WCC Risers: Loyola Marymount & Santa Clara Breakdown
Deep dive into Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara's undefeated starts. Complete analysis of WCC's rising contenders for NCAA Tournament at-large bids.
The West Coast Conference could not be starting off better than it is this season. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, and Loyola Marymount all are undefeated as of November 20th. San Francisco is 4-1 with a six point loss to Memphis on the road. Only Washington State, Pepperdine, and Pacific have more than one loss at 1-3, 3-2, and 3-2 respectively.
In the last season with Gonzaga, there was a push to see if the WCC could reach a three-bid status and it’s well on its way with the likes of Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, and San Francisco all looking like legitimate threats in the conference early in the season.
I want to take some time and look at Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara in particular. The LMU Lions are off to their best start since the 2018-2019 season, while Santa Clara is off to their best start since the 2023-2024 season. Let’s dive into what is fueling these two teams’ surgency.
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Loyola Marymount
The Loyola Marymount Lions currently sit at 107th in KenPom and 6-0 on the season. Their two key wins are over Troy 74-63, who just took down San Diego State on the road, and UC Santa Barbara 78-74, who many believe will win the Big West this season. Looking from a metrics perspective, here’s where they sit:
76th in defensive adjusted efficiency
60th in opponent effective field goal percentage
69th in opponent offensive rebounding percentage
138th in opponent 3pt percentage
43rd in opponent 2pt percentage
151st in offensive adjusted efficiency
40th in effective field goal percentage
18th in 3pt percentage
137th in 2pt percentage
They don’t do one thing particularly at an outstanding level, but their defense is definitely their strong helping hand. UC Santa Barbara is one of the best offensive teams outside of the power conference ranks this season, ranking in the top 100 overall and top 20 of three-point percentage. Against the Lions, they shot just 29% on 28 attempts. Aidan Mahaney and Miro Little combined for just 3-12 shooting from three-point. Similarly, Troy has scored 100+ points twice already in just six games, but against Loyola Marymount they mustered just 63 points while shooting 30% on 23 attempts from beyond the arc.
Stan Johnson has the Lions leaning into a slower, methodical offense with a focus on winning through their defensive strength. They’ve scored 80+ twice so far, once against a non-division one school, and another against Arkansas Pine Bluff which ranked 363rd in KenPom at the time of the game. There is a large focus on closing off the lanes, forcing the other team to take contested shots from outside. In four of their five wins against DI teams, they’ve forced their opponents to shoot 30% or below from outside. The incredible thing is, they don’t have a massive presence in the paint. They have three players at 6’10 or higher, but none average more than 15 minutes per game despite rick Issanza starting in all six games thus far. Rather, the Lions are thriving off running with a small, more athletic team that play lockdown defense.
Jan Vide has been incredible for the Lions thus far. Vide started his career at UCLA before transferring to Loyola Marymount last year. He was a solid role player off the bench, but he’s flourished into one of their most important players. He is averaging 15.2 points and six assists per game, while turning it over just 2.4 times per game. Through five games, he already has nearly half of the assists he had the entire year last season. In fact, his absurd assist rate of 45.7% is currently 8th in the country.
Myron Amey Jr. has been the glue to this team. He’s averaging 17.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists thus far while shooting 49.4% overall and 42.6% from beyond the arc. He came up huge with 29 points against UC Santa Barbara in their overtime win. Most notably, he’s coming off the bench while being one of the most impactful players on the court and the team’s leading scorer. His 61.3% effective field goal percentage is 236th in the country, and he’s doing practically nothing wrong. He has a 119.6 offensive rating, a 12.7% assist rate compared to just an 8.2% turnover rate. He rarely fouls. He’s been nearly perfect so far through six games.
Looking ahead, the Lions round out their non-conference schedule with Florida Atlantic, the winner of George Mason or Ohio, Stony Brook, Saint Louis, UC San Diego, North Alabama, and Morgan State. This isn’t an easy slate by any means. If the Lions can come out of the next five games at either 4-1 or 3-2, fans should be thrilled with how the rest of the season is going to be shaping up.
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Santa Clara
The Santa Clara broncos sit at 5-0 on the season with wins over McNeese, Xavier, Nevada, Idaho State, and a non-division one win over Cal Poly Humboldt. Their two wins over Xavier and Nevada were in dominating fashion, beating the Musketeers by 19 and the Wolf Pack by 15. The Broncos currently sit at 71st in KenPom, and here is their underlying metrics:
91st in defensive adjusted efficiency
78th in opponent effective field goal percentage
113th in opponent 3pt percentage
70th in opponent 2pt percentage
10th in opponent block percentage
41st in opponent steal percentage
58th in offensive adjusted efficiency
105th in effective field goal percentage
7th in offensive rebounding percentage
128th in 3pt percentage
108th in 2pt percentage
They essentially are similar to Loyola Marymount, but flipped where they lean more on their offense to win games, while their defense remains adequate enough. On offense, they put a huge emphasis on maintaining control of the ball, blocking out for the rebound, and making smart shot selections. It’s so early in the season that one game can skew a team’s metrics, and that’s what is happening a bit with Idaho State. Is was an ugly offensive game as they shot just 15.4% on 26 attempts from 3pt, but in the prior four games the Broncos scored 79+ points and shot well.
Herb Sendek has changed up his coaching style a little bit this season. The Broncos typically run a quicker offense under Sendek. Since 2020, they’ve finished in the top 90 of adjusted tempo each season, but they currently sit at 164th. They are holding onto the ball longer, focusing more on taking an effective shot rather than forcing bad shot selections. It’s working so far and Sendek has the talent around the team to support this system.
Christian Hammond has been better than the Broncos could have asked for coming into his sophomore season. The 6’4 guard is averaging 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 49.2% overall and 35.3% from three-point. He already has a 125.2 offensive rating, a 58.8% true shooting percentage, a 13.3% defensive rebounding percentage, and a 16.1% assist rate. He’s starting to put himself on the map, and I only foresee that continuing to become the case moving forward. I’ve tried to watch the Broncos a handful of times and each game Hammond looks controlled on offense for his age. He struggled a bit against Idaho State, but everyone did offensively in that game. I’d like to see him improve from three-point, but he has plenty of time. He’s a strong slasher and I love his mid-range game. Check out these highlights from the Nevada game below (Video Credit: @nik_kohek on Twitter):
Allen Graves is a redshirt freshman that absolutely no one is talking about right now. The 6’9 forward is averaging 7.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, two steals, and nearly one block per game. Of those 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 are offensive. Offensively, he’s shooting 41.7% overall and he has knocked down a couple of three point shots. His 18.9% offensive rebounding percentage is 23rd in the country, his 23.9% defensive rebounding percentage is 111th, his 5% block percentage is 239th, and his 5.7% steal percentage is 37th. Needless to say, this kid is having an insane defensive and rebounding start to his most likely very successful career. I will say, coming out of high school he was named Max Preps Louisiana Player of the year, Mr. Basketball, and Mr. Louisiana. He held also held an offer from Texas A&M, but otherwise he was underrated. He’s appearing to be a steal for the Broncos.
If you think Graves’ defensive stats are absurd, wait until you see Bukky Oboye. Oboye is a 7’1 sophomore that has truly only played since Xavier, but he’s dominated. Against Nevada, he racked up 22 points with 7 blocks against the Wolf Pack. Through those three games, he has a 24.4% block percentage. Then you have Tierry Darian who has a 6.8% block percentage, a 5.2% offensive rebounding percentage, and a 15.2% defensive rebounding percentage. Overall, this is a young team with a tremendous amount of talent on both ends of the court.
The Broncos round out their non-conference schedule with some huge opportunities. They’ll take on Louisiana, Saint Louis, the winner of Stanford and Minnesota, Utah Tech, New Mexico, Arizona State, North Texas, and Loyola Chicago before opening up WCC play against Oregon State. If they play their cards right, they could easily sneak into at-large conversations once we get closer to March.
Love it need a 3-bid WCC in March! Keep up the good week appreciate everything you guys do