By CURRAN MCCAULEY
The second full day of the 2015-16 West Coast Conference slate got underway on Wednesday, before the squads broke for the holidays. With the exception of BYU, who will play on Christmas Day as part of the Diamond Head Classic, and Saint Mary’s, which hosts a non-conference matchup with Utah Valley next week, the rest of the conference will be on a short hiatus until New Year’s Eve. Let’s take a look at how the penultimate day of action in 2015 went across the conference.
Brigham Young, 96 New Mexico 66
At the Diamond Head Classic, the Cougars dismantled former Mountain West foe New Mexico in convincing fashion, draining the second-most 3-pointers in program history. Chase Fischer had a career-high 41 points in the triumph, including one-three pointers. Both marks are records for the Diamond Head Classic. Nick Emery, Kyle Collinsworth and Kyle Davis all also added big games for the Cougars, who rebounded quickly after an opening round loss to Harvard on Tuesday. BYU shot 57 percent from beyond the arc in the victory. BYU will face off with Northern Iowa in the Diamond Head consolation bracket championship on Christmas Day.
San Diego 81, Cal State Northridge 63
Continuing the hot trend from beyond the arc in the WCC, San Diego set a school record with 15 made three pointers in a blowout win against CSUN on Wednesday night. The Toreros tallied double-digit scoring outputs from Vasa Pusica (team-high 17 pts.), Olin Carter II (12 points), Brett Bailey (11 points) and Duda Sanadze (11 points). Jito Kok continued his assault on the record books with five blocks. San Diego shot 49 percent from the field, holding the visiting Matadors to just 38%. San Diego will open WCC play on Dec. 31st in Stockton against Pacific.
Gonzaga 85, Loyola Marymount 62
Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis helped Gonzaga to its 27th straight home victory against Loyola Marymount in Spokane. Wiltjer scored 26 points, including 20 in the first half to lead the Bulldogs’ cruise. Sabonis recorded a double-double, with 15 points and 13 board. Bryan Alberts also got in on the action, with 12 second half points. Gonzaga took a 17-9 lead on a 10-0 run and never looked back, despite missing Przemek Karnowski with a back injury for the eighth straight contest. Adom Jacko had a nice night in a losing effort for the Lions, pouring in 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Gonzaga will face Santa Clara on December 31st at the Leavey Center. Loyola Marymount takes on Pepperdine in a PCH Cup battle in Malibu on Jan. 2.
Portland 87, Pepperdine 79
Despite a late charge from the Waves, Portland defended home court with a wire-to-wire victory at the Chiles Center. Alec Wintering, one of the most explosive guards in the conference, proved his mettle with a 34-point performance, a new career high. Wintering went 11-15 overall rom the field, including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Jeremy Major had a career high 28 for Pepperdine, who also had 16 from Lamond Murray Jr and 15 from Kameron Edwards. Portland’s bench outscored the Waves, 22-5. Portland is back in action on December 31st at San Francisco while Pepperdine hosts Loyola Marymount on Jan 2.
Saint Mary’s 81, Santa Clara 59
Saint Mary’s went on the road to Santa Clara and played a sound, thorough game in dismantling the Broncos. The 3-point shot was again the focal point for the Gaels, who shot 47.6 percent from distance. Freshman center Evan Fitzner proved why is he a lethal big man, going 4-5 from 3-point range en route to a game high 21 points. Dane Pineau chipped in 14 points while Calvin Hermanson had 11, including a 3-5 clip on shots from beyond the arc. Jared Brownridge, who scored 15 points after a 36-point effort on Monday in Stockton, led Santa Clara. K.J. Feagin also added 13 for SCU. Saint Mary’s takes on Utah Valley of the WAC in a non-conference contest on Dec. 28 before getting back into the swing of things in the WCC as BYU invades McKeon on Dec. 31.
San Francisco 89, Pacific 76
San Francisco used a big second half to take down the Tigers, who were up by as many as 18, including a 40-22 lead with 3:59 remaining in the first half of play. A late 12-2 run cut Pacific’s lead to just 45-36 at the intermission and the Dons never looked back. Devin Watson finished with 23 points and Tim Derksen recorded a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds in the contest. Pacific had four scorers in double figures, including D.J. Ursery who went for a career-best 16 points. Ray Bowles, Alec Kobre and T.J. Wallace also had double figure outputs. San Francisco hosts Portland on New Year’s Eve while Pacific plays host to San Diego.
They Said It
“We’ve been shooting the ball a lot lately in practice because our numbers haven’t been good all season. But I thought that our numbers weren’t indicative of the kind of shooting team we should be. Tonight I was excited to see some go in and that builds confidence gong onward. I thought it was a great team effort tonight.” – San Diego Head Coach Lamont Smith
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