Kyle Collinsworth, Johnny Dee and the #WCCHoops Slate

Compiled by Curran McCauley
Here is a better late than never look at the busy West Coast Conference slate from Thursday night. Gonzaga cruised to a victory over LMU, Saint Mary’s saw its at-large hopes take a major hit and all the home teams defended their courts, taking victories in friendly confines.

No. 3 Gonzaga 80 Loyola Marymount 51
Gonzaga started the contest on a 20-run, and cruised to an 80-51 win over the Lions. Kyle Wiltjer had 21 points, to go with ten rebounds for a double-double as Gonzaga became the first team in Division I to 25 wins this season. Gonzaga has 39 consecutive home wins, good for the nation’s longest home winning streak. The Zags look poised for a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

BYU 82 Saint Mary’s 60
BYU cruised in a surprise home blowout over the Gaels. Kyle Collinsworth had 17 points to go with nine rebounds to lead the Cougars, who opened the game on an 11-4 run. BYU shot 50 percent from the field and scored 21 points off of turnovers. Brad Waldow led three Gaels in double figures with 17 points.

Portland 69 Pepperdine 52
Portland’s five starters all scored in double figures and Pepperdine scored just 24 points in the second half, as the Pilots defended home court for their third straight victory. Alec Wintering finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead Portland, while Kevin Bailey had 15 points, three rebounds, there assists and also blocked three shot attempts. The Pilots excelled in the second half, shooting 58 percent and holding Pepperdine to just 32 percent from the field.
San Diego 68 Pacific 48
San Diego won their fifth in their last six games, taking down Pacific. Johnny Dee had a game high 21 points and Duda Sanadze added 20 points of his own. USD held Pacific to just 34.5 percent shooting from the field. Pacific got within nine points with 11:42 left in the contest, but Christopher Anderson hit a three-pointer to give the Toreros a permanent double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

San Francisco 69 Santa Clara 62
San Francisco snapped its five game losing streak while Santa Clara lost its fifth in a row in an overtime game at War Memorial Gym. USF pulled away in overtime, finishing the bonus period on a 9-2 run to put away the Broncos. Tim Dierksen scored a team-high 18 points for USF while Matt Glover and Kruize Pinkens each had ten rebounds for the Dons.  Brandon Clark had a game-high 21 points for Santa Clara while Jared Brownridge had 14 in a losing effort.

They Said It
“We really concentrated on defense in the first half, basically, everything the coaches talked about we did in the first half. We let up a little in the second half.” – Gonzaga’s Prezemek Karnowski after a 29 point victory