Call it a black WAC Saturday

This was not a good Saturday night for the WAC.

The contest that astounded us the most was Hawaii's 79-62 defeat to UC Riverside. The Highlanders -- at home -- won both 20 minute sessions, 34-20 and 45-42. Matt Gibson was absent for the Rainbow Warriors due to injury and his absence apparently fomented a decline offensively and defensively for Bob Nash's squad.

But Boise State's stinker versus Sienna -- at home -- plus the margin of defeat (93-70), was also an eye-opener. Looking at the split, Sienna outscored the Broncos 45-40 in the first half but put up 48 points to Boise's 30 in the second 20 minutes.

As expected, Fresno State took the measure of visiting Cal Poly 76-70. Also as expected, New Mexico State stomped Long Beach State in Las Cruces 80-48 (we understand the travel and location constraints involved in some of the BrackBuster matchups but there was no reason to even hold this game). In that one, Long Beach missed its first 14 shots and was out-rebounded 55-26.

At home, Irvine beat Idaho 69-55, with the margin somewhat surprising. Samford took overtime to beat Louisiana Tech 73-70 in Ruston.

Utah State topped UC Santa Barbara 72-59 Friday night in Logan.

The following game also really hurts, really making it truly a black Saturday for the WAC. Nevada shocked us with this one:

Pack drubbed by So. Illinois
Steve Sneddon
Reno Gazette-Journal
February 23, 2008

CARBONDALE, Ill. — After the first 14 minutes, the Nevada basketball team wasn’t in the game, nowhere to be seen.

The Wolf Pack was pushed and shoved out of the ESPNU picture by a merciless Southern Illinois defense. Randal Falker scored 17 points and the Saluki defense did the rest with 14 steals in Southern Illinois’ 74-49 BracketBuster win in front of 7,321 fans at SIU Arena on Saturday afternoon,

“We got outplayed. We got outcoached,” Nevada coach Mark Fox said. “We got out every-thinged.”

The 25-point loss was one of the worst for Nevada this season, second only to a 106-70 loss at then-No.1 ranked North Carolina on Dec. 27. It was a season scoring low for the Pack, which previously hadn’t been held to less than 55 points. Nevada also equaled its season high with 21 turnovers.

“We were pretty much careless with the ball and they capitalized on it,” Pack senior Marcelus Kemp said.

Kemp said Southern Illinois was the best defensive team that Nevada has played this season.

“They’re real physical, everybody,” Kemp said. “They get away with a lot of fouls. That’s how this (Missouri Valley) league is. It’s how they play. We weren’t ready for it. The coaches told us, but we weren’t ready for it...”

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