2018-19 #WCChoops Schedule | What We Think 1/30/19 | Crumpacker 2018-19 Archives
By John Crumpacker
#WCChoops Columnist
Now that West Coast Conference basketball has hit its midpoint, it seems to be a good time for a little speculation and review.
BYU moved into second place over the weekend at 6-3 with a win over Loyola Marymount, a game clear of San Francisco (5-3) and Saint Mary’s (5-3). Second place – and a coveted double-bye into the WCC Tournament semifinals – looks like it will be a scramble among these three schools.
Unless San Diego, 4-4, finishes the second half of conference play better than it did the first half. The Toreros put a brief scare into Gonzaga on Saturday night (see below) before succumbing to the inevitable. San Diego’s All-WCC forward,
Isaiah Pineiro, gave the Zags fits as he scored 30 points and snatched 11 rebounds to go with 2 assists and 2 steals.
“He’s a hard match-up,’’ Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson said. “He can post, he can drive, he can shoot the three.’’
Grousing a bit, Michaelson said at the halftime break, “We’re not as dialed in as we’ve been.’’
This, from a team sitting at 21-2 overall and 8-0 in conference and ranked No. 4 nationally. As always, Gonzaga is in a class by itself as it prepares for what could be and what should be a deep dive into the NCAA Tournament in March.
The drama to be found in the second half of conference play centers around the results from BYU, USF and Saint Mary’s as it relates to the quest for second place. After unexpectedly poor results in non-conference play, the Cougars and Gaels are hitting their stride at the right time. The Dons, meanwhile, have been consistent throughout the season, although a 67-63 loss at San Diego hurt them in the conference standings.
BYU has a tough slog at the end of the season, with two of its remaining three games against USF in Provo and at Gonzaga. The Cougars finish up against San Diego at the Marriott Center.
Saint Mary’s is in the unenviable position of having to play Gonzaga twice in its remaining seven conference games, this Saturday in Spokane and March 2 in Moraga. Good luck with that as the Gaels try to scrap for second place.
Of the three contenders for second, USF looks to have the most favorable schedule – after playing at Gonzaga on Thursday night, that is. The Dons could make a little run when they face Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Portland in succession after Gonzaga.
The challenge for BYU, USF and Saint Mary’s is to avoid tripping up against teams in the bottom half of the standings, as the Gaels did at Pepperdine last week, an 84-77 loss in overtime.
What We Learned
- It has taken him some time, but BYU guard Nick Emery is returning to form after sitting out the 2017-18 season. The junior guard has yet to start a game this season but that might change after the game he had in a 67-49 win over Loyola Marymount. In 27 minutes, Emery went 5-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points. The Cougars will need more of this from Emery as they try to maintain their one-game hold on second place in the WCC.
- Could it be? Can they keep it up? Those were some of the questions that arose when the Toreros of San Diego took a 24-21 lead over Gonzaga in Spokane with 7:11 left in the first half. That high-water mark came on a 3-point shot by All-WCC forward Isaiah Pineiro. The answer to those questions was a resounding “Of course not!’’ as the Zags outscored USD 64-45 the rest of the way.
- While Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke is WCC’s likely Newcomer of the Year after transferring from San Jose State, not too far behind in importance to his team is Saint Mary’s transfer Malik Fitts (see below), who started his college career at South Florida. Fitts is averaging 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting .382 from behind the 3-point arc.
Stat Line of the Week
In an 86-80 victory over San Francisco, Saint Mary’s Fitts had 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4 of 8 from 3-point range), 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Runner-up goes to Gonzaga’s
Rui Hachimura with 32 points (11 of 15), 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks in an 85-49 win vs. San Diego.
Quote of the Week
“I don’t think you could have scripted a better first career start. My mentality has moved to being on the attack and playing as hard as I can.’’
That’s BYU freshman forward
Gavin Baxter, after scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in his first start, a 67-49 victory over Loyola Marymount.
Tweet of the Week
All-Josh & Jordan Team
Watching a season’s worth of WCC games and pouring over the conference’s weekly statistics, it became obvious that the names Josh and Jordan were popular with parents 18-22 years ago. Six of the WCC’s 10 teams have a Josh or a Jordan on the roster; two teams have two.
If the WCC held a “dispersal’’ draft to create an 11
th team with only players named Josh or Jordan, the result would be pretty darn good. Consider:
Gonzaga – Josh Perkins, G
Loyola Marymount – Jordan Bell, F
Portland – Josh McSwiggan, G/F; Josh Phillips, F
San Francisco – Jordan Ratinho, G
Saint Mary’s – Jordan Hunter, F; Jordan Ford, G
Santa Clara – Josh Martin, F
WCC By the Numbers
31 – Players in the conference with at least one double-double performance.
25 (OK, 24.9) – Average margin of victory for Gonzaga.
12 – Number of double-doubles turned in by BYU’s
Yoeli Childs, best in the conference.
9.1 – Number of made 3-point shots per game by Pepperdine to lead the league.
7.1 – Assists per game by Pepperdine’s
Colbey Ross.
1 – Longest winning streak by any team in the conference not named Gonzaga (12).
0 – Number of players shooting 90-percent from the free throw line after Portland’s McSwiggan (.898) and Pacific’s
Lafayette Dorsey (.875) both dipped below the mark.
Follow the three dots…
Quite a lively battle for the WCC scoring lead between Saint Mary’s Ford (21.9) and BYU’s Childs (21.2), with Gonzaga’s Hachimura lurking around at 20.4. Hachimura was named WCC Player of the Week for his play in wins vs. BYU and San Diego when he had 52 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. It’s the third Player of the Week honors for Hachimura this season. … LMU leads the WCC in scoring defense at 62.0. All told, five WCC teams are allowing fewer than 70 points per game. … Six teams are within one game of one another in the win column, from 5-3 (USF, Saint Mary’s), 4-4 San Diego and 4-5 (LMU, Santa Clara, Pepperdine). … Saint Mary’s (47) and USF (49) continue to have strong NET rankings. San Diego is at 94 and BYU just outside the top 100 at 101. Oh, and Gonzaga is 2.