Week 1 Thoughts, Rough Tuesday Night, DON'T LOSE HOME GAMES
Week 1 Thoughts, Rough Tuesday Night, DON'T LOSE HOME GAMES
Week one of the 2023-24 season is now behind us. Okay, about two days behind us. And for all intents and purposes, it was kind of a wild week.
Abilene Christian got things off to a big start with a win at Oklahoma State. Naudia Evans and the GCU women had an epic comeback win over Saint Mary’s on Opening Day.
There were the usual wins over non-Division I opponents, mixed in with some different results against Division I competition. Tyon Grant-Foster made his presence known to the WAC with a 30-point performance in his first game as a Lope.
New head coach KT Turner got his first win as UT Arlington won 75-71 over Oral Roberts in one of the better games of Opening Night.
There have been multiple overtime games throughout the first week, some surprising results, and some disappointing losses.
Let’s break down some thoughts.
Best Win:
Men - Abilene Christian 64, Oklahoma State 59
A win over a Power Conference team is always big. In the case of ACU, it was a good start to what could be a special year in West Texas. The Wildcats led wire-to-wire and the game was never really as close as the final score indicates. Ali Dibba had a team-high 15 points in the win including a two-handed dunk late in the game.
Women: California Baptist 76, San Diego State 68
Jarrod Olson continues to show that no matter who is in a Lancer uniform, the CBU women’s basketball team just continues to win. San Diego State was a top-100 NET team in 2022-23. Plus, the Lancers lost quite a few pieces from a 22-win team.
But, the Lancers are 2-0 with both wins coming on the road. Chloe Webb had a team-high 20 points in the win. Four other Lancers were in double figures, as well. Grace Schmidt, fresh off a 19-point performance against UC San Diego, had 16 points in the win.
Top Performers
Tyon Grant-Foster - GCU
30 points in your first game in a new uniform? Check. Electrifying a fan base on Opening Night? Check. Going for double figures again in your second game in a year? Check.
Week one was special for Grant-Foster. Not just because he put on an offensive clinic against SEMO and NAU. But, because Grant-Foster played his first games in a little less than a year after sitting out most of 2022-23 with an injury.
Grant-Foster went 10-15 from the field in the season opener while also having three steals in the win. With Grant-Foster and Ray Harrison, GCU has some big time scoring options.
DaJuan Gordon - UT Arlington
24 points in his first game as a Maverick. 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four steals in his second game.
Yeah, those stats earned the former New Mexico State guard WAC Player of the Week honors.
Gordon was the catalyst in UT Arlington pulling off the win over Oral Roberts to welcome in the KT Turner era. And on Saturday, Gordon had a double double in just 23 minutes. Sure, it was a non-Division I opponent. But, that’s pretty efficient.
Gordon and the Mavs have a big week at New Mexico and at Arizona.
Grace Schmidt - California Baptist
The member of the Preseason All-WAC Team has had a really good start in year two at California Baptist.
Schmidt went for a team-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds in a road win to open the 2023-24 season. Four days later, at San Diego State, Schmidt had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Had it not been for then-SFA guard Jordan Harrison, Schmidt would have been the 2022-23 WAC Freshman of the Year. So far, to start 2023-24, Schmidt is showing she wasn’t a one-hit wonder.
Breaunna Gillen - Utah Tech
The Preseason Player of the Year has picked up right where she left off in 2022-23.
Gillen is a triple-double waiting to happen. And in the season opener against LaVerne, Gillen had 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Yes, it was against a non-Division I opponent. But a triple-double is still remarkable. Three nights later against Jacksonville State, Gillen had 21 points eight rebounds and four assists.
The senior guard was named the WAC Player of the Week for her performance.
WAC vs. Conference USA Update
Thus far, we have had eight games in the WAC/Conference USA Scheduling Initiative.
Four men’s games and four women’s games.
Here are the results.
Men:
Tarleton 82, FIU 65
Middle Tennessee 67, SFA 62 - Overtime
Utah Tech 81, Jacksonville State 79 - Overtime
Women:
Utah Tech 73, Jacksonville State 58
Liberty 84, SFA 81 - Overtime
Western Kentucky 76, Southern Utah 62
FIU 65, UTRGV 64
As you can see, on the men’s side, road teams were pretty good. On the women’s side, road teams were pretty good. Road teams are a combined 6-2 thus far through eight games.
Second Tuesday of 2023-24 Season Was Rough
I got home from a long trip to Texas to cover four games plus go watch the Dallas Cowboys with some friends at Texas Live on Sunday. Lots of driving. Late nights. Finally getting home around 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
I turned on ESPN+ on my multi-view unit to watch multiple games at the same time. Perhaps I should have went to bed instead.
Outside of perhaps one, maybe two games, it was blowout city on a winless night for the WAC.
Two games were close. Both of which ended in losses. One of which was a bad home loss.
I’ve been covering the WAC since 2014 and I am not sure I have seen as bad of a night as it was on Tuesday. The men were 0-4 and the women were 0-4.
The ACU men lost at home, 79-74. And the Southern Utah men lost 93-84 at Utah State. Those were the two closest games of the night.
23 and 33 were the margin of loss in the other two men’s games. 46, 15, 28, and 33 were the margin of loss in the four women’s games.
Just a tough night all around. Here is to hoping for a better WAC Wednesday.
DON’T LOSE AT HOME!
Just a reminder for everyone who follows along: DON’T LOSE AT HOME!
This rings especially true when you play against teams you are supposed to beat.
Yes, I am looking at the ACU Wildcats. 16.5-point favorites at home against a sub-300 KenPom opponent in Prairie View A&M.
That 79-74 loss on Tuesday night is going to sting come March when looking at the WAC Resume Seeding System.
Remember, losses at home are a significant hit to your point total. Second, because Prairie View A&M was ranked so low in KenPom, it will be even more of a hit. I would say upward of -.85 points. That is huge because there aren’t a ton of opportunities to make that up.
Just ask the SFA men’s basketball team how that played out in 2022-23. The Jacks lost at home to Northwestern State and Alcorn State and never really made up those points.
Don’t lose at home. It will be the difference between a top-2 and a middle-6 seed.