WCC Opening Night Wrap-Up

San Diego 75 - Boise State 81

The Toreros and Broncos met at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles for the first game of the LMU Classic. San Diego plays on that floor once a year, so maybe it was familiarity that allowed the Toreros to lead the Broncos for most of the first half. After a while though, it became clear that the team picked to finish second in the Mountain West is better than the team picked to finish fifth in the WCC.

San Diego's stellar backcourt of Christopher Anderson (14 points, seven assists) and Johnny Dee (25 points) played as well as expected. Unfortunately for Bill Grier's Toreros, the frontcourt played as expected as well, which isn't a good thing. Forward Thomas Jacobs (10 points) was the only offensive presence in the frontcourt. Junior center Jito Kok blocked more shots (three) than he made (two).

BYU 95 - Long Beach State 90

There was a guard driven shootout tonight in Provo and the Cougars came out on top.

Pacific 73 @ Western Illinois 71 (OT)

Four players scored in double figures for this young Tigers team, which gained a nice bit of experience with an overtime road win to start the season. Neither team shot well at all in this one, with the Tigers connecting on a meager 41.9% of their field goals and the Leathernecks just 39.7%. Western Illinois shot itself in the foot on the free throw line, missing 14 of 31 shots.

T.J. Wallace and David Taylor led the Tigers with 13 points a piece.

No. 13 Gonzaga 104 - Sacramento State 58

The Gonzaga newcomers led the team to a blowout victory in the Kennel.

Loyola Marymount 76 - Southeast Missouri 66

Evan Payne proved capable of filling the scoring void left by Anthony Ireland. The sophomore shooting guard poured in 23 on 9-14 shooting to lead the Lions to victory in the first game of the Mike Dunlap era. Fifth year senior Ayodeji Egbeyemi, coming off a medical redshirt last season, provided a stabilizing, veteran presence in the backcourt alongside Payne. He added 13 points, four assists and seven rebounds.

This game was the second game overall of the LMU Classic, held on LMU's home floor at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

Santa Clara 89 - Cal State Fullerton 72

Last year's WCC Newcomer of the Year, the normally high-scoring Jared Brownridge, attempted only four field goals in this game (nine points). The Broncos still managed to net 89 thanks to senior Brandon Clark, who went off for 31. Clark was money from the charity stripe where he hit 15 of his 16 attempts.

Freshman Matt Hubbard came off the bench and had a nice first game with 15 points on 5-8 shooting.

Pepperdine 89 - Fresno State 74

A balanced scoring attack pushed the Waves past the Bulldogs in Malibu. The duo of Stacy Davis (22 points) and Jeremy Major (21 points) had a high volume, high efficiency night. The remaining starters all reached double figures in scoring as well: Amadi Udenyi (13 points), Shawn Olden (13 points) and Jett Raines (10 points).

Fresno State got 25 points from Marvelle Harris and 19 from Julien Lewis but no other Bulldogs seemed able to find the bottom of the net.

Portland 89 - Concordia 59

Portland opened the season against a non-D I team in crosstown rival Concordia, but they looked impressive nonetheless. The Pilots' frontcourt is a double-double duo waiting to happen. They'll have to wait another day, though, as both Thomas van der Mars (10 points, nine rebounds) and Volodymyr Gerun (9 points, 9 rebounds) were pulled once the game was clearly over.

Saint Mary's 77 - Cal State L.A. 67

The Gaels, like the Zags, are a team of transfers. If tonight wasn't just a poor shooting night, they've got a ways to go in the chemistry department. Division II Cal State L.A. actually led this game at the break. Returning starters Kerry Carter (25 points, 12 rebounds) and Brad Waldow (16 points, 10 rebounds) had almost no help tonight.