The Vandal men’s basketball team plays 10 games during finals week and winter break. Here are five of the games to look the most forward to.
Dec. 9 at Oregon State University
The Beavers look to be one of the Pac-12 conference’s driving forces this season and are led by one of the conference’s most lethal players in Jared Cunningham. Coming off a season in which the junior was named to the All-Pac-10 second team and All-Pac-10 defensive team, Cunningham averages 19.9 points per game — No. 27 in the nation.
The Beavers’ only loss was a two-point decision to then No. 22 Vanderbilt and the Beavers have a 100-point overtime win against the Texas Longhorns. Oregon State is coached by fourth-year coach Craig Robinson, brother of first lady Michelle Obama.
Dec. 11 at Seattle University
This will be a good test for the Redhawks, who join the WAC next season. The teams played a home-away series last year, and the home team won each contest. Seattle University is 2-4 so far, the two wins coming against Evergreen State and Montana State, two teams the Vandals have squared up against and beaten this season.
Sophomore Sterling Carter posted 18 points in the teams’ most recent clash, a 78-69 Vandal win last March. Carter is only averaging 12 minutes per game and 3.8 points per game this season and the Redhawks are coming off consecutive losses to Stanford and Harvard.
Seattle University has scheduled three other WAC opponents and will be itching to see where it stands among future conference foes.
Dec. 21 vs. Boise State at the Idaho Center in Nampa
The rivalry is back and better than ever. The Idaho Center, a neutral location, will host the former WAC rivals looking to steal the state’s bragging rights for another year. The Broncos are 8-1 but with the exception of Long Beach State, have yet to face a quality opponent.
Expect to see a few more losses prior to the rivalry game though, as the Broncos will face Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, Fresno State at home and Iowa in Iowa City before meeting the Vandals. A road game at future WAC member University of Denver won’t be a cakewalk either.
The Broncos have won two consecutive against their rivals from the north and Anthony Drmic, a freshman from Melbourne, Australia has been their most consistent scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game. Boise State is No. 9 in the nation with 84 points per game. Just one Bronco, guard Tre Nichols stands shorter than 6 feet. Nine Broncos are at least 6-feet-5-inches tall.
Jan. 5 vs. Nevada
Opening up WAC play at home against the preseason conference champions — and Don Verlin isn’t complaining. An upset here would reiterate the fact that the WAC title is vacant this season, and is something four or five teams may have the opportunity to claim come March.
Not only are the Wolf Pack picked to win the conference by the coaches, sophomore guard Deonte Burton is the coaches’ preseason player of the year. Nevertheless, Nevada has taken the steps necessary to prepare for another excruciating WAC campaign, having already beaten two Pac-12 teams: Washington and Arizona State. Losses to UNLV and Missouri State opened the season for the Wolf Pack but have been excusable due to six wins in their past seven games, the only other loss coming from national powerhouse BYU.
Nevada will be favored to win the next four games and could be 10-3 prior to its Moscow visit. Idaho had Nevada’s number last year though, coming out on top of both match-ups against the Wolf Pack.
Jan. 14 at New Mexico State
Coach Verlin had good reason to say the Aggies are playing in a league of their own and at this point in the season, may be the favorites to sweep the WAC off of their feet and take home the conference championship. New Mexico Sate, currently 5-3, won its first four before dropping a game to Southern Miss.
The Aggies then beat University of San Francisco and fell again to Southern Miss prior to a loss at the hands of Arizona. The Aggies however, will be favored in their next nine games before they open the WAC season against Utah State.
Wendell McKines leads the Aggies with 18.1 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game followed by Christian Kabongo with 16.1 points per game. Idaho and the rest of the WAC will be fortunate to wait one more year to face 7-foot-4-inch recruit Sim Bhullar, who will walk on to the team next fall, but the Aggies are undoubtedly one of the league’s top contenders.