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Las Vegas, NV – The semifinals of the West Coast Convention event befell tonight with Pepperdine making an attempt for his or her fourth win in 4 days as they confronted top-seed St. Mary’s. Within the second sport San Francisco took on No. 2-seed Gonzaga. Each favored groups gained and St. Mary’s and Gonzaga will face for the WCC event title for the fourth straight yr, and the sixth time within the final seven years.
Within the opener St. Mary’s confirmed why they’re one of many prime defensive and rebounding groups within the nation, shutting down a scorching Pepperdine staff and ran means with an 74-59 win. They held the Waves to 39% capturing general and solely 20% (5-of-18) on three-pointers. Paulius Murauskas scored 15 factors and grabbed 10 rebounds for the winners. Level guard Augustas Marciulionis additionally scored 15 factors and added seven rebounds and 5 assists with no turnovers. Luke Barrett added 13 + 8. Moe Odum led the Waves with 19 factors.
Pepperdine’s (13-22) Odum continued his scorching capturing early, scoring ten factors because the Waves took a 18-13 lead. The Gaels got here proper again, happening a 10-point run to take a 5-point lead. 4 straight factors from 6-8 Lithuanian ahead Murauskas prolonged St. Mary’s result in 30-21. They maintained that lead the remainder of the half, going into the break with a 39-29 lead. Barrett was everywhere in the courtroom for the Gaels scoring 9 factors and including seven rebounds. Marciulionis additionally scored 9 factors. Odum led the Waves with 12 factors on 5-of-7 capturing.
St. Mary’s got here into the sport rated No. 11 in defensive effectivity in accordance with Kenpom they usually made it powerful for Stefan Todorovic to get off an uncontested shot. Todorovic, averaging 24 factors over the primary three video games, scored eight factors within the half on solely 2-of-9 capturing. He completed the sport with ten factors on 3-of-14 from the sector.
Within the second half, a lay-in after an offensive rebound by Murauskas prolonged the Gaels’ result in 48-33. The lead was 21 factors (59-38) on the underneath 12-minute day trip and St. Mary’s didn’t look again. They led by as many as 28 factors (68-40) and coasted to the win, resting their starters for tomorrow’s title sport. Pepperdine closed the sport on a 14-2 run, making the ultimate rating nearer than it might have been.
The Gaels got here in as one of many prime rebounding groups within the nation, rated No. 2 with a 40.2 offensive rebounding proportion. Additionally they restrict their opponents to a 25.1 offensive rebounding proportion (ranked No. 15). That benefit was evident tonight as within the first half the Gaels had a 25-12 rebounding edge with an 8-4 edge on the offensive glass. For the sport St. Mary’s outrebounded the Waves 45-22, together with 15-7 on the offensive boards.
Within the second sport, Gonzaga confronted a San Francisco squad that was lacking their place to begin guard, Marcus Williams, who was out of motion as a consequence of a attainable NCAA guidelines violation. Ryan Beasley, beginning instead of Williams, acquired the Dons off to a good begin by scoring their first seven factors. Michael Ayayi got here off the bench to fortify the Zags with two sturdy dunks. Again-to-back three-pointers from Junjie “Barry” Wong gave the Dons a 29-24 lead. A 3-pointer from Beasley (10 first half factors) gave USF a 37-35 halftime lead. Grahan Ike led the Dons with 10 factors and 7 rebounds. Ayayi performed effectively and supplied power, ending the half with 9 factors and 7 boards.
Ike scored eight straight factors for the Zags beginning the second half because the Zags took a 43-39 lead. Khalif Battle then acquired scorching, hitting a three-pointer halfway via the half to present the Zags a 59-53 lead. A dunk by the Dons’ Tyrone Riley minimize the result in 60-59 with underneath eight minutes left. 5 fast factors by Ike prolonged the Zags result in 67-61. Gonzaga (24-8) was strong the remainder of the sport and closed out with an 85-76 win over San Francisco (24-9).
Graham Ike led the Zags with 27 factors and ten rebounds. Battle added 21 factors (3-of-6 3’s) and Ryan Nembhard added eight assists towards just one turnover. Malik Thomas led the Dons with 27 factors (5-of-8 3’s), eight rebounds and 4 assists.
This text was written by Carl Berman, Managing Companion of NetScouts Basketball. You may observe us on Fb, or on twitter.
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