A Grip on Sports: Eastern advances in Boise by shutting down NAU’s long-range offense
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Who needs offense? The Eastern Eagles seemed to be out to prove they didn’t yesterday. And they were right. They held off Northern Arizona 66-60 in the Big Sky Conference quarterfinals Thursday in Boise. Now a familiar foe awaits in the semis.
•••••••
• If you were to give Eastern Washington basketball coach Shantay Legans a multiple-choice quiz with just one question, “How has your team lost seven times this season,” the answer would be pretty obvious.
No not, A) Covid issues, though the Eagles had their share of those. And no, it wouldn’t be, B) poor shooting, because EWU rarely has troubles there. Forget, C) officiating, as no coach uses that old crutch.
The answer would be, D) defensive breakdowns.
When the Eagles were struggling, they were having trouble guarding people.
So Legans did something about it midway through the season. He changed his starting lineup, altered the bench rotation and began giving more minutes to players who were willing to work on the defensive end. And the Eagles’ fortunes soared.
Nothing illustrates that more than Thursday’s win. Northern Arizona was 8-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half of their win over Portland State on Wednesday. Luke Avdalovic hit 7 3-pointers in the game and the Lumberjacks rolled 77-66.
Against Eastern, NAU hit just 4-of-19 long-range shots, something it would have trouble overcoming, especially if the Eagles were rolling offensively as they usually do.
They weren’t. But they were good enough. Thanks in large part to the best sixth-man in the Big Sky, Tyler Robertson. He came off the bench, hit two big early 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points.
On the other end, Jacob Davison, who saw his playing time melt away this year mainly due to not being locked in defensively, certainly was Wednesday. He was part of the effort that held Avdalovic to one 3-point attempt.
It’s just another example why Legans is such a well-thought-of coach. And why Eastern, with its tight finances, will have trouble keeping him. That’s sad, because over the past decade Legans has built quite a few relationships throughout the region. But that’s also the way of the college hoops world.
• It’s been almost two years since there has been an NCAA Tournament basketball game. Two years. And now the champion from that 2019 tournament may not be able to be on the court to defend its crown.
Virginia, which won the ACC regular season title and emerged victorious in the conference tournament quarterfinals yesterday with a last-second 3-pointer (by Reece Beekman, whose brother Bryce, a WSU football player, died almost a year ago in Pullman), will not play tonight. One of its players tested positive. And it’s a player who, according to CBS Sports, played Thursday.
Being that the NCAA is demanding seven consecutive virus-free tests from anyone headed to Indiana, the Cavaliers’ participation is in doubt. They are the second school to pull out of the ACC’s tournament, after Duke had to when, reportedly, a Blue Devil walk-on tested positive.
The positive tests are also a warning to everyone, including top-ranked Gonzaga and Eastern Washington, that one positive test could derail what has been a special year on the court – and an awful one off of it.
Part of that “awful” is the decision of conferences, including the Pac-12 and Big Sky, to play their conference tournaments this week. After the NCAA announced its seven-day policy months ago, every conference should have worked with their hosts and broadcasts partners to move up their tournaments, giving them a window this week. That would have allowed them a buffer in case what has happened, happened. Now there isn’t one.
The Cavaliers could just be contact-traced out of the tournament. The more than likely outcome, however, is they will be placed in a Saturday-Monday region, possibly with Gonzaga. (The Zags, who will be the No. 1 seed, will play those days because the play-in games are scheduled for Thursday this year and those teams, one of which will be GU’s opponent, have Friday off.)
Such circumstances could have been avoided with a little forethought, a rare commodity indeed in college athletics.
•••
Gonzaga: We mentioned above how many relationships Shantay Legans has built in the area. An example of such relationship-building can be found at Gonzaga as well in the form of former player Robert Sacre. There was some news announced yesterday concerning Sacre. He will take on the role of general manager of a Canadian Elite Basketball League team, the Frasier Valley Bandits. But don’t despair friends of Sacre, he’s staying in Spokane. Jim Meehan explains how that will work in this story.
WSU: The Washington State Board of Regents met Thursday and part of its discussion included the athletic department’s growing deficit. Pat Chun told the group it has reached $31.7 million this fiscal year. Greg Mason covered the meeting. One thought on the deficit from someone who studied WSU’s books for years: The university “loans” the department money to pay its bills. Those “loans,” which are going to exceed $100 million before it’s over, will never be paid back – without a miracle. … Around the Pac-12 and college basketball, the state of Oregon is the centerpiece of conference hoops right now. Oregon State upset UCLA in overtime, rallying back from a 16-point deficit. The Bruins will limp into the NCAA tourney, if they get there at all. … Oregon routed Arizona State and now will meet their in-state rivals for a tournament finals berth. … It took USC two overtimes to dispatch Utah, the conference’s most maddening team. Now the Trojans face their stumbling block, Colorado. … The Buffs had to hold off California to get to the semis. The Bears had a shot at the end. … In football news, Sept. 11 will be a big day for the conference with three high-profile nonconference games scheduled. … Oregon State’s trustees will look into F. King Alexander’s past.
EWU: As we mentioned above, the Eagles won. Ryan Collingwood has our coverage. Tonight, Eastern faces Montana, the Eagles’ bête noire in this tournament for years. It will be interesting to see if they can get by the Griz and earn another shot at the NCAA Tournament in the finals. … The Eastern wheelchair basketball team is headed to the national tournament as the fifth seed. Ryan also has a story on one of EWU’s most successful group of athletes. … Around the Big Sky, Montana moved into the semifinals in Boise by driving past Weber State. … In the other semi, Southern Utah, which defeated Northern Colorado, will face Montana State, which defeated Idaho State.
Idaho: Once again the Vandals will be playing for an NCAA berth, facing Idaho State in the Big Sky finals this morning. Ryan has more in this story.
Preps: The big news around Washington yesterday was the governor’s announcement concerning COVID-19 restrictions. They will ease soon. Dave Nichols explains how that will impact high school sports and other areas. … Dave also has a roundup of Thursday’s prep action.
Mariners: The M’s will be able to have fans at their games, including Opening Night. That’s not good news for the cardboard-cutout industry. It will, however, bring joy to fans. Up to 9,000 of them can shuffle into T-Mobile. … The Athletic’s Corey Brock looks at spring training thus far. … Jake Fraley finally crushed the ball yesterday as the M’s tied another game.
Seahawks: Who is going to play cornerback for the Hawks?
Sounders: Jordan Morris is working on a comeback already.
•••
• Will you attend a game if given the chance this spring or summer? Or are you now a watch-on-TV person? If you do venture out and see me, don’t forget to mention my hair. Yep, after a year of growing it out – thanks virus – I finally got it cut yesterday. The women who did it at The Barbers did an outstanding job. And probably took another 10 minutes to sweep up my gray locks off the floor. There was so much hair. But I recognize myself in the mirror again. Until later …