Gary Bell Jr., Thomas Jacobs and the #WCCHoops Slate

Compiled by Curran McCauley
The West Coast Conference saw its top team, No. 3 Gonzaga, extend a nation-best home winning streak to 36 games with a win over Pacific while Saint Mary’s bounced back from a loss in Spokane with a victory in Portland. San Diego held home court over BYU, Santa Clara outlasted Pepperdine and LMU benefited from a buzzer-beater to take down San Francisco. Here’s a look at the WCC slate for Saturday.

San Diego 77 BYU 74
Thomas Jacobs came off the bench to record a double-double, with a career high 19 points to go with 13 rebounds, also a career-best. Jacobs’ output was part of 46 bench points for USD. Johnny Dee scored 18 to seal the 3rd victory in four tries for the Toreros over BYU.

No. 3 Gonzaga 91 Pacific 60
Gonzaga shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first half and opened the second on a 16-1 run, to jump out to a 61-28 lead en route to a 31 point victory, lengthening the nation’s longest home winning streak to 36. Prezemek Karnowski and Gary Bell Jr. each had 13 to lead the Bulldogs.

Santa Clara 60 Pepperdine 57
The Broncos slipped past Pepperdine after scoring just once in the final 9:45 of regulation. Brandon Clark and Jared Brownridge each chipped in 13 points. Stacy Davis led all participants with 21 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort for the Waves, who have lost three of their last four.

Saint Mary’s 74 Portland 64
Brad Waldow led the way for the Gaels (19 pts, 9 rebs) as Saint Mary’s was able to overcome a sluggish start to get by Portland on the road. The Pilots pulled within six points at the 1:22 mark, following a there from Bryce Pressley, but would get no closer as the Gaels took care of business from the charity stripe. Thomas Van Der Mars had a double-double (16 pts, 13 rebs) in a losing effort.

Loyola Marymount 70 San Francisco 69
The Lions trailed by 13 at the halftime break, and San Francisco led by 17 just 90 seconds into the second half, but LMU charged back, outscoring the Dons 28-13 over the final 11:30 of regulation, shooting 53.6 in the second period of action. Game-winner attempts from Marin Mornar and Godwin Okonji went fruitless before Payne was able to snag the offensive rebound and score on a put-back at the buzzer to hand the Lions a dramatic road victory.

They Said It
“Just a gut, character check for our team and program. We never stopped playing and just kept pushing. It was a huge team effort on the road.” – Loyola Marymount Head Coach Mike Dunlap