SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Portland standout freshman Austin Rapp and ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi are the featured guests on this week's edition of the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT men's basketball podcast with hosts Sean Farnham and Dave Flemming. 

Rapp has been one of the top freshmen in the nation and showed out following his appearance on the show with a season-high 24 points to lead the Pilots to an 84-72 upset win at home against Oregon State on Thursday.

Portland returns to the Chiles Center to host LMU in the late game of a hoops doubleheader on Saturday. The Pilot women host Washington State at 3 p.m. followed by the men versus LMU at 7 p.m. Tickets purchased will be good for both games.

Timestamps for Monday's episode of the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT podcast are below:

2:20 - On Ryan Nembhard setting the Gonzaga single-season assist record
"There's a good chance he can break the WCC record against Saint Mary's with you and I on the call...He's as elite of a passing guard as we have in college basketball." - Sean Farnham

5:40 - On San Francisco beating Saint Mary's, winning two games last week
"I texted [San Francisco head coach] Chris Gerlufsen on Sunday about the win, and said I didn't want to reach out after the Saint Mary's game and allow you to take care of the next business at hand. All road games are gold. He responded that, 'Thursday was huge, but [beating] LMU by even one point would be even bigger for our team.' San Francisco showed some real toughness to go on the road to beat LMU but CG has done an amazing job with this team." - Sean Farnham

10:00 ESPN's Joe Lunardi joins the show

10:51 - Joe Lunardi on Saint Mary's
"They've played a number of Quad 1 teams the past few weeks. If the season ended today, the Gaels would be a lock in the 7 or 8 [seed] range. Randy Bennett teams tend to get better over the course of the season, and we're seeing that."

13:40 - Joe Lunardi on Gonzaga
"I have the Zags a seed line behind the Gaels as an 8, which can send them almost anywhere. Gonzaga would have earlier travel than they are accustomed to but they are as a likely to move up, their ceiling is in the 6 to 7 range."
 
14:45 - Joe Lunardi on San Francisco
"I think the Dons are dangerous. Whether they are consistently good enough, I'm not sure. They have to win one of those Gonzaga games to move into the serious part of the conversation."

16:00 Portland's Austin Rapp joins the show

16:58 - Rapp on adjusting to Division I college basketball

17:43 - Rapp on playing basketball as a child with his siblings
"I'm sure my parents didn't like it many days. We had a hoop and would always play 2-on-2, boys vs girls. Every day, it would end up with someone crying. It didn't matter if it was me or my sister. Mom and Dad didn't like that, but it was super cool to have three other siblings who are talented at basketball."

20:08 - Rapp on Australian basketball
"The basketball community in Australia is continuing to develop, especially with the NBL in having guys like Josh Giddy and Dyson Daniels get drafted. Growing up, I used to watch a lot of Aron Baynes and Andrew Bogut, those bruisers down the paint who play hard."

22:57 – Rapp on winning WCC Heluva Good Dip Freshman of the Week
"It's pretty special, we've got tons of good freshmen in the conference like Mikey Lewis from Saint Mary's, Tyrone Riley IV from San Francisco and a few on our team. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking to see if I got it."

25:45 - Previewing tonight's game between Santa Clara and Saint Mary's
"Santa Clara needs it though. The metrics put Santa Clara in the position if they win this game. Their metrics will be viewed completely different. It's not necessarily just your own bubble. You have to take a larger perspective around the country. It's not just winning the big games, its avoiding the bad loss." - Sean Farnham

To watch the complete episode, click here.  
 
Full episodes of both the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT Men's Basketball Podcast and Women's Basketball Podcast will be available on the WCC's YouTube channel, as well as Apple and Spotify podcasts. Fans can also find clips of each show on the WCC basketball X account, @WCChoops, as well as the Conference's Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels and @WCCsports with links to the full episode.
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