West Coast Second Round Recap

(3) Pepperdine 78, (7) Loyola Marymount 67
Pepperdine used a 10-0 run late in the game to spoil any chance for a Loyola upset as the Waves cruised to their third victory over their cross-town rival this season. Pepperdine’s trio of Glen McGowan (20 points, 9-12 FG’s), Yakhouba Diawara (16 points, 11 boards) and Alex Acker (16 points, 6 assists) kept the Lions down the entire game, securing the Waves (15-14, 10-5) a spot in the WCC semifinals against second-seed St. Mary’s (19-12, 9-5).

LMU (15-14, 6-10) trailed by only two at the break and stayed with Pepperdine most of the night. The game was tied at 58 with 6:28 remaining, but a pair of back-to-back three’s by the Waves’ Terrance Johnson gave Pepperdine a lead it would not relinquish. LMU’s Keith Kincade led all scorers with 21 points, while teammate Sherman Gay added 12 points and eight boards in the loss.

(5) Santa Clara 81, (4) San Francisco 75
Kyle Bailey scorched San Francisco for 30 points and Travis Niesen added 12 points as Santa Clara won its second straight WCC Tournament game in front of a home crowd at the Leavey Center. The victory means Santa Clara (16-15, 8-8) will next face top-seeded Gonzaga (26-2, 14-0) in Sunday’s semifinal.

In this tightly contested battle, the Broncos held a three-point advantage with less than three minutes remaining in the second half. A three-pointer by J.R. Patrick gave Santa Clara a 73-67 cushion at the 2:01 mark, and the Broncos would eventually put the game away at the free throw line. USF’s James Bayless had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Dons (17-14, 7-8) who converted half of their field goal attempts on the night (30-60), but hit just 3-16 (.188) from behind the arc.