Five takeaways from the first weekend of West Coast Conference action

By CURRAN McCAULEY

After the first weekend of non-conference competition, WCC teams have started to give their first impressions. With tough tests and cupcake games alike, we learned some key things about the teams in the wild West Coast Conference. Here are five main takeaways from the first slate of games.

 

1. We’ll have to wait for Gonzaga to face a tough test – No. 9 Gonzaga’s showdown with Pittsburgh of the ACC was halted with the Bulldogs trailing at halftime due to slippery court conditions caused by humidity at Okinawa’s Foster Field House. Kyle Wiltjer had 15 points in the half, which will not count in the standings or statistics. After welcoming Northern Arizona and Mount Saint Mary’s to the Kennel, Gonzaga’s next real roadblock will be against Washington the day before Thanksgiving in Paradise Island, Bahamas. The 9:00 am PT contest is part of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

2. Santa Clara is still looking for a win, consistency – The Broncos dropped all three games in their annual host tournament, the Cable Car Classic as Lipscomb, Denver and Milwaukee all posted victories at the Leavy Center. An early bright spot, freshman KJ Feagin out of Long Beach Poly has averaged 11.7 points per game, including 26 against Milwaukee on Sunday. It’s been a struggle early for Santa Clara. On Saturday, a Denver squad picked second-to-last in the Summit held SCU to just 33 points.

3. Pepperdine has an uphill battle to break the WCC’s “Big 3” – In a game that Pickin’ Splinters was in attendance for at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Pepperdine let turnovers and poor shot selection doom their chances against a Fresno State squad led by Mountain West Player of the Year Marvelle Harris. Stacy Davis had a game-high four turnovers in the contest, including one on the final possession, as Pepperdine had a final attempt to tie the contest. Junior guard Jeremy Major looks like a key component of the Waves offense after posting a double double (17 pts, 10 rebs). Fresno State Head Coach Rodney Terry praised his team’s ability to limit Davis and company in the paint, as the Bulldogs forced the Waves into 18 turnovers (15 steals).

4. No surprise, BYU put up eye-popping offensive numbers – Against cross-town rival Utah Valley, BYU cruised to an 85-54 win behind Chase Fischer, who put up 20 points and Utah State transfer Kyle Davis, who had 20 boards to go with 17 points. Kyle Collinsworth? Just a meager 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Long Beach State gets the assignment of trying and stop the Cougars on Monday night during ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon (10:45 pm PST).

5. We don’t really know much of anything yet, and that’s a beautiful thing – The joy of the first week of the season is that it allowed many of the WCC teams to play Non-Division I opponents while others tested themselves against power conference programs (Pacific at Arizona, San Diego at USC, for example). As we enter the pre-season tournament dockets and some of the key December games, we’ll be able to formulate a bit more of how the conference will shake out. Gonzaga has a perennial target on its back, and this year will be no different. Expect the ‘Zags search for the Final Four to dominate the WCC headlines as BYU, Saint Mary’s and Pepperdine quietly stake claims at NCAA tournament glory. Enjoy it WCC fans, March will be here before you know it!