Vegas Line at this writing: BYU -8.5 (No Total at this writing)
The second game of the West Coast Conference semi-finals features the 17-14 (7-11) Portland Pilots taking on the 24-8 (13-5) BYU Cougars. The sixth-seeded Pilots unexpectedly crushed St Mary’s 69-52 in their quarterfinal game. Portland had four players scoring in double-digits while holding the Gaels to just 30.2% shooting from the field. The second-seeded Cougars needed a jumper from Tyler Haws with 2.5 seconds
left to down Santa Clara in their quarter. Haws finished with 30 in the win which featured little defense.
BYU is 10-1 straight up in the recent meetings in the series. The Coogs swept the season series this year winning 97-88 (-9.5, No Total) in Salt Lake and then taking the road leg 82-69 (-2.5, 155.5) at the Chiles Center. Portland had lost four straight SU and ATS prior to upsetting St Mary’s. The Under is 7-3 in the Pilots last ten. BYU has won seven straight (6-1 ATS) including a 73-30 road upset of Gonzaga in their season finale. A win here would likely set up a rematch with the Zags. The Under is 5-1 in the Cougars L6.
The WCC tournament is played in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena, a venue that seats around 9500 and is located about two miles West of the Thomas and Mack on Tropicana. BYU travels well although that hasn’t translated well in recent tournament action. The crowd will be 50% Gonzaga fans staying over from the first game.
Portland:
It’s been a somewhat disappointing season for Portland this year as the team started the year with higher expectations in returning four pretty good starters. To be fair, the Pilots have battled injuries to key players throughout the year but have the capabilities of putting big efforts together on occasion. The Pilots were set to feature a pretty good front court but their two leading scorers are guards Kevin Bailey (15.0, 2.7, 2.0 ) and Alec Wintering (12.6, 2.9, 5.8). Wintering is a 5’10” sophomore that shoots 49% from beyond the arc. Euros Thomas van der Mars (10.3, 8.0) Volodymyr Gerun (8.3, 6.0) are the bigs in the paint.
BYU:
The Cougars start and end with 6’5′ shooting guard Tyler Haws. A four year starter, Haws has had an epic career at BYU averaging 19.5, 4.3, 1.8 over 136 games. He’s knocked down 719 of 814 career free throws good for 88.3%. This year Haws is averaging 22.2, 4.8, 2.2 and shooting 47% from the lead. He’s the BYU leader and go to guy. Kyle Collinsworth (13.6, 8.6, 5.7) is a 6’6″ all purpose swingman who will take over for Haws next year. Anson Winder (13.1) and Chase Fischer (12.7) are the other notables. The Cougars allow 72.1 ppg. on defense, good for 125th in Div I. The Coogs play to outscore you.
Allen’s Angles
Portland is 3-1 in neutral court games this year
The Pilots are 10-19 ATS the L3 years with short rest, 4-7 this year
Portland is 8-4 as a dog this year
The Under is 10-3 in the Pilots L13 off a conference win
The Cougars are 4-14 ATS in their bL18 neutral court games, 1-3 this year
BYU is 8-22 ATS in L30 tournament games, 0-5 L3 years, 0-1 this year
The Over is 4-0 in the Cougars four tournament games this year
The Over is 6-3 this year when BYU is off short rest