The Broncos are on a heater at the moment, 7-1 in the WCC, unbeaten in Leavey, and in second place in the WCC. That's right second place; the first time since the 2006 2007 season. If feels good to be ahead of SMC.
In our last eight games, we've closed out every second half lead with the exception of Gonzaga in Spokane. This has been a major improvement since difficult late game losses to St. Louis, Arizona State, and Loyola Chicago. It demonstrates growth occurring as this young roster has learned from game level competition. It appears we've learned to "finish what we've started" and, in some cases, adding to first half leads.
This past week's wins against Pacific and St. Mary's were great examples. Against Pacific, we were outshot from both 2pt and 3pt range and outrebounded. Yet, we created 21 turnovers resulting in 28 points. Add 8 steals and 4 blocked shots surging to a 20 point lead with less than 2 minutes left.
Our win against St. Mary's was a war of attrition. Hand to hand combat. We snapped a 4 year losing streak, holding them to their season lows in 2pt and 3 pt FG% and FT% through hard nosed unrelenting ball pressure building a 16 point lead with 12:49 to go.
The Gaels fought back to get within 2 points with just 3 minutes left. We had seen this movie many times before against SMC who are great at closing out games. Not this time. Christian Hammond, Allan Graves, and Sash Gavalyugov calmy made key shots and clutch free throws to close out and finish the game to the delight of the riotous Leavey crowd.
The stunned look on Randy Bennett's face was priceless and one we'd love to see again in Moraga on February 25th. The boisterous team celebration in the locker showed the real affection these players have for each other and the coaching staff; culminating with an entire team Aladdin's Lamp style group "head rub" for Coach Sendek.
A great win to enjoy, but let's not get ahead of ourselves with 10 games remaining - four are at Leavey and six on the road. While every game is difficult, four of the next five games are away at USD, LMU, Pacific, and Washington State. None of those road teams have been very kind to us. We face USF, Seattle, and Gonzaga at home, then USF and St. Mary's away, finishing the league schedule at home versus Oregon State. All of these games will be played with just two days rest including travel.
With a 16-5 record, post season bids are in play. For the Broncos, most likely it will come from the NIT as the NCAA at-large bids are rare. Conference champions consume 31 slots. At-large offers 37 openings, however, most are gobbled up by the Power 5 conferences. For example, in 2025 there were only 3 bids awarded to mid-majors. It can happen for the Broncos, but it will most likely take 23 wins or win the WCC tournament. Both remain in play.
To achieve the above, one thing we must continue to do is to "finish what we started!"
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