12 Gonzaga 57
18 St. Mary's 57

3:22 2H

Gonzaga had been dominating this game but the Gaels have rallied thanks to Aidan Mahaney.

12 Gonzaga 61
18 St. Mary's 61

End of Regulation

12 Gonzaga 70
18 St. Mary's 78

Final/OT

Saint Mary’s is a team of destiny this year.

(02-05-2023 02:45 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Saint Mary’s is a team of destiny this year.

#6 in the NET but still just their 2nd Quad 1 win (Gonzaga has 3 but played 7 Q1 games to just 3 for St. Mary's). This is what happens when you're in the WCC. Gonzaga can at least draw good non conference opponents, top teams are less likely to want to play St. Mary's. There was a thread about the MWC and you can see they are killing it in the NET this year for a mid major conference. The MWC currently has five teams in the NET top 40, the WCC just two in the top 80. At least based on these numbers, the MWC would be a clear upgrade for Gonzaga (assuming they can't get into the Pac 12 or Big 12).

There were 'only' 150 college D-1 basketball games played Saturday, which may have been one of the busiest days of the 2022-23 season. Road teams went a respectable 64-86 for a winning percentage of 43%. 11 games went into overtime, but only 4 home teams won those games (Oakland over Cleveland State, Long Beach State over Cal-Irvine, Pepperdine over Portland, and St. Mary's over Gonzaga).

Here are some of the more unusual scores I noticed from Saturday:

CSUN 72, UCSB 67
Last placed team in the Big West logs a stunning home win against the BWC front-runners.

Maryland 81, Minnesota 46
Shocking to see the Golden Gophers this bad. Losing at home by 35 points to an unranked team is deflating to one's morale.

West Virginia 93, Oklahoma 61
Sooners throw away an impressive home win against Alabama with an equally impressive road loss.

Indiana State 99, Murray State 56
Racers suffer their worst basketball loss in 63 years. ISU scores its most lopsided Missouri Valley Conference win in school history.

Nicholls 92, Houston Christian 91
A small gym and raucous home crowd couldn't carry the Huskies to a win, as HCU blew a 7-point lead with 45 seconds to play.

Florida Atlantic 67, Charlotte 52
FAU bounces back from a midweek loss at UAB to win its 22nd game of the year--a school record for the Owls.

American 61, Colgate 60
In D.C., the Eagles hand the Raiders their first conference loss.

SIUE 84, Little Rock 81
As noted earlier here, Ray'Sean Taylor played the hero for the Cougars, by hitting a 53-footer at the buzzer to stun the Trojans.

Maine 84, UMBC 49
Never saw this one coming. The Retrievers were 15-9 coming into this game. Maine was just 9-13 prior to tipoff.

Detroit 85, Purdue Ft. Wayne 52
Surprisingly easy blowout win for the Titans. Antoine Davis scores 32 and is only 268 points behind Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA points record. Doubtful that Davis can catch Pistol Pete with 6 regular season games remaining plus the Horizon League tournament. Davis did set one NCAA mark, by scoring in double figures for the 136th consecutive game in his career.

With Colgate's loss, there are only 4 remaining unbeaten conference teams (Eastern Washington in the Big Sky, Alabama in the Southeastern, Oral Roberts in the Summit, and St. Mary's in the West Coast). There are only 2 winless conference teams in the country at the moment (South Carolina State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Evansville in the Missouri Valley).

(02-05-2023 07:11 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(02-05-2023 02:45 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Saint Mary’s is a team of destiny this year.

#6 in the NET but still just their 2nd Quad 1 win (Gonzaga has 3 but played 7 Q1 games to just 3 for St. Mary's). This is what happens when you're in the WCC. Gonzaga can at least draw good non conference opponents, top teams are less likely to want to play St. Mary's. There was a thread about the MWC and you can see they are killing it in the NET this year for a mid major conference. The MWC currently has five teams in the NET top 40, the WCC just two in the top 80. At least based on these numbers, the MWC would be a clear upgrade for Gonzaga (assuming they can't get into the Pac 12 or Big 12).

SMC has gotten the memo and has been scheduling up in their non-conference. It’s not the death march Gonzaga places on itself, but it’s been improving over the years. SMC just has a worse time picking decent non-conference games and then winning those games.

This year…I mean, the worst margin of defeat was five points to Houston in a neutral site? Smashing others along the way? That’s going to push you up NET and KP.

I do think they are the toughest team to seed of the field by a long country mile. Even if they win out from here to the end, I don’t think the committee matches that final NET ranking (which will probably be top 4-5 at least). They won’t get the 1/2 line…but, maybe they are actually worthy? 2 at least if not the top line? Because we know Gonzaga won’t be lower than a 3 or maybe highest 4.

I think the “safe” bet for this team is 4/5 line, and that will annoy some folks because they should get some benefit of playing a junk seed team they won’t get against a 13 or 12.

This Saint Mary’s squad reminds me of last years UH team. Tough defensive team. Beats you on all the hustle plays. Great metrics, not a lot of big wins. Probably gonna be a tad under seeded and then make the elite 8.

(02-05-2023 02:29 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  This Saint Mary’s squad reminds me of last years UH team. Tough defensive team. Beats you on all the hustle plays. Great metrics, not a lot of big wins. Probably gonna be a tad under seeded and then make the elite 8.

Yeah, I can see the under-seeding thing happen. Of course, those critical of NET and other metrics will come out quickly and snip back about how NET's only "one of many tools" the committee uses. Ironically, if a major conference team sits in that top 8-10, it's usually chalk.

Ohio St is a team that deserves to be on the season thread. Wow what a collapse for them. They are gonna have to work to just make the NIT right now.

(02-05-2023 03:11 PM)stever20 Wrote:  Ohio St is a team that deserves to be on the season thread. Wow what a collapse for them. They are gonna have to work to just make the NIT right now.

It's a good thing they're good in that other sport

(02-05-2023 09:07 AM)Midwestan Wrote:  There were 'only' 150 college D-1 basketball games played Saturday, which may have been one of the busiest days of the 2022-23 season. Road teams went a respectable 64-86 for a winning percentage of 43%. 11 games went into overtime, but only 4 home teams won those games (Oakland over Cleveland State, Long Beach State over Cal-Irvine, Pepperdine over Portland, and St. Mary's over Gonzaga).

Here are some of the more unusual scores I noticed from Saturday:

CSUN 72, UCSB 67
Last placed team in the Big West logs a stunning home win against the BWC front-runners.

Maryland 81, Minnesota 46
Shocking to see the Golden Gophers this bad. Losing at home by 35 points to an unranked team is deflating to one's morale.

West Virginia 93, Oklahoma 61
Sooners throw away an impressive home win against Alabama with an equally impressive road loss.

Indiana State 99, Murray State 56
Racers suffer their worst basketball loss in 63 years. ISU scores its most lopsided Missouri Valley Conference win in school history.

Nicholls 92, Houston Christian 91
A small gym and raucous home crowd couldn't carry the Huskies to a win, as HCU blew a 7-point lead with 45 seconds to play.

Florida Atlantic 67, Charlotte 52
FAU bounces back from a midweek loss at UAB to win its 22nd game of the year--a school record for the Owls.

American 61, Colgate 60
In D.C., the Eagles hand the Raiders their first conference loss.

SIUE 84, Little Rock 81
As noted earlier here, Ray'Sean Taylor played the hero for the Cougars, by hitting a 53-footer at the buzzer to stun the Trojans.

Maine 84, UMBC 49
Never saw this one coming. The Retrievers were 15-9 coming into this game. Maine was just 9-13 prior to tipoff.

Detroit 85, Purdue Ft. Wayne 52
Surprisingly easy blowout win for the Titans. Antoine Davis scores 32 and is only 268 points behind Pete Maravich's all-time NCAA points record. Doubtful that Davis can catch Pistol Pete with 6 regular season games remaining plus the Horizon League tournament. Davis did set one NCAA mark, by scoring in double figures for the 136th consecutive game in his career.

With Colgate's loss, there are only 4 remaining unbeaten conference teams (Eastern Washington in the Big Sky, Alabama in the Southeastern, Oral Roberts in the Summit, and St. Mary's in the West Coast). There are only 2 winless conference teams in the country at the moment (South Carolina State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Evansville in the Missouri Valley).

Very nice highlights and my summary! My notes-

EWU is so hot right now. I’ve watched most of Eastern Washington’s games and they have improved a lot since early in the season. It’s not just a matter of being a good team and playing east teams. Eastern Washington is just playing really, really well. All of the little things that make a team hard to beat, they do them. They aren’t “merely” some uber physicalbteam that can just blow through outmatched opponents. Everything they do is COACHABLE. And their baby faced coach seems to be very good at working with people. I love his demeanor.

Nichols is way above Houston Christian in the NET, so HCU must have played a heck of a game to be in it. HCU loves to run. Sharp Gym isn’t much, but at least they removed the stage on the end. I do like to follow the Huskies though. They are a punchy little school.

I knew Minnesota was in bad shape when they struggled with a very mediocre WAC team in California Baptist. But what’s funnier perhaps, (keep in mind I’m a WAC guy) is that when I saw how Minnesota looked on court, and then Cal Bap didn’t beat them, my thought was actually that CBU must not be very good, if they couldn’t beat that mess. And I was right. Even in the WAC CBU isn’t a good team. And then Chicago State had Minnesota on the ropes in the final seconds. The Gophers did get a 3 point win at home there.

WVU is a tricky team. Their record isn’t great but their losses are to mostly excellent teams. Their NET is around 25. OU would be expected to lose to them. It was in dramatic fashion though. But WVU can be really tough at home.

Just my thoughts on some games you highlighted.