CBI Champions!

CBI Championship Series Game Three

 Santa Clara Broncos 80 at George Mason Patriots 77

Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia.

Santa Clara finishes the season at 26-12.

For the second time in three years Santa Clara finishes the season with a win. Two years ago the Broncos won the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). This season they win the College Basketball Invitational.

Only four teams get to finish their season with a postseason win. Santa Clara, along with East Carolina (CIT champs), Baylor (NIT champs) and the to-be-determined NCAA Tournament champs, is one of those teams. 

The 2012-2013 Santa Clara Broncos become only the fifth WCC team to finish the season with a win. San Francisco did it three times, twice by winning the NCAA Tournament (1955 and 1956) and once by winning the NIT. The other? The 2010-2011 Santa Clara Broncos that won the CIT.

BYU has won two NITs, in 1951 and 1966, well before becoming a WCC team.

Kevin Foster had 24 points, Marc Trasolini had 20, Evan Roquemore had 19 and Raymond Cowels III had 9. Foster hit a big three with 1:13 left to give the Broncos the final lead of the game, he also scored the final point of the game on a free throw. Marc Trasolini was dominant early in the second half, scoring eight of the Broncos' first 12 points, as the Broncos rallied from a 33-37 deficit at the break. Evan Roquemore hit clutch free throw after clutch free throw in the waining minutes to keep the lead with Santa Clara. Raymond Cowels III scored all nine of his points in the first half, which kept the Broncos from falling out of striking distance.

This was the last game for seniors Kevin Foster, Marc Trasolini, Raymond Cowels III, Niyi Harrison and Kyle Perricone. 

CBI Championship Series Game One

CBI Championship Series Game One

George Mason Patriots 73 at Santa Clara Broncos 81

Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.

George Mason falls to 21-15 on the season. 

Santa Clara improves to 25-11 on the season.

Next game at George Mason on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013 at 4:00 PM PDT.

It was an off night by recent Broncos' offensive standards. Santa Clara shot just 44.2% from the field tonight, compared to 48%, 48% and 51% in the first three of its CBI games. That proved to be enough though, thanks in part to a 10-24 night behind the three point arc and another large scoring output from senior guard Kevin Foster. 

CBI Quarterfinals: Santa Clara 86 - Purdue 83

Santa Clara Head Coach Kerry Keating opened the post game press conference by saying, "I told Matt [Painter, Purdue Head Coach] how much I appreciated that they played."

Purdue, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference, is a school with over 30,000 undergraduates and a completely self-sustaining athletic budget of $60 million. The Boilermakers have more Big Ten basketball championships than any other school in the conference and they boast winning records against all members of the conference.

The Boilermakers did not need to play in this tournament in the way Santa Clara did.

But, they played, and the Broncos weren't phased. Mackey Arena isn't exactly Cameron Indoor after all. Santa Clara led from the get go, busting out to a 7-2 lead by the first media timeout. During those early minutes the Boilermakers had four turnovers and five missed field goals.

Purdue got the offense going after that first break. The Boilermakers would close the gap to one possession on multiple occasions, but just couldn't get past that hump.

Tuesday's Action

Saint Mary's played in the First Four, BYU played in the NIT and Santa Clara played in the CBI last night. All three teams won their first postseason games.

NCAA First Four:
#11 Saint Mary's 67 - #11 Middle Tennessee 54
NIT Opening Round:
#3 BYU 90 - #6 Washington 79
CBI Opening Round:
Santa Clara 77 - Vermont 67

Gonzaga Wins 2013 WCC Tournament Championship

Gonzaga won its 12th WCC Tournament Championship today with a 65-51 victory over Saint Mary's.

Former walk on guard and current Assistant Director of Basketball Operations for Gonzaga, Brian Michaelson, carries the WCC Tournament Championship trophy from the floor after the game. Yeah, I don't have the money to pay for AP Photos.

The Zags proved to be too much, for the third time this season and third time over the past five WCC Tournament Championship Games, for the Gaels to handle.

#1 Gonzaga 66 - #9 LMU 48

#9 LMU's unexpected run in the WCC Tournament came to a halt in the semifinals at the hands of the #1 team in the conference and the nation, Gonzaga.

Click for full size.

#9 LMU 60 - #4 Santa Clara 58

What's the deal with Max Good's clothes?

As Gus Johnson once so emphatically put it when describing Gonzaga's Cinderella run in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, "The slipper still fits!" For the Loyola Marymount Lions it's more like "the suit still fits". When talking about the Lions win over #8 Portland in the Opening Round game of the WCC Tournament on Wednesday, coach Max Good said "I brought four sport coats and one suit, so we plan on playing here Monday."

We've seen three of his sport coats so far.

As we prepare to see the fourth we need to look back on what this Lions squad has accomplished so far in Las Vegas. They won just one game during the WCC regular season. In Vegas they've won three. Never before in the WCC Tournament has the lowest seed won so many games. Back when the conference had eight teams the #8 seed made it to the semifinals five times. LMU was that #8 seed four of those five times.

#6 San Diego 72 - #3 BYU 69

The WCC Tournament has become an upset party. Obviously the Toreros felt bad for crashing the party with their defeat of #7 Pepperdine in the second round. To make up for their mistake they went out and upset #3 BYU in the semifinals. My question is this, can it really be considered an upset considering, with this win, San Diego won the season series 2-1? I'm gonna say yes because it rained in Vegas today and this parade doesn't need any more rain.

"We got off to a really good start to the game, had a good flow" San Diego's Bill Grier said after the game. He wasn't kidding. The Cougars led 2-0 for the first 1:06 but they wouldn't manage to retake the lead until the 16:18 mark in the second half. San Diego would push the lead to ten at one point during the first half. The Cougars would make it a one possession game on multiple occasions, they even tied the score at one point but couldn't get the lead until well into the second half.

Once the Cougars took the lead back they started looking like the BYU team that earned the #3 seed in the WCC Tournament. Dave Rose played his whole roster in the first half looking for any way to get back into the game. In the second half it was all his big three of Brandon Davies, Tyler Haws and Matt Carlino. Those three combined for 53 points in the game with Davies and Haws contributing 20 each. "Tyler's such a good player," coach Grier said, "Brandon has always been a handful for us and for other teams in the league so we knew we weren't going to shut them down." Once again, he was right.

San Diego 62 - Pepperdine 59

WCC teams are used to playing a game on a Saturday then a game the next Thursday, just not against the same team. That's what happened tonight in the second round of the WCC Tournament when San Diego faced off with Pepperdine. These two teams should be familiar with each other because they've had a week to scout plus a game to look back on for even more advanced scouting. 

That was the case in the early going. For the first nine minutes the two teams traded baskets and leads. Then the Waves figured out what they weren't able to figure out in either of their two previous meetings with the Toreros this season. Pepperdine put an end to the back and forth, pushed the lead to ten and kept a comfortable lead during the middle minutes of the first half. 

During this stretch of the game San Diego was sloppy. Cameron Miles chased a loose ball all the way down the floor to the baseline and saved it inbounds to John Sinis. Sinis promptly traveled for no reason, he wasn't being pressured or driving with the ball, just moved his pivot foot. After a great hustle play the ball was given back to the Waves who were up ten.

It was during this stretch that San Diego sharpshooter Johnny Dee was missing three after three after three. Something happened in the waining minutes of the half. Christopher Anderson stole the ball and Dee layed it in at the other end. Then Anderson made a pass to Dee who promptly drained a three. That sequence of events was repeated three times in rapid succession and the Toreros retook the lead before the break. A ten point Pepperdine lead was erased by a 21-3 San Diego run that spanned halftime. 

Much like the Waves of the first half the Toreros of the second half pushed the lead to a comfortable margin. Unlike the Waves, they never gave up the lead. Pepperdine would move to within one on a couple of occasions but could never tie things up. Stacy Davis, the WCC's Newcomer of the Year had a stellar night doing everything he could to bring the Waves back into the game. His stat line was fairly ridiculous for a freshman in his first WCC Tournament game. 19 points, 11 rebounds, 9-11 from the line, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and only one foul (the Waves committed 18 fouls overall).

The Waves made it a one possession in the last minute. Lorne Jackson was fouled shooting a three, which rolled in and out of the basket. The Toreros were up four at the time of the foul with only seconds remaining which begs the question, why were they even playing defense on the shooter? They were though, which sent Jackson to the line to shoot three. He made the first and the second before coach Marty Wilson called timeout to discuss an intentional miss of the final free throw. Jackson missed the third, off the right side of the rim just as planned. Unfortunately, the Waves jumped too soon and were called for a lane violation. The Toreros got the ball on the violation, were fouled immediately and made the second of two free throws. A desperation three at the buzzer fell way short and the Toreros hung on for the win.

In the end it was the amazing relationship of Christopher Anderson and Johnny Dee, two sophomores, that pushed the Toreros past the Waves. 

San Diego moves on to face #3 BYU on Friday at 8:30 PM PST. This will be the second straight year the Toreros and Cougars meet in the nightcap game of the WCC Quarterfinals. 

#9 LMU 61 - #5 USF 60

It took an extra five minutes but the Lions picked up their second win in a row here in Vegas. The team that couldn't win more than once during WCC play has more than doubled their total against WCC opponents this season.

Change for the better should be the motto for the LMU offense over the past few games. This offense, once a model of scoring inequality, has become something of a scoring socialism. While Ireland would once again lead the team in the end he needed the extra period to get there. Last night, for only the fifth time in the season, someone other than Ireland led the team. That someone would be Ashley Hamilton.

Tonight it was Godwin Okonji who filled that role in regulation. Okonji contributed 14 points in an exceptionally efficient way. He was 6-7 from the field and 2-2 from the line. Taylor Walker chipped in 13 points of his own including two of the Lions three pointers. Ashley Hamilton added 11.

Anthony Ireland picked up where he left off yesterday, quietly. Ireland had only four points in the first half. To start the second half though Ireland returned to his high octane offensive ways and went on a quick 5-0 run. Ireland finished with eight points in the second half and added another four in OT. The Lions scored only five points in the extra period.

The Dons couldn't get into their usual style of play from the beginning and unlike LMU they didn't thrive because of it. Cody Doolin was taking threes instead of driving to the hoop. Cole Dickerson tried to pick up the slack. His 23 point, 18 rebound night would normally be enough to do just that. However, the Dons couldn't buy a bucket at the free throw line. It took 11 attempts before the Dons could get a point from the charity stripe, they would finish shooting a meager 8-19. That was the difference in the game.

The Lions advance to play the only WCC team they beat in the regular season, #4 Santa Clara,  Friday at 6:00 PM.

WCC Tournament Opening Round Rapid Reaction

#9 Loyola Marymount Lions - #8 Portland Pilots
LMU improves to 9-22 on the season and advances to face #5 San Francisco on Thursday.
Portland falls to 11-21 and the Pilots' season comes to an end.

Game Recap: Lunch Break Edition

I haven't been writing many game recaps this season because of my work schedule, which involves getting up at 6:20 in the morning after watching games that don't get started until 10:00 at night. By the time I get home it's pretty much time, especially on Fridays, to start focusing on the next set of games. Last night featured a game that generated much to be said, so I'm squeezing a quick hitting recap into my lunch break at work.

Gonzaga Bulldogs 77 - Saint Mary's Gaels 60

McKeon Pavilion, Moraga, California.

Thursday, February 14, 2013.

Gonzaga has now won two straight games against Saint Mary's. For the past few years these two teams had been alternating between victory and defeat to the tune of a 4-4 record over the past eight games. Now, Gonzaga has ended that see-saw affair with a decisive season sweep of the Gaels. That really won't change anything as far as the rivalry goes. It may actually make it more intense from the perspective of Gaels fans, assuming these two squads meet in the WCC Tournament Championship Game in just under a months time. 

WCC Thursday Recap for 2/16/2012

Thursday's Games:
Portland 75, San Diego 78 OT
Brigham Young 85, San Francisco 84
Pepperdine 70,  Seattle 81 (non-conference game)
#24 Gonzaga 73, Santa Clara 62


The Big Game:
Brigham Young at San Francisco did not disappoint. The Cougars are a team playing for an at large berth and this game they played like one. San Francisco is a team they should beat, even on the road, and the Cougars led this one from the get go. The Dons, to their credit, never let the Cougars pull away

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