Kyle Wiltjer and the #WCCHoops Slate

By Curran McCauley
While the conference’s most prolific had a great night on his senior night in Provo, Kyle Wiltjer, the junior transfer from Kentucky and the reigning WCC Player of the Week, had a historic scoring night for Gonzaga. Elsewhere, Saint Mary’s and USF used big runs to down their opponents and Pepperdine clinched a winning season for the first time since 2005. Here’s a look at the full WCC slate from Thursday night.

No 3/2 Gonzaga 86 Pacific 74
Gonzaga won its 20th straight came thanks to a monster output from Kyle Wiltjer, who went for 45 points, Gonzaga’s highest individual effort in 54 years. Gary Bell Jr. had 12 for the Zags as it was the Wiltjer show in Stockton. Pacific was able to keep the game close the entire way, thanks in part to six three pointers in the first half. T.J. Wallace led the Tigers with 19 points while David Taylor and Ray Bowles also scored in double figures for host Pacific.

BYU 75 San Diego 62
On senior night in Provo, Tyler Haws had a game-high 28 points and Kyle Collinsworth added a double double (16 points, 11 rebounds). Haws pulled within seven points of passing Jimmer Fredette for the all-time scoring title for the Cougars. BYU started the second half on a 12-2 run and pulled away from there to sink travel partner San Diego.

Saint Mary’s 68 Portland 51
The Gaels used an 18-0 in the second half to power past the Pilots. Kerry Carter had 21 points to lead SMC while Brad Waldow chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds for Saint Mary’s. The Gaels shot 54 percent from the field. Thomas Van Der Mars had a double double (17 points and ten rebounds) for Portland in a losing effort.

Pepperdine 64 Santa Clara 55
Pepperdine clinched its first winning season since 2005 as well as a bye into the WCC tournament quarterfinal with a win at home over the Broncos. Jett Raines, Shawn Olden and Lamond Murray Jr all scored in double figures for the Waves. Santa Clara has now lost six in a row after a four-game win streak in mid-January.

San Francisco 72 Loyola Marymount 45
On the road in Los Angeles, USF breezed past LMU, leading wire-to-wire in a 27-point victory. The Dons opened the game on a 36-10 run but took a 39-20 lead into halftime. A skirmish before the halftime break led to four technical fouls and an ejection of LMU’s Patson Siame. Mark Tollefsen paced four Dons in double figures with 21 points and ten rebounds. LMU was without the services of leading scorer Evan Payne.

They Said It
When Gonzaga comes in, it’s already a circus. We’re prepared for that because BYU is a little bit the same. When you play those guys, the atmosphere in the gym is like that…It should be an exciting night but we can’t get caught up in the excitement of the night. We’ve got to get caught up in playing right.” – Saint Mary’s head Coach Randy Bennett