2022 PWL Championships Notes
Thursday, November 24
- 7 p.m. – Fresno State Vanderbilt, ESPNU
- 9:30 p.m. – Championship, Washington Saint Mary’s, ESPN2
Wednesday, November 23 (attendance 2,483)
- Washington 62, Fresno State 55
- Saint Mary’s 75, Vanderbilt 65
SERIES – While Fresno State and Vanderbilt have never played each other on the hardwood, Washington will be seeking its seventh in eight meetings with Saint Mary’s. Tonight’s game is the first in the series on a neutral floor.
Date Results
12-11-82 Washington 75, at Saint Mary’s 67
12-19-83 at Washington 69, Saint Mary’s 51
12-06-84 at Washington 68, Saint Mary’s 46
12-03-85 Washington 75, at Saint Mary’s 54
11-23-97 at Washington 68, Saint Mary’s 65 (OT)
11-22-99 Washington 73, at Saint Mary’s 60
03-19-18 at Saint Mary’s 85, Washington 81 (NIT)
MORAGA, March 19, 2018 – Jordan Ford made a wide open 3-pointer with 45.3 seconds to go and Saint Mary’s won its program-record 30th game of the season with an 85-81 victory over Washington to reach the NIT quarterfinals. Ford scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half. Evan Fitzner added a season-high 20 points off the bench for Saint Mary’s (30-5) and Emmett Naar had 12 assists. Noah Dickerson had 22 points and nine rebounds for Washington (21-13), which lost to Saint Mary’s for the first time. Matisse Thybulle moved into second in Pac-12 history for single-season steals, tying Gary Payton with 101..
PAYCOM WOODEN LEGACY TITLES – Washinton will be seeking its second Paycom Wooden Legacy title after winning the 2014 event by defeating UTEP in the finale. Competing in their second Paycom Wooden Legacy, the Huskies are 4-0 in the event.
PAC 12 TITLES – The Pac-12 Conference will be seeking its eighth Paycom Wooden Legacy title after winning the championship trophy in 2007 (USC), 2012 (Cal), 2014 (Washington), 2016 (UCLA), 2017 (Washington State), 2019 (Arizona) and 2021 (USC). Overall, Pac-12 schools have a 28-14 record in the PWL.
WOODEN WOES – Saint Mary’s finished fifth (2008), sixth (2012) and fourth (2017) in its previous Paycom Wooden appearances with a 5-5 record. The Gaels dropped an 84-79 semi-final decision to eventual 2017 champion Washington State in the PWL semi-finals.
WCC WONDERINGS – West Coast Conference teams have a 13-18 record in the Paycom Wooden Legacy with a pair of second-place finishes in 2009 (Portland) and 2012 (Pacific).
Event No., Season, championship game result Champions final record, post-season finish
XIV, 2021 – USC (Pac-12), 58, San Diego State (Mountain West) 43 26-8, NCAA first round
2020 – Cancelled Georgetown, Kansas, UCLA and Virginia were scheduled to participate
XIII, 2019 – Arizona (Pac-12) 73, Wake Forest (ACC) 66 21-11 record, Pac-12 first round winner
XII, 2018 – Seton Hall (Big East) 83, Miami (ACC) 81. 20-13 record, NCAA first round
XI, 2017 – Washington State (Pac-12) 93, San Diego State (Mountain West) 86.. 12-19, Pac-12 first-round
X, 2016 – UCLA (Pac-12) 74, Texas A&M (Southeastern) 67 31-5 record, NCAA “Sweet 16”
IX, 2015 – Michigan State (Big Ten) 77, Providence (Big East) 64 29-6 record, NCAA first round
VIII, 2014 – Washington (Pac-12) 68, UTEP (Conference USA) 65 16-15 Pac-12 first-round
VII, 2013 – San Diego State (Mountain West) 67, Marquette (Big East) 59……… 31-4, NCAA “Sweet 16”
VI, 2012 – Cal (Pac-12) 78, Pacific (Big West) 58……………… 21-12, NCAA third round
V, 2011 – Saint Louis (A10) 83, Oklahoma (Big 12) 63………. 26-8, NCAA third-round
IV, 2010 – UNLV (Mountain West) 71, Virginia Tech (ACC) 59 24-9, NCAA second-round
III, 2009 – West Virginia (Big East) 84, Portland (WCC) 66….. 31-7, NCAA “final four”
II, 2008 – Wake Forest (ACC) 87, Baylor (Big 12) 74…………… 24-7, NCAA first-round
I, 2007 – USC (Pac-12) 70, Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) 45 21-12, NCAA first-round
TOP FROSH – Saint’s Mary’s Aidan Mahaney has had an impressive start to his career as Gael ranks tied for 13th in the country in freshman points scored (81) and tied for 14th in the scoring average (13.5). He was the WCC’s frosh of the week for November 14 and has scored in double figures in three of his first six games.
TOP NCAA D1 FROSH SCORERS G PTS Avg.
Brandon Miller, Alabama (SEC) 4 81 20.3
Gradey Dick, Kansas (Big 12) 5 92 18.4
Judah Mintz, Syracuse (ACC) 5 90 18.0
Jackson Paveletzke, Wofford (SoCon) 6 99 16.5
“GG” Jackson II, South Carolina (SEC) 5 81 16.2
Taylor Hendricks, UCF (AAC) 6 95 15.8
Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State (Big Ten) 6 95 15.8
Jett Howard, Michigan (Big Ten) 6 91 15.2
Keyonte George, Baylor (Big 12) 6 89 14.8
Nate Calmese, Lamar (Southland) 6 88 14.7
Cade Tyson, Belmont (MVC) 6 87 14.5
Anthony Black, Arkansas (SEC) 6 85 14.2
Kenyon Giles, Radford (Big South) 6 81 13.5
Aidan Mahaney, Saint Mary’s (WCC) 6 81 13.5
Asher Woods, VMI (SoCon) 6 81 13.5
WEDNESDAY WRAP
- Saint Mary’s had three players score 19+ points in the same game for the first time since 12/9/17 (vs. Seattle) and for just the 4th time since the start of the 2010-11 season (also at San Francisco on 2/27/16 and vs. Pacific on 1/18/14). Entering the Paycom Wooden Legacy, a Saint Mary’s player scored at least 19 points just twice in their five games.
- Saint Mary’s made just 3 3pt-FGS, tying for the fewest by the school in its last 41 games (also made 3 at San Francisco on 1/27/22).
- Saint Mary’s shot better from the floor (56.9%) than the FT line (56.0%).
- Washington improved to 56-5 when holding an opponent to 59 or fewer points since the start of the 2010-11 season.
- Fresno State’s Isaih Moore had the only double-double so far in the Paycom Wooden Legacy (15 points, 13 rebounds). Moore and teammate Anthony Holland (9 reboiunds) had the two best rebounding performances on the first night.
- Fresno State has lost four straight games by single digits, the first time doing so since Nov-Dec
- Vanderbilt started 8-31 FG, but then ended 15-27 FG.
- Vanderbilt is now 2-61 in its last 63 games when scoring 65 or fewer points.
- Washington had 0 assists on its first 13 FGM, but then had 6 assists on its next (last) 9 FGM.