mark pope – Rush The Court

This Year’s WAC May Be Better Than You Think

Tommy Lemoine — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 16:01:39 +0000

Utah Valley’s opening weekend road trip to Kentucky and Duke — dubbed the “toughest 24 hours in college basketball” — started out with a bang for Mark Pope’s upstart program: The Wolverines stormed out to a nine-point halftime lead in Rupp Arena, led by as many 12, and stayed within single digits for much of the second half. Big Blue eventually came back and won, of course, but not before a speechless crowd — and a stunned coach — took notice: “This team, Utah Valley, they’re going to win their share of games now. They’re big… they have got a [...]

SEC Weekend Preview: Opening Night Edition

David Changas — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 16:31:53 +0000

It has been a long time since there has been so much excitement surrounding the start of SEC basketball. With so many of the league’s football programs struggling and the promise of widespread improvement across the conference on the hardwood — not to mention the specter of an ongoing FBI investigation hanging over a few schools — everyone is ready to start playing. As we open the season at 13 of the SEC’s 14 schools tonight, let’s look ahead to this evening’s most intriguing match-ups:

Texas A&M vs. West Virginia – ESPN, 6:00 PM. This is the marquee game of opening [...]

O26 Feast Week in Review: Winners, Losers and a Little Extra Stuffing

Tommy Lemoine — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 21:31:25 +0000

With December nearly upon us and early-season narratives finally taking shape, let’s take a moment to assess which O26 teams fared well—and which didn’t—during last week’s onslaught of holiday hoops.

Winners

Gonzaga looked every bit like a Top 10 team during Feast Week. (ZagsMBB/Twitter)

Gonzaga (6-0). Despite blowing a 15-point halftime lead against #21 Iowa State on Sunday, Gonzaga won the AdvoCare Invitational title and now owns one of the best resumes in college basketball. In addition to its early-season drubbing of San Diego State (a win which should only gain in value as the season progresses), the Bulldogs beat previously-undefeated [...]

RTC Summer Updates: West Coast Conference

Brian Goodman — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:06:40 +0000

With the completion of the NBA Draft and the annual coaching and transfer carousels nearing their ends, RTC is rolling out a new series, RTC Summer Updates, to give you a crash course on each Division I conference during the summer months. Our first update is from the West Coast Conference and comes courtesy of Will Green, an editor and writer with The Slipper Still Fits.

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Summer Storylines

Brigham Young University Joins The Conference: When this story was first reported back in September, it was largely forgotten. BYU’s move was a [...]