offense wasn't much better, shooting 44% from the field. Lorne Jackson was the exception as the senior went off for 28 points on 60% shooting. Jordan Baker and Stacy Davis had 12 and 11 points respectively. The Waves led the game the whole time but didn't pull away until the end. The Waves are now 2-0 at home but 1-2 on the road.

Sunday, November 25th:

Saint Mary's 56 - Georgia Tech 65
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA
DirecTV Classic 3rd Place Game
Saint Mary's falls to 4-2
The Gaels held a small lead for most of the first half. The Yellow Jackets held a small lead for most of the second half... until they extended it to nine at the end. The Gaels formerly high powered offense was sluggish on Sunday, getting only 0.84 points per possession (1.122ppp last year and 1.062ppp so far this season) and shooting just 37% from the field. The Yellow Jackets shot only 38% from the field but that was good enough. Stephen Holt led the Gaels with 10 points but he fouled out. Matthew Dellavedova had only five points, his worst since a five point performance against Pepperdine on February 3rd, 2011. He has only scored less than five (four against Portland his freshman year) one time against a D-1 opponent. The Gaels bested the Yellow Jackets in almost every standard statistical category but their lower shooting percentage and ten more turnovers were the difference in this one.

#17 Gonzaga 81 - Davidson 67
HP Fieldhouse, Orlando, FL
Old Spice Classic Championship Game
Gonzaga improves to 6-0
Gonzaga got their scoring back on track Sunday. The Zags move to 6-0 this year as well as all time at the Old Spice Classic. They won first back in 2008 and won their second title in as many tries with this win. The Zags defense frustrated the Davidson offensive leaders De'Mon Brooks and Jake Cohen, both of whom fouled out of the game, as well as the team as a whole for the Wildcats shot only 36% from the field. Gonzaga shot 55% from the field, pulled down 35 rebounds (nine more than the Wildcats) and hit seven of their 14 threes. Elias Harris' double-double, 24 points (81% shooting) and 10 boards, led the game. Kevin Pangos added 23, many of which came in the form of an array of three pointers that would basically lock the game up for the Zags. Kelly Olynyk continued his exceptional return with 14 points.

Portland 54 - New Mexico 69
The Pit, Albuquerque, NM
Portland falls to 2-3
The Pilots are brave but they may not be much more than that. They shot only 32% from the field in this one (the Lobos weren't really any better at 33%). Korey Thieleke and Kevin Bailey shared a team high with 11 points. Ryan Nicholas and Derrick Rodgers added eight each and Nicholas pulled down nine of the Pilots 32 rebounds. However, Bailey fouled out with 11 minutes remaining which effectively neutered the Pilots offense. Nicholas also fouled out but with only one minute remaining. Gotta respect a team that is willing to go into the Pit though, especially when going to the Pit is one of their easiest road games of the year.