Tyler Haws, Kevin Pangos and the #WCCHoops Slate

Compiled by Curran McCauley

The West Coast Conference schedule reached moved past its midway point, with all ten teams in action on Thursday. No. 3 Gonzaga stretched its home winning streak to 37 games in a row while Kevin Pangos, Randy Bennett and Pepperdine all picked up milestones in victories. Here is a look at the entire WCC slate for 1/28.

No. 3 Gonzaga 64 Portland 46
Kevin Pangos broke the all-time Gonzaga three-point record with his 289th make from behind the arc, Damontas Sabonis recorded a double-double (13 pts, 11 rebs) and Gonzaga became the first team in Division I to the 20-win mark this season.

Saint Mary’s 68 Loyola Marymount 54
Battling illness, Kerry Carter scored 18 points (six three-pointers) to lead the Gaels past the Lions.  Also sick was Brad Waldow, who had 14 points and six rebounds. The effort of the duo, along with Aaron Bright, who poured in 13 points, helped SMC coach Randy Bennett to his 300th win and improved Saint Marys’ home record over the last eight seasons to 119-13.

BYU 78 San Francisco 74
The Cougars withstood a late second-half rally from USF to keep BYU’s NCAA at-large bid hopes alive. Tyler Haws, the conference’s leading scorer, had 28 points in the victory. For San Francisco, Mark Tollefsen had 22 points while Matt Glover added 10 boards.

Pepperdine 50 Pacific 43
In a game in which both teams struggled from the field, Pepperdine pulled away from a deadlocked game after outscoring Pacific 11-4 in the final 4:05 of regulation. Jett Raines had 14 points to lead all scorers while Stacy Davis had nine points and nine rebounds, including a key offensive rebound and put-back that put the game out of reach. Ray Bowles had 10 points while Eric Thompson and Jacob Lampkin each added 10 rebounds for the Tigers. Pepperdine has now won four conference road games for the first time since 2004.

San Diego 69 Santa Clara 64
Vasa Pusica excelled for the Toreros as the freshman from Serbia posted a career-high 16 points in the victory over visiting Santa Clara. The Broncos pulled to within three points of USD with 22 seconds left, but Johnny Dee and Thomas Jacobs sealed the game at the charity stripe. Reigning WCC Player of the Week Brandon Clark chipped in a game-high 22 points for the Broncos.

They Said It
“Fortunately this is not gymnastics, there is just one number, do you have more than them? Bottom line is we found a way to get the win. Could we have finished it off better? Sure we could, but the most important thing is that we won.” – San Diego Head Coach Bill Grier