7 Saint Mary's vs 10 Purdue: NCAA 2nd Round

In just under 2 hours in Omaha, Nebraska the 7 seed Gaels of Saint Mary's (27-5, 14-2 WCC) will take on the 10 seed Boilermakers of Purdue (21-12, 10-8 Big 10) While the Boilermakers will win almost every single team name match up (seriously, that is a cool name) they will have a tough time winning this basketball game. 

Robbie Hummel is the man for Purdue. He missed the last two NCAA tournaments with ACL injuries but has come back for a redshirt senior season and leads the Boilermakers in points, 16.3, and rebounds, 7.1, per game. Not only is he Purdue's best player but also the heart and soul of the team. He's a 5th year senior who has played over 800 minutes in each season of his career. Rob Jones and Brad Waldow will need to be all over Hummel down low and on the boards. Jones in particular needs to play his exceptional rebounding game, he has hit double digits in rebounding in 22 of 32 games and averages 9 a game.

Matthew Dellavedova will obviously be the difference maker for Saint Mary's. The Junior point guard leads the team with 15.6 points and 6.4 assists per game. He'll have to deal with Purdue's senior back court of  Ryne Smith and Lewis Jackson. While both seniors, neither are as skilled as Dellavedova. So that brings me to the other Gaels guards. Jorden Page and Stephen Holt. Page will start as usual and Holt will come off the bench in his first game in over a month since injuring his knee against LMU on February 15th. Both Page and Holt are sophomores but don't play like it. Page redshirted last year, and played on the Gaels' sweet sixteen team from two years ago.

Holt, and Clint Steindl who is starting in his place, will be the spark plug for the Gaels. If Holt is able to play solid defense on the Boilermakers' senior guards, who are much more scoring than passing minded, in his minutes off the bench that will bode very well for the Gaels. Also, if Steindl is able to have a strong offensive game, especially from 3, that will really help open up the inside. Hummel is a very mobile, despite his multiple knee injuries, big man who I expect will be all over the court on defense. Gaels' coach Randy Bennett compares him to San Francisco's Angelo Caloario in his ability to play down low and around the perimeter. If Steindl is able to hit 3s, expect to see a much more open painted area for Rob Jones and Brad Waldow to operate in.

The winner will most likely play the 2 seed Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas' campus is located only 3 hours, 30 minutes by car from Omaha, in Lawerence, Kansas. If Saint Mary's wins the WCC will be 3-1 in the big dance with 2 teams in the round of 32, the other being Gonzaga.

Friday, March 16th, 2012
Approx 4:27pm PDT
Omaha, Nebraska
TV: TruTV
Radio: Nationwide on the Westwood One Radio Network

3 Marquette Pounds 14 Brigham Young 88-68

The Brigham Young Cougars made their 6th straight NCAA tournament, by winning their first four game over Iona they made their 6th straight field of 64. That's how the positive thinkers will view their postseason. They'll overlook the 20 point loss to 3 seed Marquette today in Louisville, Kentucky. In a personal note this will be the only time I mention that this game was played at the disgustingly named "KFC Yum! Center", naming rights have gone insane.

Marquette lead this one from the get go thanks to a great game from Big East player of the year Jae Crowder. He led the game in points with 25, rebounds with 16, and steals with 5. Brandon Davies had another strong game for the Cougars with a team high 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. His performances in these past two games have increased exponentially my respect for Brigham Young University's decision to suspend him for last year's big dance. Despite this being a losing effort, Davies has done his best to make up for his missed time. He's going to be a force in the WCC next year, especially with Robert Sacre and Rob Jones having graduated.

For a few minutes early in the second half, down by 13, the Cougars looked capable of making another amazing comeback. The Golden Eagles scored only 1 point over the first 4:15. Brigham Young didn't make the effort that they needed to though, scoring only 5 points within that span to cut the lead to 7 at 43-50. This was a game of droughts for the Cougars. Down by only 11 with 3:13 left to play they would score only one more point, and then were held scoreless for the last 2:51. During those closing minutes Marquette did not let up. The Golden Eagles must have watched the not only the Cougars second half comeback, but also the Western Kentucky closing minutes comeback, in Dayton. Marquette blew the lead up to 20 by the time the final buzzer sounded.

This is the end of the 2011-2012 road for Brigham Young. Noah Hartsock  and Charles Abouo played their last game for the Cougars. While it was a loss, a fate all but 4 teams will suffer (NCAA, NIT, CBI and CIT winners avoid that fate) they leave a legacy of winning. Abouo passed Jimmer Fredette for 1st place on the career wins list with 113 (nobody outside of Provo would think that's possible) on Tuesday and Hartsock moved into 3rd with 108. Abouo played in every single game of his career. Best of luck in life, guys.

I'll be doing a recap of the Cougars' season in a bit. It might take until the madness calms down a bit, but stay tuned.

2011-2012 Brigham Young Cougars: 26-9 (13-5 WCC, 3rd place) 1-1 in NCAA tournament, 2nd round.

History Has Been Made: 5 WCC Teams at 20 Wins!

Loyola Marymount advanced to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament tonight with an 88-79 win over Cal State Fullerton. This is the Lions first postseason win since the 1989-90 team that threw up over a hundred points a game in the NCAA tournament. More importantly, Loyola Marymount (20-14) joins San Francisco (20-12), Brigham Young (26-8), Gonzaga (25-6), and Saint Mary's (27-5) with 20 or more wins on the season. The WCC has never had 5 teams with 20 wins in a season.

4 teams have finished with 20 wins only once in conference history (1988-89). As recently as 2005-06 Gonzaga was the only WCC team to crack the 20 win threshold when they finished 29-4, San Diego was next best with 18.

I've been saying the WCC is truly a conference on the rise all season long in my posts... and for a few years before I started this blog thanks to the Gaels ascent to perennial bubble team. This year though the WCC added Brigham Young, who are competing in their 6th straight NCAA tournament. It is worth noting though that even without the Cougars there are 4 teams in the conference with 20 wins, and that had only happened once before as I stated above. It's also worth noting that the worst team in the league this season, 0-17 in WCC play Santa Clara, won last year the very same CIT post season tournament that LMU is competing in this year. The Broncos would have been a much better team had Evan Roquemore not gone down with an season ending knee injury in the preseason and Kevin Foster not been involved in a DUI case. While this season is still active I can't help imagine how great the next few will be in the West Coast Conference.

Loyola Marymount advances to the second round of the CIT and will host Weber State (25-6, 2nd Big Sky) on Sunday at 3pm PDT.

7 Gonzaga at (whoops, vs) 10 West Virginia

Gonzaga once again gets a bad deal from the selection committee. A few years ago they played Davidson (in a 7-10 match up no less) only a couple hours from Davidson's campus. This year they get West Virginia in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Mountaineers make a 75 mile road trip from Morgantown while the Zags have to travel 2,299 road miles from Spokane to Pittsburgh.  While there is nothing to be done about that, the Zags can do something when it comes to this game.

The Mountaineers have an extremely solid frontcourt with center Deniz Kilicli and forward Kevin Jones. They play a much more physical style than the Zags have gotten used to from playing in the WCC these past couple months. Kevin Jones averages a double double a game with 20.1ppg and 11.1rpg. They have a "volume shooter" in Truck Bryant at guard, but he's no "volume shooter" a la Kevin Foster of Santa Clara, he's just a guy who shoots 36% from the field, but shoots so many times he averages about 18ppg. Not exactly senior leadership at the guard spot. West Virginia has 9 freshmen on the roster including team assists leader Jabarie Hinds.

The Zags escape with a win if two things can go their way. 1) Kevin Pangos shows up on the road. He hits 50% of his 3s in Spokane but falls off dramatically on the road and 2) Sacre and Harris can control Kevin Jones down low. Jones very well could have won Big East player of the year if the Mountaineers had finished with a record better than the 9-9 record in conference play that they hold.

Expect to see a lot of physical play in the paint. Double teaming of Jones is almost a knock out blow for West Virginia. If Jones can't score, there's almost nobody else on the team that can. Truck Bryant will try, but he misses far more than he makes. So doubling and boxing out of Jones to prevent him from scoring or rebounding will allow Gonzaga to win this game.

Let me stress the word "allow". You can be allowed to do something yet not do it. Firstly Gonzaga has to deal with Jones to allow themselves to win this game. Then they need Kevin Pangos to play, despite being in what should be a very, very pro West Virginia atmosphere. If Pangos and Bell are able to keep the offense humming Gonzaga will win the talent aspect of this game easily.

Guy Landry Edi could well be the difference maker for the Zags in this one. His defensive prowess and size will allow him to be an effective help defender on Kevin Jones. He also provides a nice mismatch with the Mountaineers' inexperienced guards. If Edi comes to play with the intensity he's shown in some of the games down the stretch the Mountaineers will have to rethink their assumption of the toughness level of their conference vs. ours. Center Deniz Kilicli said of the match up "I think they're physical in their conference, but we play in the Big East"... they play in the Big East, but have lost 8 of their last 12.

West Virginia Mountaineers: 19-12 (9-9 Big East, 8th place)
Gonzaga Bulldogs 25-6 (12-3 WCC, 2nd place)
Thursday, March 15th, 2012
4:20pm PDT
TV: TNT
Radio: 101.1 FM in the Inland Northwest (and streaming online at www.oldies1011.com).

Greatest Comeback in NCAA Tournament History

   4:34 1st Half: Brigham Young 31, Iona 55
          Halftime: Brigham Young 40, Iona 55
10:00 2nd Half: Brigham Young 57, Iona 62
  4:00 2nd Half: Brigham Young 66, Iona 70
  2:28 2nd Half: Brigham Young 71, Iona 70
                Final: Brigham Young 78, Iona 72

14 seed Brigham Young was down 24 points to 14 seed Iona with 4:34 to play in the first half of a First Four match up of the NCAA Tournament in Dayton. The Cougars never lead the game until the 2:28 mark in the second half. They led from then on and that is what matters. Until this game the largest comeback in NCAA tournament history was Duke's comeback from 22 points down to Maryland in the 2001 national semifinals. Now the Cougars of BYU own the record, 25 points over Iona in the first four play in game in 2012. While the record is 25 points, the game ended as a 30 point turnaround as the Cougars poured in 5 extra points to solidify their lead.

CS Fullerton @ Loyola Marymount: CIT First Round

This isn't exactly the kind of spring break trip that most postseason schools get. The 21-9 Titans of Cal State Fullerton get a 40 minute bus ride across town to Loyola Marymount. Fullerton has been overlooked in the rising Big West thanks to Zag defector Dan Monson's Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara duking it out for the league's auto bid the past few years. This year though the Titans managed a 2nd place finish, with a league mark of 12-4. Loyola Marymount finished 11-5 in the WCC, good for 4th place. However the Big West comes in at 21st in ESPN's conference rankings, a full ten places behind the WCC. That difference in conference strength is evidenced in the RPI. LMU comes in at 117, Fullerton at 155.

Brigham Young vs Iona

I'm not a fan of NCAA tournament expansion or of the first round being now called the second round, but this new First Four (the new "first round") in Dayton is pretty nice. Unlike the old play-in game that pitted the two worst automatic qualifiers against each other for the right to get destroyed by the number one overall seed was never worth watching. Now though there are eight teams vying for four spots, at large teams as well as AQs. Brigham Young (25-8) and Iona (25-7), both at large 14 seeds, will fight for their season's lives today in Dayton, Ohio. This game will most certainly be worth watching.

The Iona Gaels are this year's VCU. I am not predicting a final four run from them, but like the Rams last year they came out of left field on Selection Sunday and landed a First Four spot. While they have been the team getting picked on for stealing a bid, they are pretty darned impressive. To be honest, I have them picked to beat BYU in my bracket. While the age of metrics has made the basic stats less important, one can't help but be amazed when noticing that Iona leads the nation in points and assists per game. They aren't just chucking up shots though, they're second in the nation in field goal percentage at 50.4%. BYU isn't far behind, they're 13th in points, 6th in assists and hit 46.8% of their shots. Those numbers don't have the pop that the Gaels' do though.

Washington State @ San Francisco, CBI First Round

Tomorrow at 7pm the Cougars of Washington State (15-16) will try and prove that a sub .500 Pac-12 team does in fact deserve to have a post season. San Francisco (20-13) will look improve upon their first 20 win season since 1981-82. The Dons have been battle tested down the stretch, particularly at home on the hilltop. Their last three regular season games were against BYU, a one point loss at the buzzer; Gonzaga, a one point win at the buzzer; and Saint Mary's, a back and forth game until the last minutes when the Gaels pulled ahead for a seven point win. They then ran thru the WCC tournament beating Portland by 21, Loyola Marymount by 7 before losing to Saint Mary's by five despite leading for the majority of the game.

The Cougars haven't won a game against a team with a better record since California went to Pullman back on January 21st. Since that game they have only won 4 times. They are a decent home team but only 4-8 on the road including a 1-5 mark in California. Their only win in the state came against the worst team in the Pac-12, USC. They put up only 43 points in that win, which was enough as USC only managed 38.

For the Dons to win this game they will need to slow down Brock Motum, the Cougars best player, a 6'10'', 260lbs junior forward averaging 18.1ppg.

Preview The Madness

Gonzaga and Brigham Young both received at large bids to the big dance. Along with Saint Mary's automatic bid there are 3 WCC teams dancing this year. This is the second year that has happened, 2008 was the last when the Zags, Gaels and San Diego Toreros made it. San Francisco and Loyola Marymount also will dance, though in smaller dance halls. San Francisco is in the College Basketball Invitational and Loyola Marymount in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary's received 7 seeds. They sit at 27 and 26 respectively on the selection committee's "S-curve". Brigham Young snuck in at 49 on the S-curve only two at large teams got in after them. You can take a look at the complete S-curve here.

Selection Sunday Eve

There are only two potential bid thieves remaining as of now. UC Santa Barbara and St. Bonaventure. BYU fans should be rooting against those two. Apparently the selection committee has already selected their 37 at large bids. They also said that if one of their choices becomes an automatic qualifier (which Xavier and LBSU could be if they beat St. Bonaventure or USCB respectively) another spot opens up for their first team out (which could be BYU if BYU isn't one of the already selected at large teams).

Also I somehow missed this, as did most people. Before the WCC Championship game a Saint Mary's assistant coach, Rick Croy, threw a basketball at the face of a Gonzaga pep band member, breaking her nose. Then refused to issue an apology. Saint Mary's refuses to comment. On a positive note for the (almost) always classy Gaels staff their athletic director was one of the first over to the injured band member to assist her. I am a Zag fan, as I often state, so this is a little rage inducing. However as a WCC fan, thus a SMC fan, this is extremely rage inducing. I want the rivalry between the Zags and Gaels to become one of the best in the game. That is up to the student sections, fans and the players intensity level. The coaching staff NEEDS to remain as impartial to the rivalry, other than trying to win the game, as possible. Without the Gaels' success this wouldn't have been the great year in the WCC that it has been. Coach Croy's actions tarnish this. A full, formal apology would go a long way to buff out the damage he has done to the season. Coaches help young people grow and this man has proven he still has growing to do. This sort of behavior is NOT ACCEPTABLE from coaches in this fine league.

For more on the nose breaking: Gonzaga Bulletin article.