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Pepperdine and San Francisco Advance to WCC Semifinals

by Carl Berman
written by Carl Berman

Las Vegas, NV – The West Coast Conference tournament played their quarterfinals tonight as Pepperdine tried for a third straight win facing No. 4-seed Santa Clara. In the nightcap Washington State faced No. 3-seed San Francisco. 

Pepperdine (13-21, 7-14) did it, holding on for their third straight win in three days, upsetting Santa Clara 78-76. The Waves continued to get excellent play from Stefan Todorovic and Moe Odum Jr. Both scored 19 points and made three 3’s. Odum Jr. added 13 assists and five rebounds. Tyeree Bryan led the Broncos (20-12, 12-7) with 18 points, connecting on 4-of-6 from deep. In the nightcap Ryan Beasley scored 29 points (4-of-8 3’s) to lead San Francisco to an 86-75 win over Washington State. Ethan Price led the Cougars with 26 points, connecting on 3-of-6 three-pointers and added six rebounds.

Pepperdine stayed close with the Broncos throughout the first half with Santa Clara taking a 40-36 lead into the break. The Broncos shot 8-of-20 on 3’s with Bryan, Brenton Knapper and Johnny O’Neil each connecting on two. Pepperdine only shot 3-of-13 from deep. Knapper led the Broncos with ten points while Odum Jr., Todorovic and Boubacar Coulibaly each scoring nine points for the Waves. Santa Clara enjoyed a 21-13 edge on the boards including 6-2 on the offensive glass.

The Waves tied the game at 56 on a three-pointer from Todorovic and then took a 58-56 lead on a short jumper from center Danilo Dozic (7 points) midway through the second half. The Waves extended their lead to eight points as they went on an 8-0 run and held the Broncos without a field goal for six minutes. Santa Clara stayed withing striking distance and cut their deficit to 71-68 on a three-pointer by Knapper (17 points). A Dozic three-pointer extended the lead back to six points after the under 4-minute time out. Todorovic then hit a tough jumper in the lane with 1:23 left to extend the lead to five points. A Christopf Tully steal and dunk got the Broncos to within three points. Santa Clara had the ball with 10.3 seconds remaining with the chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. An Adama Bal three-pointer wasn’t close and Pepperdine closed the game at the free throw line.

Odum Jr. has been outstanding at the tournament.  In the three games he has been in double-figures in points and assists in each game. He started with 31 points and 11 assists. Last night he had 17 points and ten assists and then 19 points and 13 assists tonight. He’s shot a combined 12-of-24 on three-pointers in the three games. Todorovic is averaging 24 points over the three games with his career-high of 34 points in last night’s win over Oregon State.

In the second game, Washington State and San Francisco battled evenly through the first half with USF taking a 34-32 lead into the break. The Dons destroyed the Cougars on the boards by a 31-14 margin, including a 15-1 edge on the offensive boards, but did not shoot well. They shot only 33% overall and 2-of-15 on 3’s. Ryan Beasley made their only two three-pointers, the rest of the team was 0-of-10. Malik Thomas led San Francisco in scoring with 12 points. Ethan Proce continued his strong tournament play, leading Washington State with 11 points.

USF got off to a quick start in the second half with an 8-0 run and extended their lead to 46-36 after a steal and three-point play from Beasley. The Cougars stormed right back on a 9-0 run helped by another Price three-pointer to cut USF’s lead to 52-50. USF came back with a 7-0 run, taking a 63-54 lead. Beasley then hit another three-pointer to extend the Dons’ lead to 66-56. USF kept a safe lead from there to finish with the ten-point victory. USF had a 49-25 rebounding edge, including 21-5 on the offensive glass.

Pepperdine advances to the semifinals tomorrow evening against top-seeded St. Mary’s. In the nightcap San Francisco (24-8, 14-5) will face No. 2 seed Gonzaga.

This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.

We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.

Pepperdine and Washington State Advance at WCC Tournament

by Carl Berman
written by Carl Berman

Las Vegas, NV – The third round of the West Coast Conference tournament took place tonight with Pepperdine (11-21, 5-14) facing No. 5-seed Oregon State in the opener and LMU (17-14, 9-10) playing against No. 4-seeded Washington Statein the nightcap.  Pepperdine (12-21, 6-14) held on for the upset over Oregon State (20-12, 10-9) 77-73 as Stefan Todorovic led the way with a career-high 34 points on 5-of-9 from deep. Moe Odum Jr. added 17 points, ten assists and only one turnover. Damarco Minor led the Beavers with 22 points. In the second game Washington State got off to a strong start, kept up a double-digit lead much of the game and topped Loyola Marymount 94-77 as Ethan Price and Nate Calmese scored 22 points.

Oregon State and Pepperdine battled fairly evenly through the first half. Both the Beavers’ Nate Kingz (18 points) and the Waves’ Todorovic were both hot throughout the half. Each connected on 4-of-5 three-pointers with Kingz ending the half with 14 points and Todorovic with 19 points. Both starting point guards played very well with Odum Jr. of Pepperdine continuing his hot shooting. He scored ten points on 4-of-5 shooting (2-of-3 3’s) and added six assists. The Beavers’ Minor scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Oregon State took a 41-38 lead into the break after Liutauris Lelevicius connected on a jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining.

Todorovic continued his hot shooting in the second half, making another three-pointer that helped the Waves’ take a 57-51 lead. Todorovic kept up his scoring and the Waves went out to a 70-59 lead. The Beavers then ran off eight straight points with a Lelevicius (15 points) three-pointer cutting the deficit to three points. Oregon State then got cold at the wrong time, missing five late-three pointers but did get within two points twice in the last 30 seconds. Pepperdine held on for the win, helped by four late free throws. Michael Rataj, Oregon State’s leading scorer at 17.4 ppg, never got it going and only had one point, missing all four of his field goal attempts over 36 minutes of action.

In the second game, Washington State took an early double-digit lead helped by ten early points from Price, a 6-10 senior from England. At halftime the Cougars held a 47-39 lead, as Price scored 20 points, making 2-of-3 3’s and 8-of-9 shots overall. LeJuan Watts grabbed ten rebounds and added nine points and Washington State connected on 5-of-14 shots from deep. LMU shot only 6-of-20 on 3’s and were led by MJ Amey Jr’s 11 points (3-of-3 3’s).

The Cougars dominated the second half with the game never in question. Calmese and Rihards Vavers each scored 13 points in the half. Vavers, a 6-7 sophomore forward from Latvia, connected on all three of his three-point attempts in the half and finished the game with 16 points, on 4-of-5 from deep. LeJuan Watts finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds and added five assists. Amey Jr. led LMU with 16 points, hitting 3-of-5 3’s, and added  a team-high eight rebounds.

Pepperdine advances to the quarterfinal against the No. 4 seed Santa Clara tomorrow at 5:30pm local time. In the nightcap Washington State (19-13, 9-10) with face No. 3 seed San Francisco.

This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.

We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.

Pepperdine, LMU Advance to Third Round of WCC Tournament

by Carl Berman
written by Carl Berman

Las Vegas, NV – The second round of the West Coast Conference tournament took place tonight with Portland facing Pepperdine and San Diego going against Loyola Marymount. In the opener Pepperdine stormed back from a 14-point deficit in the last 12 minutes to top Portland 86-73. Moe Odum led the way with 31 points (6-of-10 3’s) and 11 assists. In the nightcap Loyola Marymount ran away from San Diego 100-74 as Australian Will Johnston scored 27 points, making 7-of-8 three-pointers and added eight assists.

Portland came out hot, making five of their first eight three-pointers, three by Vukasin Masic and two by Austin Rapp to take a 23-11 lead. Pepperdine stayed fairly close for much of the half, but five late points from Rapp gave the Pilots a 38-29 halftime lead. The half was dominated by international players. Stefan Todorovic, a 6-8 forward from Belgrade, led Pepperdine with ten points. Masic, also from Belgrade, connected on 4-of-7 3’s and scored 13 points to lead the Pilots. Portland’s two Australian players, the 6-10 freshman Rapp added 11 points (3-of-7 3’s) while 6-6 junior forward Max Mackinnen added six points.  

Back-to-back three-pointers from Odum brought Pepperdine back to within 54-48 midway through the second half. Another three-pointer from Odum cut the deficit to 56-55 and he followed with yet another three-pointer to give the Waves a 58-56 lead. Masic followed with his fifth three-pointer of the game to put the Pilots back in front. Masic and Todorovic traded 3’s as Pepperdine took a 64-63 lead. The Waves extended their lead to 73-66 on a two three-pointers from 6-10 freshman Danilo Dozic (another player from Belgrade). The Waves finished the game on a 46-19 run, erasing a 14-point deficit over the last 11:58.

Todorovic added 19 points for the Waves but shot only 1-of-8 from deep. Boubacar Coulibaly (from Mali) added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Masic led Portland (12-20, 7-12) with 26 points, connecting on 6-of-10 3’s. Rapp and Mackinnon both added 16 points. Pepperdine enjoyed a 41-28 edge on the boards.

In the second game, Loyola Marymount had no problem taking care of San Diego. They went out to a 28-15 lead midway through the first half, but San Diego came right back with a 12-point run to get within 28-27. LMU then took back control with back-to-back 3’s from Johnston and MJ Amey Jr. LMU closed the half on a 14-3 run, taking a 42-30 lead into the break, led by Johnston’s 16 points on 4-of-5 three-pointers.

LMU ran away with a 58-point second half to get the 26-point win. The Lions shot 12-of-21 on 3’s and had 26 assists on their 36 made field goals. Johnson’s 27 points led five LMU players in double-figures. Tony Duckett led San Diego (6-27) with 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting on 3’s.

Pepperdine (11-21, 5-14) will move on to face No. 5-seed Oregon State in tomorrow evening’s first third round game. In the nightcap LMU (17-14, 9-10) will face No. 6-seeded Washington State

This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.

We are looking for those interested in our basketball scout apprenticeship program. For information contact us and forward your resume.