Here is a couple of nuggets: St Marys has not left California since playing in the WCC Tourny in Vegas last March.
St Marys starts 5 Juco transfers, all white, mostly from Australia, Several players from last year’s team are the backups.
St Marys leads the nation in 3 point efficiency @ 43% as well as shooting efficiency @ 53%
If BYU could play all of its games at home in the Marriott, we would have a record of 18-2 or better as well, so I don’t buy into any of the top 25 rating, rpi stuff and that is the only true stat that matters. St Marys on the road is about to come crashing back to reality.
St Marys has gone from the #7 ranked defense down to #16 in a matter of a week as teams are starting to catch on to their schemes. BYU has got to figure out how to defend SMC’s pick and roll and they will have the game won. SMC’s bigs get to the basket for a 64% success rate because of how well Naar runs the pic and roll.
BYU actually matches up very well with SMC. Naar is the point and the key to beating SMC. Either Fish or Emery can cover him. Pineau, their second best player can be covered by Davis and their certer, Landale is an easy cover for Kaufusi or Austin. Defend the pick and roll and don’t sag so that they can’t get an open look at 3 and BYU should come out with a win.
SMC will have to deal with KC and nobody has an answer for him especially when Fish, Emery and now Hartsock are waiting on the wings for a 3 bomb or a Kaufusi dunk. BYU will be tough to beat at home.
Vegas has SMC 75-74 BYU but I will say BYU hits 80 and beats the Gaels.
BYU scored 74 on their court. There’s no way they don’t score more on their home court.
SMC won’t score as much on the road. They average 69 on the road this year.
I wonder who’s smoking what if they think it’s going to be as low scoring game as at SMC. They average 80 on their home court. Not likely they’ll get that on the road.
Numbers just don’t add up for them to win…especially with Kaufusi and Hartsock as important improvements for the Cougs at home.
BYU has revenge on their mind as well as KC’s statement I think I’ve heard from other players now as well. Every game is now the championship game. A bit of overstatement but not much. If BYU loses another game the regular season championship is out of reach. If BYU loses another game an at-large bid is out of reach. It’s win or NIT from here on out.
fwiw running rpi numbers it’s possible for the WCC to end up with three teams with RPI mid 30s if BYU wins out…meaning three reasonably possible invites to dance. If BYU loses then two likely but possibly 1 depending on how the Zags and Gaels play out.
I can’t believe that SMC has not played outside of Cali since Feb 15th of 2015. Weird stat of the year. I say we take the Marriott down to David Letterman temps, if you can see your breath, that would be about right.
Something tells me that BYU gives them their biggest loss of the year.
This game will boil down to how well our inside guys of Austin, Kaufusi and Davis play. SMC has been averaging an unhearded 68% from inside and it is all because of their nation leading 3 point shooting and how they spread you out. SMC will become average from the outside, equals a BYU win.
Is it true they only have two losses? one to Cal by 4 and the other to Pepperdine by 3? I think there is a very good possibility that they take their biggest loss of the season vs. BYU in Provo.
Obviously they are a very good team, but they won’t be ready for the cold and the big arena and the crowd.
Another advantage for BYU is that they don’t have Delavedova…
How in the world can the wcc have three teams with RPI’s in the mid 30’s? let alone 1?
Nobody has played anybody this season, except for maybe Gonzaga. BYU hasn’t played a good team yet. Is there one team that they played that is in the top 25 right now? I think Gonzaga was #25 when BYU beat them but they were obviously over rated…
You are right, there is no room at the Inn… I think the wcc will be lucky to get 2 teams in this season and that is only if somebody wins out and makes it to the final of the tournament. How many teams make it will depend on how the conference handles the tournament. If the wcc is confident about one team making it before the tournament, the likelihood of that team winning the tourney goes down. There is no way they will allow only one team to have the only possibility to make it.
I expect 1 team
hope for 2
and think there’s an outside possibility of 3.
For three Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s all need to not lose to anybody but one of the other three. BYU has to go undefeated and make the final against Gonzaga and play St. Mary’s in the semifinal or vice versa, ie BYU has to be in the opposite bracket from Gonzaga or St. Mary’s but not both. Gonzaga needs to beat St. Mary’s at home.
Even with three teams with RPIs in the 30s I don’t think WCC gets all three in. The only guarantee for any of the three this year is to win the tournament. Just to many teams in the major conferences are having too good of years to allow lesser conference teams to slide in. It could change of course but that’s the way it looks right now.
You are right. The WCC outside of Gonzaga has not won any games that are resume builders. Gonzaga has and will play a very good SMU team so they could get an at large invite. SMC and BYU would have to either win the conference or win the WCC tourney.
Others don’t see it that way. The RPI trumps all. We are at 50 right now. We do have to win the games we should win. But, a loss to GU at the end may not keep us out. Nor the loss SMU had last night. Or to Gonzaga. I think the WCC gets more credit than some in here think. The WCC gets 2 or 3 in every year.