When it was announced on Jan. 30 that St. Mary’s would travel to Murray State to play what was, as of Jan. 31, the only remaining unbeaten Division I team, the nation instantly became intrigued.
It was a chance to see whether the Racers were worthy of their rising national ranking, which was at No. 10 in the Associated Press poll and No. 9 in the coaches’ poll released Jan. 30. This would be a legitimate test for Murray State because the Gaels had risen to No. 18 and No. 16 in those two polls, respectively, and had taken control of a West Coast Conference by beating Loyola Marymount and BYU in consecutive road games on Jan. 26 and 28.
But it’s more than just an intriguing game for the nation’s viewers; it’s a critical game for the WCC in general, and perhaps for St. Mary’s, which, in retrospect, probably missed its chance for an NCAA Tournament berth last season because it lost its BracketBuster game.
It also will reflect on the image of the WCC as a conference, and that will have a direct effect on the NCAA chances of BYU, which is right on the fringe of being an at-large entry into the tournament as of Jan. 31.
A rise in the national image of the WCC would mean a rise in the image of BYU, which may need to win its Feb. 2 home game against Gonzaga to have the impressive win it needs to get that NCAA berth, assuming it does not win the WCC tournament.
The other BracketBuster game involving a WCC team, in which Loyola Marymount will host a Feb. 17 game against Valparaiso, will also have an influence, both on the Lions and the conference. Valpo is 15-8 overall and 8-3 in the Horizon League, and, much like Loyola Marymount, has some good wins (Cleveland State) and some questionable losses (IUPUI).
The Lions would need to win the WCC tournament to get an NCAA bid, but they could enhance their NIT chances with a nonconference victory against the Crusaders, and if St. Mary’s and Loyola Marymount both win their BracketBuster games, the nation and tournament selection committees would have to start giving the WCC more respect.
Outsiders might start noticing that a Santa Clara team that was good enough to beat New Mexico and Villanova can’t get a victory in WCC play, buried at the bottom of the WCC with an 0-8 conference record as of Jan. 31.
They might also notice that a San Francisco team that returns all five starters from a team that went 10-4 in the WCC last season, finishing just a game out of first, is only standing in fifth place in the improved WCC with a 5-5 conference record, although the Dons seem to have it together now and are rolling. The Dons have won five of their past six games, and they are looking like the tem they were a year ago.
And they would notice that Gonzaga, which seems to have an NCAA berth in hand, as of Jan. 31, is no longer able to dominate the conference, and might fail to win at least a share of a regular-season conference title for the first time since 2000.
Whether the Bulldogs can extend the nation’s longest winning streak of consecutive conference titles to 12 will be determined by their upcoming games against BYU on Feb. 2 and St. Mary’s on Feb. 9.
But the main beneficiary of a St. Mary’s victory would be St. Mary’s. The Gaels have a shot at finishing in the top 10 in the county if they continue to play as well as they have in winning their first 10 conference games. And St. Mary’s could end any doubts that it is worthy of an NCAA Tournament berth if it beats Murray State on the road.
St. Mary’s thought it had an NCAA berth in the bag at about this time last season, but the home loss to Utah State in the BracketBuster game was one of the chief reasons it was left out.
The Gaels have a shot at a wondrous season, the best in school history, but that Feb. 18 game at Murray State will say a lot about this St. Mary’s team and its conference.
WCC NOTES
---Based on a few key statistics you would have thought BYU had beaten St. Mary’s on Jan. 28. Matthew Dellavedova, the Gaels’ best player during conference play and a WCC player of the year contender, had perhaps his worst game of the season, going 1-for-4 from the field and committing six turnovers. The Gaels other star, Rob Jones, was limited too, scoring 13 points, most of which came after the outcome was decided. Plus, the Gaels, who led the conference in fewest turnovers heading into the game, averaging 11.5, committed a whopping 24 turnovers against the Cougars.
And the game was at BYU, where the Cougars seldom lose.
Nonetheless, St. Mary’s won the game and won it easily, 80-66, thanks to the contributions of lesser-known players Clint Steindl and redshirt freshman Brad Waldow. Waldow had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Steindl came off the bench to score 16 points, including 14 in the first half when St. Mary’s took control. Dellavedova and Jones combined for 23 points and 12 of them came after the Gaels had taken a 23-point lead less than four minutes into the second half.
---Santa Clara played its second and third games without leading scorer Kevin Foster on Jan. 26 and 28, and it’s unclear when or whether Foster will be back. Foster was suspended indefinitely after being arrested for suspicion of drunken driving on Jan. 22. Losing their only all-conference player from last season is major blow to the Broncos, who were 0-5 in the WCC before losing Foster and lost the first three games without him. He sat on the bench in street clothes for the Jan. 22 loss to Loyola Marymount, but he was not in the building for the Broncos’ home loss to San Francisco on Jan. 26, and did not make the trip with the team for the Jan. 28 game at Pepperdine. Foster was averaging 17.8 points as of Jan. 31 and was coming off consecutive 22-point games against St. Mary’s and BYU before being suspended.
---Gonzaga and Portland played the first 90 seconds or so of their Jan. 26 game with a women’s basketball, which is about one-third of an inch narrower and three ounces lighter than the men’s ball. No one noticed until one of the players brought it to the attention of the officials. Portland made one of three shots in that stretch, and Gonzaga hit one of two.
---Something had to give when Santa Clara played Pepperdine on Jan. 28 because both teams entered the game on eight-game losing streaks. It was Pepperdine that ended its misery, beating the Broncos 74-62 in Malibu, Calif.
---BYU’s homecourt and large crowd were expected to give the Cougars a huge edge in WCC games played in Provo, Utah. But the Jan. 28 loss to St. Mary’s before a sellout crowd of 22,700 following the Jan. 19 loss to Loyola Marymount represented BYU’s first back-to-back home losses since 2004. And the Cougars lost both by double-digit margins – by 16 to St. Mary’s and by 14 to Loyola Marymount.
---San Francisco lost its first four conference games, but won five of its next six games, as of Jan. 31, losing only to Gonzaga on the road, to put itself in position for a favorable seeding in the WCC tournament. The Dons’ hopes of winning a regular-season title were virtually eliminated by the 0-4 conference start, but they are building momentum.
---Loyola Marymount finally won a home conference game, but it came against one of the worst teams in the WCC and the Lions barely pulled it out. The Lions were 5-0 in conference road games but 0-3 in WCC home games after their Jan. 26 loss to St. Mary’s. The Lions figured to break its home skid against Portland, which came into the Jan. 28 game at Loyola Marymount 0-9 in road games. But the game was tied in the final minute before Jarred DuBois hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to give LMU a 62-59 win. Why the Lions have played much better on the road is mystery.
---Heading into the Jan. 26 game against Portland, Gonzaga had made at least one three-pointer in 614 consecutive games, dating back to January 1993. That streak was in jeopardy against Portland before Gary Bell Jr. hit a three with 12:05 remaining in the game. The Zags were just 1-for-11 from beyond the arc for the game.
---During St. Mary’s 80-66 victory over BYU, coach Randy Bennett wore a sizable cast on his left arm to protect broken thumb. The injury occurred Jan. 26, moments after the Gaels had beaten Loyola Marymount on the road 71-64. As Bennett opened the door to the locker room following that game, a board fell on his left thumb and broke it. He has surgery early on Jan. 27, at which time the cast was applied.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: Gonzaga at BYU, Feb. 2 – This is a pivotal game for both schools. The Bulldogs need to win to stay within a game of first-place St. Mary’s and maintain a reasonable chance of capturing a regular-season title. BYU desperately needs to beat the Bulldogs to help its NCAA Tournament chances. Plus, losing a third straight home game would be a major blow to the Cougars’ psyche. The matchup in the middle between Gonzaga C Robert Sacre and BYU C Brandon Davies is the one to watch, although the matchup of freshman point guards – Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos and BYU’s Matt Carlino – will be intriguing as well.
KEY CONFERENCE GAMES:
Feb. 2
Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount
The Lions should beat their Los Angeles neighbor, but they have played much better on the road than at home in WCC play.
Feb. 2
Portland at Santa Clara
This is the Broncos’ best chance for a WCC victory.
Feb. 4
San Francisco at Loyola Marymount
The Dons are playing better than they did when Loyola Marymount won the first meeting in overtime.
TEAM NOTES
---BYU’s 70-68 victory over Virginia Tech was a big boost to the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament hopes. Road wins against decent nonconference foes impress the selection committee, and the Hokies were coming off a road victory over then-No. 15 Virginia just three days earlier. Perhaps more to the point, a loss to the Hokies would have been a definite black mark on BYU’s resume. Virginia Tech was just 1-4 in the ACC at the time of the game, with losses to Wake Forest and Boston College. No matter how you look at it, the victory was important to BYU’s postseason hopes. However, the Cougars’ loss to St. Mary’s three days later may have negated much of it.
---BYU was not only swept by St. Mary’s in two games during the regular season, but the Cougars were dominated in both, losing by a combined margin of 30 points. The 80-66 loss to St. Mary’s in Provo, Utah, on Jan. 28 was more lopsided than the score suggests, because the Gaels led by 23 points less than four minutes into the second half.
---Through the first 39 minutes, 34 seconds of BYU’s Jan. 25 game against Virginia Tech, Brock Zylstra seemed destined for his worst game of the season. He was 0-for-4 from the field, all on three-point attempts, and was about to go scoreless for only the second time this season. Plus he had no rebounds and four fouls. But he somehow became the hero by hitting a three-pointer with 26 seconds left to break a tie game and give the Cougars a lead they never lost in their 70-68 road victory over Virginia Tech.
---BYU’s 70-68 victory over Virginia Tech on Jan. 25 was the Cougars’ first-ever road victory against an ACC team.
---BYU did not expect to shoot as well from long range as it did last season after losing Jimmer Fredette and Emery Jackson, but the Cougars did not expect to shoot as poorly as it did through January. BYU made just 2 of 13 three-pointers against St. Mary’s on Jan. 28, and in its past four games, as of Jan. 31, it was just 11-for-73 from beyond the arc, which is 15.1 percent.
---The loss to St. Mary’s on Jan. 28 virtually eliminated the Cougars from the regular-season conference championship race, and at 6-3 in the WCC as of Jan. 31, they probably will have to sweep Gonzaga to have a shot at finishing second and earn the byes into the semifinals of the WCC tournament. Even finishing in the top four, which would guarantee a bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals, is not assured as of Jan. 31, with Loyola Marymount and San Francisco gaining ground.
GONZAGA
---Mike Hart, who started the first 18 games, has seen his playing time decrease significantly since then, and he did not play at all in the Jan. 26 game against Portland. He is unable to hit the outside shot and teams did not have to guard him on the perimeter. Despite all the defensive energy he brings to the floor, that was too much too much to give up.
---Gonzaga’s 25-point first half against Portland on Jan. 26 was the Bulldogs’ lowest-scoring half of the season.
---On his 19th birthday on Jan. 26, Gonzaga G Kevin Pangos had one of his worst shooting nights from long range. He went 0-for-6 from three-point range, only the second time this season he failed to make a three-pointer.
---Gonzaga beat Portland for the 18th straight time and for the 32nd time in their last 33 meetings, but it got a little hairy when Portland pulled within three points with 5:26 to go. Gonzaga then reeled off nine straight points to put the Pilots away.
---Gonzaga will have entire week to prepare for its Feb. 2 road game against BYU, which has lost two straight road games. The Bulldogs need to win that game as well as their Feb. 9 home game against St. Mary’s to have a good chance to capture their 12th straight WCC regular-season title.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
---Loyola Marymount’s chance to challenge for the WCC regular-season title probably ended with the Lions’ 71-64 home loss to St. Mary’s on Jan. 26. A victory would have moved the improving Lions within a game of first place. Instead they dropped three games off the lead.
---Loyola Marymount committed a season-low six turnovers in the Jan. 26 game against St. Mary’s, but still lost.
---The return of Jarred DuBois on Jan. 23 made all Loyola Marymount’s key players available for the first time this season. The Lions won two of the three games with DuBois back, as of Jan. 31, although DuBois came off the bench in all three after being in the starting lineup previously. He was the team’s high scorer in the Jan. 28 victory over Portland, and he hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to break a 59-59 tie in the 62-59 victory.
---Loyola Marymount’s 6-3 conference record as of Jan. 31 was the Lions best nine-game conference record in six years and put them in tie for third place with BYU. The Lions have already tripled their conference win total of last season, when they went 2-12.
PEPPERDINE
---Pepperdine’s 74-62 victory over Santa Clara on Jan. 28 not only ended an eight-game losing streak but ended an eight-game stretch of offensive futility. The 74 points was the second most scored by the Waves this season and 10 more than their highest output during the losing streak. They had been held under 48 points in four of the eight games in that losing streak.
“We executed offensively,” coach Marty Wilson said afterward. “That’s the thing we’ve been working on; that’s what we’ve been preaching. We’re trying to get better offensively so we’re not putting so much pressure on our defense.”
---Pepperdine freshman Jordan Baker continued to show signs of being a star of the future by scoring 15 points in the Jan. 28 victory over Santa Clara. That was his second highest scoring output of the season, as of Jan. 31, and the ninth time in 10 WCC games he reached double figures after reaching double digits in just one of his 11 nonconference games.
---Sophomore C Jan Maehlen has not played since suffering a groin injury in mid-December. As of Jan. 31, he hasn’t even returned to practice, and it’s unclear when or whether he will return this season. He did not figure to be a major contributor this season, but he did start five games last season and he is 7 feet tall and would have helped with all the other injuries Pepperdine has had this season.
---The loss to San Diego on Jan. 26 was the Waves’ eighth straight loss since a win in the conference opener. Pepperdine finished the 2009-2010 season with 12 straight losses, and the Waves stopped short of that streak by beating Santa Clara on Jan. 28.
---Senior C Corbin Moore had his fifth double double of the season against Santa Clara on Jan. 28, recording 11 points and 10 rebounds.
PORTLAND
---Portland freshman Kevin Bailey continues to show signs that he will be a star in the WCC in the coming years. He tied a career-high with 22 points at Loyola Marymount on Jan. 28, and when freshmen start putting up big numbers on the road, it’s a positive sign. His 9-for-12 shooting against Loyola Marymount was his best of the season. His previous 22-point performance had come just three games earlier.
---Portland’s 74-62 loss to Gonzaga on Jan. 26 represented the Pilots’ 18th straight loss to the Bulldogs. Portland has lost 16 in row to Gonzaga at Portland’s Chiles Center.
---Although Portland lost to Gonzaga on Jan. 26, it was in the game until the closing minutes, trailing by just three with less than six minutes left.
“We are a work in progress, and I’m confident we’re trending upward,” Portland coach Eric Reveno told the Oregonian after the game.
---Portland followed its decent showing against Gonzaga with another good performance against Loyola Marymount on the road two days later. Again the Pilots lost, but they are a much better team than the one that lost 11 straight games to Division I opponents earlier in the season. Against LMU, the Pilots were tied in the closing seconds, before the Lions’ Jarred DuBpois hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to hand Portland a 62-59 loss.
---Portland is riding a six-game losing streak as of Jan. 31, after starting WCC play 2-1.
---Senior G Eric Waterford had knee surgery on Jan. 26, and did not play in the Jan. 28 game against Loyola Marymount, but it’s unclear whether he will be able to return this season. He injured his knee while making his first start of the season on Jan. 21.
---Sophomore C Riley Barker missed his 15th straight game on Jan. 28 because of a knee injury, and it’s not certain when he will return.
SAN DIEGO
---For the second straight season, Pepperdine hit a three-point shot at the buzzer against San Diego on the Toreros’ homecourt, but the impact was a lot different in this season’s Jan. 26 game. Last season, San Diego seemed to have the game in hand when the Toreros’ Chris Gabriel stepped to the foul line for a one-and-one opportunity and San Diego leading by three with four seconds left. But Gabriel missed the first free throw, and Pepperdine’s Mychel Thomason threw in a three-pointer from nearly halfcourt to tie the game, which the Waves won in overtime. This time, Pepperdine’s Jordan Baker hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, but that only shrunk the margin of victory from 12 to nine in San Diego’s 65-56 victory.
---F Dennis Kramer scored in double figures only once in the Toreros’ first 12 games, but he had hit double digits in six of the past eight and four in a row as of Jan. 27 after scoring 14 points in the Jan. 26 victory over Pepperdine. He barely failed to score in double digits in the Jan. 28 loss to San Francisco, but barely missed a double double, getting 9 points and 9 rebounds.
---Freshman Johnny Dee is the only San Diego player who’s started all 21 games, and he’s also the team’s top scorer, by a wide margin, as of Jan. 31. He’s averaging 14.5 points, and no other San Diego player is averaging in double figures.
---The victory over Pepperdine was San Diego’s third victory in five games, and the Toreros have shown significant improvement with the maturation of their lineup, which features two true freshmen and a redshirt freshman in the starting five. Even in the Jan. 28 loss to San Francisco, the Toreros were competitive, leading at halftime and trailing by just five at the 10-minute mark of the second half on the road.
SAN FRANCISCO
---San Francisco G Michael Williams may have broken out of his slump with his 20 points against San Diego on Jan. 28. An all-conference selection last season, Williams had scored in double figures in only one of his previous six games. Before the San Diego game, he had made only 14 of 57 three-pointers (24.6 percent) in the 12 games since returning from a three-game suspension imposed by coach Rex Walters for falling behind in his academics. Against San Diego, Williams hit 4 of 6 three-point tries.
---With his 20 points against Santa Clara on Jan. 26, Angelo Caloiaro moved into 23rd place on San Francisco’s career scoring list. He scored 16 points against San Diego on Jan. 28 to move into 22nd place on the school scoring list. Caloiaro is the Dons’ best bet to earn all-conference honors.
---F Perris Blackwell had a career-high 26 points in San Francisco’s 80-74 victory over San Diego on Jan. 28. He made 10 of 16 shots in the game, and, as of Jan. 31, he’s third in the WCC in field goal percentage at 55.3 percent.
---It’s difficult to tell what’s different about San Francisco, which has won five of six games as of Jan. 31, after starting WCC play 0-4. Part of it was the schedule, with road games against St. Mary’s and BYU included in those first four games. But the bigger issue is defense. Over the six-game stretch of improved play, the Dons have played the consistent, scrambling, disruptive defense it played last season. That had been lacking.
SANTA CLARA
---Freshman G Denzel Johnson had a big-time breakout game in the Jan. 26 loss to San Francisco. Before that game, he had not scored more than six points in a game, and he had totaled just five points in the Broncos’ six previous WCC games combined. But against USF, he erupted for 26 points and was the reason Santa Clara drew within five points with 1:37 left. Johnson showed an ability to shoot from outside as well as penetrate and finish with either his left or right hand. He hit 12 of 18 shots with three rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in a performance that came out of nowhere. He got increased playing time because of the absence of Kevin Foster, who was suspended indefinitely. Johnson was put in the starting lineup for the Jan. 28 game against Pepperdine and scored eight points.
---Santa Clara’s 74-62 loss to Pepperdine on Jan. 28 was the Broncos’ ninth straight defeat, which is tied for the second longest losing streak in school history.
---Point guard Evan Roquemore was left out of the starting lineup for the second straight game against San Francisco on Jan. 26 because of a team-discipline issue. He played starter minutes in both games, however. He was back in the starting lineup for the Jan. 28 game against Pepperdine.
---Redshirt freshman Julian Clarke and true freshman Brandon Clark started the Jan. 26 game in place of Kevin Foster and Evan Roquemore. It was the second career start for both.
ST. MARY’S
---St. Mary’s seems to be sailing along to a conference championship after its relatively easy 14-point victory over BYU on the road on Jan. 28, but the Gaels seemed to be cruising to an undisputed WCC title last season when it hit a tailspin. The Gaels were 22-4 overall, 10-1 in the WCC and leading the conference by 2½ two games with three conference games left before losing to last-place San Diego on Feb. 16, the first of a three-game losing streak that included a home loss to Utah State. St. Mary’s had to win its final game against Portland just to earn a tie for the title, and the Gaels were beaten rather decisively in the WCC tournament finals, resulting in St. Mary’s failing to make the NCAA Tournament.
---St. Mary’s 71-64 victory over Loyola Marymount on Jan, 26 was probably its best win of the season to that point. Although the 21-point victory over Gonzaga and the 16-point win over BYU got more attention, both of those games were at home, where the Gaels are awfully tough to beat. The win against Loyola Marymount came on the road against a Lions team that was coming off double-digit road victories over BYU and Santa Clara and was feeling like a conference contender with its lineup pretty much intact. But the Gaels controlled the final eight minutes of the game to remain unbeaten in conference play. The road victory over BYU two days later may have replaced the win over Loyola Marymount as the Gaels’ best of the season, however.
---The Gaels’ victory over Loyola Marymount on Jan. 26 gave St. Mary’s 20 victories for the fifth straight season and for the eighth time overall, with six of those 20-win seasons coming under Randy Bennett. Some forget that Bennett took over a St. Mary’s team that went 2-27 overall and 0-14 in the conference in 2001, the year before Bennett arrived.
---St. Mary’s G Matthew Dellavedova had seven assists against Loyola Marymount on Jan. 26, moving him into third place on the Gaels career assist list. Dellavedova, a junior, has 477 career assists.
---F Mitchell Young returned to action in the Jan. 28 game against BYU, playing three minutes after missing the previous two games with ankle sprain. It’s been a difficult season for Young, who began the season as a starter but has missed four games because of injury. He went scoreless against BYU and, as of Jan. 31, is averaging just 4.4 points after averaging 10.2 a year ago.
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