2022-23 WAC MBB Week #20 Post Season Tournaments Cont’d

March 20th – Monday
#4 Southern Utah vs. #12 Rice – CBI – Quarterfinals @ The Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, FL (FloHoops)

March 21st – Tuesday
#4 Southern Utah vs. #8 Eastern Kentucky – CBI – Semifinals @ The Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, FL (ESPN2)

March 22nd – Wednesday
#6 Utah Valley vs. #4 Cincinnati – NIT – Quarterfinals @ UCCU Center, Orem, UT (ESPN2)

Rice is a strange team. They do have some nice wins and they took Texas to OT, so they can clearly play. But they have also barely squeaked by some really poor teams and have definitely lost a lot of games they were capable of winning.

It was early in the season, but they lost to the WCC’s worst team, 9-22 (2-14 WCC) Pepperdine by almost 40. They beat Prairie View and Houston Christian by less than 10 points. Yikes.

At their worst, Rice could get blown out by SUU. At their best, it’s closer to a toss up. It will be an interesting game for sure. In their first round game, Rice beat Duquesne who is about 70 spots higher than Rice in the NET. Duq was 130, Rice 202. Southern Utah is currently 113.

Looking at some facts and figures for Utah Valley versus Cincinnati. UC is 70 NET, UVU is 74. Cincinnati is 23-12 and has played a tougher schedule in the AAC, but versus Tier 1 teams they are 1-7. And they are 2-3 against Tier 2. They are 16-3 at home, 5-6 on the road.

UVU is 1-2 versus Tier 1 and 3-2 against Tier 2. UVU is 13-1 at home, 12-5 on the road.

Cincy fan here.

Was very impressed watching UVU last night. They looked like a very dangerous and balanced team.

Cincy has the athletes to hang with them but I'm afraid their outside shooting could easily go cold like Colorado's did.

Welcome to the WAC board BrooklynRocket. The upcoming game should be a good one. UVU sort of surprised many of us in the WAC. They have a lot of good ingrediants and a great leader in Woodbury. Tell us about Cincy.

Trying to find SUU vs Rice on TV but nothing obvious... however, SUU is up about a dozen with 5 or so minutes to go. WAC looking good.
And SUU pulled it off winning by two, 81-79.

(03-20-2023 12:49 PM)RCI Wrote:  Welcome to the WAC board BrooklynRocket. The upcoming game should be a good one. UVU sort of surprised many of us in the WAC. They have a lot of good ingrediants and a great leader in Woodbury. Tell us about Cincy.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Like UVU, Cincy has played some of their best basketball of the season over their first 2 NIT games.

Here's a breakdown of their top 7 players.

Starting C: Vik Lakhin 6'11... Versatile Russian big who can make a big impact on both ends of the floor... Kinda reminds me of Colorado's center from last night but I think Vik has more upside.... Injured his ankle in early February and hasn't been 100% since but is still playing at a high level.... Will give Bandaogo a run for his money

Starting PF: Ody Oguama 6'9... Very athletic and strong player who can play the 4 or the 5... Limited offensive game but his finishing at the rim has improved dramatically in the 2nd half of the season...

Starting SF: Landers Nolley 6'7... One of the best offensive talents you will see this season... 3-level scorer who shoot with the best of them but also rebound, pass, and defend at a high level when he chooses to do so... emotionally charged player who can be prone to taking bad shots and committing lots of turnovers...

Starting SG: Mika Adams Woods 6'3... High floor-low ceiling player who also shares the PG duties... Very simple offensive game that is limited to shooting open 3s and making the occasional drive to the basket... Reliable on the ball defender...

Starting PG: David DeJulius 6'0... "Heart and soul" of the team... Our most prominent offensive facilitator... Creates well for himself and others... lives and dies by the midrange jump shot... Can sometimes struggle against bigger, physical guards on both ends of the court...

Bench:Jeremiah Davenport 6'7... Back-up 4 who is a volume 3-point shooter and doesn't have much of an offensive game inside the arch... Not a great rebounder or defender...

Bench: Daniel Skillings 6'7... Backs up the 2/3 positions... Raw offensively but has a crafty dribble-drive game and can finish well for a true freshman... Has the potential to be a very good rebounder and defender for his size...

Cincy competed well against every team in their conference aside from the 2 NCAA Tournament teams, Houston and Memphis.

I think the line for this game will be close with the betting favorite only giving a few points.

Great update on Cincy. You guys sound loaded and very well sized. Love the idea of a PG who is the "heart and soul" of the team. They make everyone better for sure. It should be a good game. My suspicion is that the way the officials have been calling things that it will be a rough game for both sides. Today's game is not your Dad's game (or mine for that matter.) With your storied history in the game, I was not surprised to see your university back in the limelight. I go back a long time and Cincinnatti once had this amazing player named Oscar Roberson that played for your university and then for the Royals !!! BTW, I always worry about the elevation issue. Hope you get there early and get acclimatized.

2 OTs.

It was a good run for SUU. They did the WAC proud and fought till the end.

(03-21-2023 08:48 PM)Outsider Wrote:  It was a good run for SUU. They did the WAC proud and fought till the end.

One heck of a game.

Well, it’s over for SUU but they had a good season nonetheless. Let’s hope they get a coach that maintains the momentum they have. They do lose a lot of guys, but have some key guys back as well. It won’t be an empty cupboard.

I don’t know what acting HC Claymans chances are. He’s not from Utah and doesn’t seem to have many connections there. But he is a key Australian connection for SUU’s recruiting and that has paid off very nicely for them.

For those that didn’t watch the game, Cameron Healy was outstanding with 7 3 pointers on 12 attempts. Healy and Drake Allen combined for 55 points.

SUU shot 16/35 from from 3 point land and had 40 bench points.

SUU got hammered at the end of the first OT and no call. With 1.9 seconds left they ran an incredible inbounds play that got the a wide open dunk to tie the game. At the end of the second OT, they call a ticky tack foul that gave EKU 2 free throws that cost SUU the game. Terrible refereeing. Swallow the whistle and let the kids earn the win. Especially in a tourney, especially in double OT.

(03-22-2023 10:03 AM)PojoaquePosse Wrote:  SUU got hammered at the end of the first OT and no call. With 1.9 seconds left they ran an incredible inbounds play that got the a wide open dunk to tie the game. At the end of the second OT, they call a ticky tack foul that gave the 2 free throws that cost SUU the game. Terrible refereeing. Swallow the whistle and let the kids earn the win. Especially in a tourney, especially in double OT.

No disagreement with your post. That was a great inbounds play for the alley pop.

Fierce game between UVU and Cincy going on. Woodbury and Bandaogo playing great for UVU and DeJulius putting on a show for Cincy. 39-33 UVU at half. Apparently Bandaogo is a 7' 230 pound sophomore with two more years -- he is a force.

Congrats to UVU on a great performance and convincing victory. Mark Madsen has done a phonemenal job building that program. I thought they were the better team from start to finish last night. Bandaogo gave our center Vik more fits than I expected. Fuller made our PFs look second rate. Woodbury was the best player on the court. I've watched a lot of good players this year and I think this guy is good enough to be on a NBA roster next season.

It's unfortunate Cincy didn't give themselves the home game they deserved as the higher seed but that's no excuse for a performance where they were clearly second best. I'll be cheering for UVU to take the title home.

(03-23-2023 05:39 AM)BrooklynRocket Wrote:  Congrats to UVU on a great performance and convincing victory. Mark Madsen has done a phonemenal job building that program. I thought they were the better team from start to finish last night. Bandaogo gave our center Vik more fits than I expected. Fuller made our PFs look second rate. Woodbury was the best player on the court. I've watched a lot of good players this year and I think this guy is good enough to be on a NBA roster next season.

It's unfortunate Cincy didn't give themselves the home game they deserved as the higher seed but that's no excuse for a performance where they were clearly second best. I'll be cheering for UVU to take the title home.

You are pure class BrooklynRocket.

Indeed. Refreshing to see, BrooklynRocket -- come back anytime. UVU played lights out last night and earned the victory. Cincy has some very dynamic players and can really shoot well. And, they really play defense. I thought the game was a toss up and suspect the home court helped the winner. Good job on both sides.

Great crowd and great game by UVU last night. Can’t remember the last time I had that much fun watching an NIT game. Both teams battled as Cincy would not go down without a fight. UVU just had an answer every time. Congrats UVU! Gonna be a tough one against UAB but UVU is playing so good right now I think they can take it.