Another full day of West Coast Conference hoops is upon us. As is the case on Saturdays, the WCC Game of the Week kicks off the action. This week's afternoon game is a good one to start a day full of good hoops. All five teams with records at or above .500 in WCC play are in action today. In fact the only team not in action today, Loyola Marymount, is the team with the worst record in the WCC.
WCC Game of the Week
1:00 PM PST:
Santa Clara Broncos at San Diego Toreros
Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego, California.
Santa Clara is 15-6 on the season, 3-3 in WCC play and currently on a three game winning streak.
San Diego is 11-10 on the season, 4-2 in WCC play and currently on a two game losing streak.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
Radio: AM 1090 in San Diego and KLIV AM 1590 in the Bay Area.
Online: Live audio from KLIV.
Santa Clara and San Diego are the two teams with the ability to disrupt the WCC's big three of Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and BYU for a place atop the standings. Santa Clara had a very good non-conference season that culminated with an 11-3 record. Then they dropped three straight early in WCC play. They've recovered, which is expected when you have three players with at least 1,000 career points in your starting lineup. The Broncos now look like the team they were in late 2012.
San Diego took the opposite path. The Toreros struggled through their non-conference slate to a 8-7 record. Once conference play began though the Toreros surged to a 4-0 record. However, those first four games were against the four worst teams in the conference. Since then they've run up against the WCC's best and come up short. Back to back losses at BYU and Saint Mary's has the Toreros on a two game skid and things don't get any easier. With Santa Clara today then Gonzaga next week followed by visits from Saint Mary's and BYU in early February the Toreros may be set for a total tailspin.
Santa Clara was strong early, stumbled and is now recovering. San Diego was disappointing early, surged to start conference play but is now stumbling. These two teams have taken nearly opposite paths but both have led to nearly the same place in the standings. Whichever team wins this game will be the only team with a legitimate chance to finish in the top three of the WCC standings.
3:00 PM PST:
Pepperdine Waves at Saint Mary's Gaels
McKeon Pavilion, Moraga, California.
Pepperdine is 10-9 on the season, 2-4 in WCC play and currently on a one game winning streak.
Saint Mary's is 16-4 on the season, 5-1 in WCC play and currently on a four game winning streak.
TV: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Time Warner Cable SportsNet and ESPN2 Australia
Online: Live audio from Pepperdine Sports.
Saint Mary's has been on a tear since losing to Gonzaga in Spokane. They missed an opportunity to add some cushion to their spot on the bubble in that game but they've done everything they've needed to since. Matthew Dellavedova's buzzer beater from midcourt against BYU gave them a one point win and their first signature win of the season. One point isn't good enough for the offense that ranks 20th in points per game, 13th in effective points for, 9th in floor percentage, 8th in field goal percentage and 5th in points per possession, among other statistics, in the nation. Realizing that, the Gaels used their next two (which are also their last two) games to show some of their offensive (and defensive) prowess. A 22 point victory at Portland last Saturday was followed up by an 81-48 slaughtering of San Diego on Thursday.
Pepperdine has been good, by their recent standards, but just average by national and WCC standards. They're one game above .500 and have already matched their win total from last season but are only 2-4 in WCC play. The bright side for the Waves, who have been slipping since the start of conference play, is that they have a defense that holds teams to 64.4 points per game. They will need their defense to hold against Saint Mary's high powered offense.
As far as the WCC on the national scene is concerned a Pepperdine win would be a big hit to the conference. Saint Mary's probably needs to win every game going forward, with the exception of their run ins with the Zags, to make the NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine though can only hope for an invite to the CIT or CBI. A Waves win would go a long way to help them get a berth in one of those two tournaments.
5:00 PM PST:
San Francisco Dons at #10 Gonzaga Bulldogs
McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington.
San Francisco is 9-11 on the season, 2-5 in WCC play and currently on a two game winning streak.
Gonzaga is 18-2 on the season, 5-0 in WCC play and currently on a one game winning streak.
TV: ROOT Sports Northwest, ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain and Comcast SportsNet California.
Radio: KGA 1510 AM in the Inland Northwest.
Online: Live audio from KGA.
San Francisco has a knack for knocking off the Zags. Luckily for Gonzaga today this game is not being played in War Memorial Gymnasium. That's just the start of the bad news for the Dons. San Francisco picked up two straight wins to move out of the WCC cellar but they're still one of the worst teams in the league and they're going up against one of the best teams in the nation.
Gonzaga's adjusted offensive efficiency ranks second in the nation according to KenPom while San Francisco's adjusted defensive efficiency ranks 214th. If the Zags managed to rout BYU, the 38th ranked team in adj. defensive efficiency, by 20 points on Thursday then a game against a team nearly 200 positions worse only bodes well for fans of offense who aren't also fans of San Francisco. Gonzaga's front court has led the Zags to first place in the nation in 2pt field goal percentage. San Francisco can't hang with the Zags big men, or really anybody's, as they have the 235th ranked defense in terms of 2pt field goal percentage.
The back court battle will be the interesting match up to watch as Cody Doolin and Kevin Pangos go at each other. Doolin is much more of a facilitator than Pangos. His assist rate is 50th in the nation while Pangos isn't even in the top 100. However Pangos prefers to light it up from deep while Doolin tends to slash to the basket. With the Zags height inside it will be interesting to see how Doolin changes his scoring style.
7:30 PM PST:
Brigham Young Cougars at Portland Pilots
Chiles Center, Portland, Oregon.
BYU is 15-6 on the season, 5-2 in WCC play and currently on a one game losing streak.
Portland is 8-13 on the season, 1-5 in WCC play and currently on a three game losing streak.
TV: ESPNU.
Radio: KSL 102.7 FM & 1160 AM along the Wasatch Front.
Satellite Radio: BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.
Online: Live video from WatchESPN, live audio from KSL.
BYU is coming off an embarrassingly poor performance at Gonzaga on Thursday. Portland is enduring another embarrassing season. Fortunately for the Cougars, they had one day of embarrassment but now get to face a team that has suffered a whole season of it as they try and rebound from their 20 point pounding in Spokane. Don't expect the WCC's leading scorer, Tyler Haws, to be held to just one point tonight. Portland doesn't have the athleticism or talent at any position to match the Cougars in this one. A loss for the Cougars tonight would be disastrous for their dancing shoes and the conference's national appearance. It's hard to be a Pilots fan these days, and as much as I don't want to root against any WCC team it's going to be hard to root for Portland in this one.
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