After wining seven straight games to finish the league season, the Broncos were poised to make some noise in the WCC tournament. Unfortunately, the noise they made was from the motor on the bus pulling away from the Orleans Arena after a double overtime loss.
As the third seed, they had earned a first round bye and would play USF after the Dons dispatched Pacific the night before in round one. It was a great scenario. The odds were in our favor; riding the momentum from a 23-8 record and a season sweep of the Dons. The win would set up a chance to knock off Gonzaga and raise our profile for loftier post season consideration.
While we can be totally proud of a 23 win season, this finish was not what the coaches, players, or Bronco fans expected. With us ahead ten with 4:35 to play, USF capitalized on a series of mishaps that resulted in a 16-6 run that sent the game into overtime and an eventual double overtime loss. It was the Khalil Shabazz show; dismantling our 3 point defense scoring 14 of the 16 points in the run.
Despite all of our late game lapses of missed shots early in the clock and turnovers, we were a rebound away from wining this game. A rebound we couldn't grab with 17 seconds left followed by a foul that enabled Shabazz to make two free throws to tie the game with 13 seconds left. We had one more opportunity in the last 13 seconds, but opted for a long three point shot against a double team that fell woefully short with 5 seconds left. Unfortunately, we passed up a wide open Keshawn Justice shot who was left alone 10 feet away from our final shot.
Las Vegas is known for both making and breaking fortunes and we folded with a winning hand. That's why I say, what happened in Vegas needs to stay in Vegas.
Moving up into the top three in the WCC has been a nice progression. Our body of work at 23-9 has put us in the mix for a second straight NIT invite. While it's not an NCAA bid, it is an important step in continuing to build our rep as a program on the rise that can attract better talent both from the high school ranks and, more importantly, the transfer portal.
If we get the NIT invite, we are likely to play on the road, another consequence of our USF loss. Today is selection Sunday with the NIT invites happening at 7:00 PST. There is still a lot at stake for the Broncos. Getting past the first round will present more television exposure and help raise our profile for years to come. Ironically, if we can win our first two rounds, we head back to Las Vegas to the Orleans Arena and a chance to exorcise the daemons from the WCC Tourney.
We'll know our 2023 future tonight. We hope as Bronco fans and seasons ticket holders it incudes the NIT invite where we can get on a run back to Vegas and hit the jackpot!
