WCC Saturday #2

The WCC Game of the Week for the second weekend of WCC play should be one of the best games involving WCC teams thus far this season. Brigham Young visits Santa Clara at 1:30 PM Pacific in a game that both teams need to win if they want to keep up in the hunt for the #2 seed in the WCC Tournament (is it too early to say Gonzaga has the #1 pretty much locked up?). That game is followed by two, Portland at Loyola Marymount and San Diego at Pepperdine, at 7:00. Those games will either further muddle or help solidify the middle of the WCC pack. San Francisco at Saint Mary's, the night cap, was one of the best match-ups down the stretch last season. This time around should be no different, despite the Dons' sub-.500 record, as both squads need a win right now.

1:30 PM PST:
Brigham Young Cougars at Santa Clara Broncos,
Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.
Brigham Young is 13-4 on the season and 3-0 in WCC play.
Santa Clara is 12-5 on the season and 1-2 in WCC play.
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Root Sports Rocky Mountain and Root Sports Northwest.
Radio: KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM along the Wasatch Front, KLIV 1590 AM in the Bay Area.
Satellite Radio: BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143.
Online: Live audio from KSL.



Brigham Young is undefeated in WCC play with wins over Loyola Marymount, San Francisco and Pepperdine. Much like they did in their non-conference season, the Cougars have won the games they were supposed to win. Today they face a game that has thus far only resulted in a tick in the loss column, a game that could go either way. Their opponent is a Santa Clara squad desperate for a signature win after a rough 1-2 start to WCC play. The Broncos, who lost only in overtime or to teams named Duke in the non-conference slate, missed an opportunity against Gonzaga and then fell by four to a desperate Loyola Marymount squad on Thursday. The Broncos looked poised to be this year's LMU but with a better chance to upset the triumvirate atop the standings.

While a win over the Broncos would not be a marquee win for BYU it would be their best of the season and push them to 4-0 in the conference. With #8 Gonzaga off for the day a 4-0 start would put the Cougars a half game ahead of the Zags and atop the conference standings.

If the Broncos pull the upset they would move to .500 in WCC play, pick up a second RPI top-50 win (Saint Louis - 46th, BYU - 34th) and jump into the right side of the bubble, the NIT bubble, in Joe Lunardi's latest S-Curve rankings.

As far as scoring is concerned this is going to be one heck of a match up. Santa Clara's three 1,000+ point scorers face off against the Cougars' high scoring duo of Tyler Haws and Brandon Davies (21.1 and 18.7ppg 10th and 36th in the nation respectively).

7:00 PM PST:
Portland Pilots at Loyola Marymount Lions
Gersten Pavilion, Los Angeles, California.
Portland is 7-10 on the season and 0-2 in WCC play.
Loyola Marymount is 8-8 on the season and 1-2 in WCC play.
Radio: KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles and KPDQ 800 AM in Portland.
Online: Live video from WCC Digital.

I was high on LMU entering this season despite the loss of Drew Viney and the upward trend of teams like Santa Clara and San Diego. The Lions opened WCC play with a brutal two game road swing to Provo and Moraga and didn't look good in either place. Then though, the Lions picked up a big and much needed win over the surging Santa Clara Broncos.

Portland played another brutal non-conference slate. Last season it wore them out and their season was over before WCC play even began. This year may be a repeat. After opening against San Diego and Pepperdine, the two teams the Pilots had the best chances to beat, and going 0-2, Portland is in an already desperate situation. A loss against LMU would push their losing streak to four. That's not the kind of momentum you want when your next opponents are: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Brigham Young, Santa Clara and Saint Mary's. LMU needed a win in their last game, Portland needs one today.

The Pilots struggles are mainly on the offensive end. That's great news for them, and viewers, as the Lions struggle almost equally as much on defense as the Pilots do on offense. 

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San Diego Toreros at Pepperdine Waves
Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, California.
San Diego is 9-8 on the season and 2-0 in WCC play.
Pepperdine is 9-7 on the season and 1-2 in WCC play.
Radio: ESPN 1700 AM in San Diego.
Online: Live video from WCC Digital.

San Diego and Pepperdine entered WCC play on opposite trajectories. Since the start of conference play they've switched directions. The Toreros were seen to be on the upswing entering this season but a serious sophomore slump hit and they stumbled to a sub .500 record in non-conference play. The Waves were 8-5 at the start of WCC play but had to open against Gonzaga then play BYU a week later.

8:00 PM PST:
San Francisco Dons at Saint Mary's Gaels
McKeon Pavilion, Moraga, California
San Francisco is 7-9 on the season and 0-3 in WCC play.
Saint Mary's is 12-4 on the season and 1-1 in WCC play.
TV: Comcast SportsNet California.

San Francisco improbably survived their non-conference slate but has since fallen apart in WCC play. They are 0-3 and looking up at the rest of the conference. While San Francisco absolutely needs a win Saint Mary's needs it more. The Gaels have been underwhelming this season and lost games they should have won. Their 12-4 record with no good wins puts them on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. After failing to pick up a win on Thursday at Gonzaga the Gaels need to finish the season out, it's early January and I'm already talking about the rest of the season (that's how bad the Gaels non-conference schedule was), without dropping any games they should win. On top of that they need to pick up a win or two against BYU and Gonzaga to get into the dance. For now though they need to focus on a desperate bay area rival in the Dons. I'm expecting both teams to come out and play aggressively as they try to avenge their last game losses (or last three). A good nightcap this should be.