The Broncos may have had the most difficult schedule in their first six WCC games of any team. Four of the first six games were against the top teams in the WCC. A 2-4 start looked to be the best case. What energy and confidence the Broncos may have lost against Gonzaga and St. Mary's, they found in the matchups versus San Diego, BYU, and USF to claw to a 3-3 record.
We started with a good road win at Pacific after a long Covid pause and then on to Gonzaga who put on a clinic in Spokane winning by 32. The Broncos saw first hand how elite teams handle their business. It's not just the five star caliber of their athletes - but a complete focus on the task at hand. Their defense was stifling, their offensive showed us razor sharp passing to cutters going to the rim with a purpose, and an immediate recognition and capitalization of mismatches. Although a blowout loss, I felt we "learned" something from it.
We competed better at St. Mary's against IMHO, a team not as talented as ours, but they won the battle with experience and execution both on defense and offense. It was a good potential "W" that got away. The St. Mary's game showed our team they can be in the conversation of the top three in the WCC and are not overmatched with exception of Gonzaga.
This gained confidence played out in the USD and BYU victories. San Diego was on a roll, having won three of their last four games including a close loss to BYU. The overtime win tested our resolve and we answered the call holding USD scoreless the last 2:30 with P.J. Pipes draining two free throws to seal the deal.
BYU came to Leavey with wins over both St. Mary's and at USF. Their rep as a perennial 20 win program and their recent four straight win streak against us hung large like the banners in our rafters. The game was close all the way until BYU blinked and we struck. After a strange full court pass by BYU sailed out of bounds, P.J Pipes drilled a deep corner 3 pointer to cut the lead to one.. After trading baskets, with six seconds left, BYU missed a free throw and Jalen Williams made them pay by tear dropping a floater with a second to go for the game winner. It was great to see the students rush the court to celebrate with the players, rather than heading for the exits after losing another close game.
That "MO" carried over at USF. We stayed in it with key plays and good opportunities to win, but came up short 88-85.
Our team has found through this stretch that there is more they can achieve. We have the offensive tools to win bigger games. We have to put up great effort not just against the best teams, but all opponents. Let downs happen, witness BYU losing to Pacific two nights after losing to us. We are not a tough, physical team, but we are resilient. We don't quit. The next step up for us is to learn to close out more games. Both St. Mary's and USF closed us out by getting the ball to the right players at the right moment - purposeful, not random. We have soring leaders but what the top teams have is a floor leader or two. We need someone who sets the tone and gets our players on the same page at the right moments and picks the best option for us to score in tight games.
We stand at 3-3 with ten league games remaining. Three more against the top three - St. Mary's and USF both at Leavey and the other at Gonzaga. Winning at least one of those and not having a letdown against the other seven teams would be huge. This could get us to a 21-10 record and no less than 5th in league. In 5th, we get a first round bye in the WCC tournament and could see a rematch with St. Mary's in the second round. We would love that!
We can't afford let downs. Our offense can keep us in games but we need our defense and rebounding to step it up. Our points allowed is a full 10 points higher per game and we are allowing our opponents 49% FG shooting, up 5% from pre-season. We can make critical stops like we've done versus USD and BYU, but we need to lock down the easy pick and roll layups and offensive put backs.
Tonight versus Pacific will be a test. They're also coming off a big upset of BYU like ours two nights before. These are the games we can struggle with, hopefully not tonight.
IF, we can get to 21-10, what we have "lost" may have "found" us in the conversation for a post season NIT.
