Top-seeded Saint Mary’s ends Pepperdine’s run with 74-59 victory in semifinals

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Mar. 10—LAS VEGAS — For the first eight minutes, ninth-seeded Pepperdine looked very much like the squad that pulled off a pair of upsets to make an improbable run to the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.

Point guard Moe Odum and forward Stefan Todorovic poured in buckets inside and outside as the Waves built an early five-point lead over No. 1-seeded Saint Mary’s.

Then Saint Mary’s began playing like it did most of the season, fueled by tight defense and strong work on the boards, and the Waves had no counter punch in their fourth game in four days.

The 19th-ranked Gaels marched in front by 10 points by halftime and coasted to a 74-59 win Monday at Orleans Arena to reach the championship game for the fourth consecutive season. The Gaels downed Gonzaga 69-60 to win the 2024 title while the Zags were victorious in 2023 (77-51) and 2022 (82-69).

WCC player of the year Augustas Marciulionis led the way with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes. Forward Paulius Murauskas had 15 points and 10 boards and Luke Barrett added 13 points and eight rebounds.

“We’ve obviously been watching,” said Marciulionis, who guarded Odum most of the game. “It was impressive how they played the last three days. We were respecting them and we took it very seriously.”

The Gaels collected 15 offensive boards and held a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points. Saint Mary’s led by as many as 28 in the second half.

Odum finished off a strong tournament performance with 18 points but Barrett’s defense helped limit Todorovic to 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Pepperdine (13-22) became the first ninth seed to reach the semifinals since 2013 when Anthony Ireland led Loyola Marymount past Portland, San Francisco and Santa Clara.The Lions, who finished ninth in a nine-team conference at the time, next ran into Gonzaga, which had just earned its first No. 1 ranking in the AP poll. LMU hung tough, trailing by one at half before the Zags pulled away for a 66-48 victory.

WCC tourneys…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/top-seeded-saint-marys-ends-035900365.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2025-03-11 03:59:00

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