2018-19 #WCChoops Schedule | Pepperdine Overcoming Adversity
By John Crumpacker
#WCChoops Columnist
While Gonzaga basketball is known for, and should be commended for, its anyone-anywhere-anytime approach to scheduling non-conference games, the rest of the West Coast Conference is following suit in a strategic shift designed to bolster the quality of opponents in November and December with the intent of giving WCC teams a better shot at securing at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Look no further than this week’s schedule across the conference.
Loyola Marymount came up on the losing end to UCLA on Sunday night but is 8-1 with reason to be confident going forward, as opposed to going backward.
No. 1 Gonzaga, which has already knocked off Illinois, Arizona and Duke in Hawaii and Creighton on the road, will be tested in a pair of games this week, hosting Washington on Wednesday and facing No. 7 Tennessee on Sunday in Phoenix in the Jerry Colangelo Classic. These are the kinds of games that could elevate a team’s NET ranking, the acronym for NCAA Evaluation Tool.
The best games not involving the high-profile Zags take place on a busy Wednesday night when San Diego plays at San Diego State, San Francisco travels across the Bay Bridge to face Cal and BYU continues its competition against in-state rivals with Utah State; the Cougars play Utah on Saturday.
Saint Mary’s, meanwhile, will be busy toward the end of the week, facing New Mexico on Friday as it attempts to rise above its current 4-4 record.
Gonzaga solidified its No. 1 ranking with its impressive 103-92 win at Creighton on Saturday in an arena with 17,000 partisans cheering for the Bluejays. Poised, mature, patient and confident, the Zags overcame a seven-point halftime deficit (48-41) and outscored the home team 62-44 in the second half to secure the victory.
Guard Zach Norvell Jr., approximating a lefthanded Steph Curry, scored 28 points by nailing 6 of 17 shots from 3-point range. Forward Brandon Clarke (see below) had 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Future NBA player Rui Hachimura contributed 22 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. And, proving 13 is really a lucky number, Josh Perkins, who wears jersey No. 13, had 13 points and 13 assists; for that, Perkins was named WCC Player of the Week.
Going into the last month of non-conference games, eight WCC teams have winning records. Gonzaga is 8-0, LMU 8-1, San Francisco 7-1 and San Diego 6-2, followed by Pepperdine (5-2), Pacific (6-4), BYU (5-4) and Portland (5-4).
At least for the top four teams in the standings, beefing up the non-conference schedule is achieving desired results.
What We Learned
- Kyle Smith is doing fine work at USF. He has the Dons at 7-1 with a NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ranking of 29. The Dons went to Northern Ireland to play in the Belfast Classic and reached the championship game after defeating Stephen F. Austin 76-58 before dropping a competitive game to now-No. 17 Buffalo by an 85-81 count. With no one central offensive figure, USF gets it done collectively. Against Buffalo, Frankie Ferrari had 19 points, Matt McCarthy 17, Jordan Ratinho 14, Charles Minlend 13 and Jamaree Bouyea 11.
- Although he’s played two seasons of Division I basketball, Gonzaga’s Clarke is the frontrunner for WCC Newcomer of the Year. A 6-foot-8 forward, Clarke transferred from San Jose State and sat out 2017-18 as a redshirt. He’s starting now for the No. 1 Zags and is contributing 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, while shooting a conference-best .773 from the field. Notably, he had six blocked shots in Gonzaga’s stirring win over then-No. 1 Duke in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. Clarke’s presence is all the more important with Killian Tillie out with a broken foot.
- Although Loyola Marymount took its first loss of the season Sunday night at UCLA, 82-58, the Lions should be encouraged by their 8-1 start. This, after all, was a team that won 11 games last season. The take-away is that schools should be patient with their coaches. Now in his fifth season coaching his alma mater, Mike Dunlap looks to be building something positive in L.A.
Quote of the Week
“I try not to call him that. Everyone around here does. It’s a fitting nickname.’’
That’s San Diego coach Sam Scholl, talking about forward Yauhen Massalski, a 6-foot-10 sophomore known as “Squirrel.’’ The Squirrel is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game and is second in the WCC in offensive rebounds at 3.1 per game. Make him the Flying Squirrel.
Stat Line of the Week
How about this beauty from BYU star forward Childs? In a 92-89 win over Illinois State, Childs hade 27 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
Speaking of which
At the WCC’s Tip-off Event in Las Vegas in October, I had a chance to chat with Childs. A Childs’ chat, in other words. With a last name like mine, I’ve always been fascinated by names, first and last, and what their origin is. Thus, I asked Childs about his first name, Yoeli.
“It means ‘Do the will of God,’ ‘’ he explained. “It’s an African name. My dad is from Cameroon.’’
So, there you have it.
Tweet of the Week
A Bronco to a Bison?
Santa Clara guard K.J. Feagin has been out since the second game of the season with a broken bone in his hand. He’s expected to return later in the season. If this basketball thing doesn’t work out for him post-Santa Clara, Feagin said he wants to pursue acting, specifically the acting program at Howard University in Washington D.C. That would make him a Bison thespian.
“I’ve always felt I have the personality to be an actor,’’ he said. “I want to be trained and see how far I can go with it. I feel like I can do a little bit of everything. I’m leaning toward an action-movie guy (like) Michael B. Jordan and Tyreese Gibson.’’
Follow the three dots...
In game postponed from Nov. 10 because of the Woolsey Fire, Pepperdine hosts Cal State Northridge at Firestone Fieldhouse on Monday night. The game has been designated First Responders Appreciation Night. First responders receive free tickets and food and there will be a T-shirt giveaway to spectators. Interesting note: Former UCLA, Pepperdine and Rhode Island head coach Jim Harrick is in his first season as an assistant at CSUN. … Just when Geno Crandall was showing himself to be a valuable reserve for Gonzaga, he breaks his hand. Surgery is not believed to be necessary and the redshirt senior guard is expected back sometime this season. … A month into the non-conference season, four WCC players are hitting 90 percent or better from the free throw line with Portland’s Josh McSwiggan at .960, Pacific’s Lafayette Dorsey at .946, Pepperdine’s Eric Cooper Jr. at .905 and Gonzaga’s Perkins at .900. McSwiggan is also the conference’s single-game high scorer thus far with 37 vs. Multnomah. … BYU coach Dave Rose, on his team’s 113-103 loss to in-state Weber State: “Defensively, we just could not get them stopped.’’ … Nice game by Pineiro in San Diego’s 74-70 win over Long Beach State – 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. … Five conference teams are ranked in the NET top 100: Gonzaga 2, USF 29, LMU 57, San Diego 74, Saint Mary’s 98.