The WCC Basketball Tournament continues, coming off one of the more thrilling conference tourney games of this cycle, with Pacific winning 61-58 over Seattle U to end the night. They, along with San Francisco (82-65 win over Portland), move on to the quarterfinals of the tournament, taking on two teams who finished in the top half of the standings.
San Francisco (16-15, 8-10) vs Oregon State (16-15, 9-9) - 8:30 pm ET. ESPN2
Prior matchups
- Oregon State won 70-62 on Dec 30
- Oregon State won 90-63 on Feb 12
First-team All-WCC guard Josiah Lake was solid in both wins for the Beavers, averaging 15 ppg and 5.0 apg in the two wins. He, Isaiah Sy, and Dez White all were in double figures for Oregon State, which they needed, considering that they were one of the worst offenses in the regular season.Â
The Dons have largely underachieved this season but still have potential. David Fuchs is coming off a 23-point and 16-rebound performance against Portland, while Tyrone Riley (11.9 ppg) is having his best stretch of play in league play, coming off four straight double-digit outings.
Prediction: Oregon State has already decided on HC Wayne Tinkle, moving on after their season is over. Will that be on Sunday? I’ll pick against it, as the Dons have struggled versus good defenses and compared to the Pilots, the Beavers are one. It’ll be tighter than the last matchup but look for the Beavers to move on to the semis.
Oregon State 68, San Francisco 61
Pacific (18-14, 8-10) vs Santa Clara (24-7, 15-3) - 11 pm ET. (approx) ESPN2
Prior matchups
- Santa Clara won 85-69 on Jan 14
- Santa Clara won 71-56 on Feb 4
Picked to finish near the bottom of the conference, Pacific has been a nice surprise overall. All-league forward Elias Ralph (16.5 ppg and 6.8 rpg) had 15 points and seven rebounds against the Redhawks and is their featured best player but will need help, as no one else for the Tigers reached double figures last game.
Santa Clara may not have gotten all the byes possible, but they’re in the top tier of the league and the clear best team playing on Sunday. They led the WCC with a trio of first-teamers, including Christian Hammond (15.9 ppg), Elijah Mahi (14.0 ppg), and Allen Graves (11.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg).
Prediction: The key to this game will be how the Broncos handle Ralph. In the previous two matchups, the star Tiger combined to produce 28 points and eight rebounds, which wasn’t good enough to keep the games close. As good a story as Pacific was this season, it’ll come to an end against the Broncos.
Santa Clara 82, Pacific 65