LAS VEGAS (AP) — Augustas Marciulionis and Paulius Murauskas each scored 15 points and No. 19 and top-seeded Saint Mary's defeated No. 9 seed Pepperdine 74-59 in the West Coast Conference Tournament semifinals Monday night.
The Gaels (28-4) play second-seeded Gonzaga or No. 3 San Francisco in the championship game Tuesday night, with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Defending tournament champion Saint Mary's, which has won seven consecutive games and 17 of 18, won't have to sweat out making the Big Dance for the fourth time in a row.
Luke Barrett added 13 points for the Gaels.
Pepperdine (13-22) made an unlikely run, beating three higher-seeded teams to set up this meeting. Moe Odum led Pepperdine with 19 points and Stefan Todorovic scored 10.
This is the fourth consecutive WCC Tournament final for Saint Mary's, which lost twice to Gonzaga before beating the Bulldogs 69-60 last year to end their run of four conference championships and 10 of 11. The Gaels are making their sixth appearance in the title game in the past seven years.
Takeaways
Pepperdine: Odum carried the Waves to the semifinals with 15-plus points and 10-plus assists each of the first three games. But after scoring 12 points in the first 12 minutes of this game, Odum didn't score again for more than 14 minutes.
Saint Mary's: The Gaels outscored Pepperdine 46-26 in the lane.
Key moment
Pepperdine went 5:29 in the first half without a field goal and Saint Mary's took a 39-27 lead.
Key stat
Saint Mary's improved to 24-0 when scoring at least 70 points. The Gaels also have held 27 of 32 opponents to less than 70.
Up next
Saint Mary's plays Gonzaga or San Francisco in the title game. Pepperdine's season is over.
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