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Las Vegas, NV – The second round of the West Coast Conference tournament took place tonight with Portland facing Pepperdine and San Diego going against Loyola Marymount. In the opener Pepperdine stormed back from a 14-point deficit in the last 12 minutes to top Portland 86-73. Moe Odum led the way with 31 points (6-of-10 3’s) and 11 assists. In the nightcap Loyola Marymount ran away from San Diego 100-74 as Australian Will Johnston scored 27 points, making 7-of-8 three-pointers and added eight assists.
Portland came out hot, making five of their first eight three-pointers, three by Vukasin Masic and two by Austin Rapp to take a 23-11 lead. Pepperdine stayed fairly close for much of the half, but five late points from Rapp gave the Pilots a 38-29 halftime lead. The half was dominated by international players. Stefan Todorovic, a 6-8 forward from Belgrade, led Pepperdine with ten points. Masic, also from Belgrade, connected on 4-of-7 3’s and scored 13 points to lead the Pilots. Portland’s two Australian players, the 6-10 freshman Rapp added 11 points (3-of-7 3’s) while 6-6 junior forward Max Mackinnen added six points.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Odum brought Pepperdine back to within 54-48 midway through the second half. Another three-pointer from Odum cut the deficit to 56-55 and he followed with yet another three-pointer to give the Waves a 58-56 lead. Masic followed with his fifth three-pointer of the game to put the Pilots back in front. Masic and Todorovic traded 3’s as Pepperdine took a 64-63 lead. The Waves extended their lead to 73-66 on a two three-pointers from 6-10 freshman Danilo Dozic (another player from Belgrade). The Waves finished the game on a 46-19 run, erasing a 14-point deficit over the last 11:58.
Todorovic added 19 points for the Waves but shot only 1-of-8 from deep. Boubacar Coulibaly (from Mali) added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Masic led Portland (12-20, 7-12) with 26 points, connecting on 6-of-10 3’s. Rapp and Mackinnon both added 16 points. Pepperdine enjoyed a 41-28 edge on the boards.
In the second game, Loyola Marymount had no problem taking care of San Diego. They went out to a 28-15 lead midway through the first half, but San Diego came right back with a 12-point run to get within 28-27. LMU then took back control with back-to-back 3’s from Johnston and MJ Amey Jr. LMU closed the half on a 14-3 run, taking a 42-30 lead into the break, led by Johnston’s 16 points on 4-of-5 three-pointers.
LMU ran away with a 58-point second half to get the 26-point win. The Lions shot 12-of-21 on 3’s and had 26 assists on their 36 made field goals. Johnson’s 27 points led five LMU players in double-figures. Tony Duckett led San Diego (6-27) with 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting on 3’s.
Pepperdine (11-21, 5-14) will move on to face No. 5-seed Oregon State in tomorrow evening’s first third round game. In the nightcap LMU (17-14, 9-10) will face No. 6-seeded Washington State
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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