Christie Injured in Waves’ Win : WCC tournament: Pepperdine beats Portland, 97-62, but league’s player of the year hurts knee in the second half.

Top-seeded Pepperdine had no trouble winning its first-round game in the West Coast Conference tournament Saturday night, routing eighth-seeded Portland, 97-62, at Toso Pavilion.

But the Waves may be in deep trouble if they have to play without leading scorer Doug Christie for the rest of the tournament.

Christie, the WCC player of the year, tumbled to the court and clutched his right knee after attempting a shot with 14:41 to play.

He remained on his back for a couple of minutes while Pepperdine trainers attended him. He finally got up and limped off the court with the support of teammate Geoff Lear. Jim Young, sports information director of tournament-host Santa Clara, said Christie’s injury had been diagnosed as a “lateral right knee sprain.”

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said he did not know the extent of Christie’s injury. He was even less talkative when it came to discussing what Pepperdine (20-8) would do if Christie is unable to play against the University of San Francisco (12-16) this evening.

The Waves will meet USF, which upset Loyola Marymount in the first round, in a 5 p.m. semifinal game.

Christie, who left the arena on crutches, declined to speak with reporters about his injury. He scored nine points and had five rebounds and four assists.

But Lear, who had game-high marks of 25 points and 15 rebounds, and teammate Rich Welch, who made five of nine three-point shots and finished with 17 points, said they thought the Waves will close ranks if Christie’s injury prevents him from playing.

“We’re going to miss him,” Welch said, “but we have to pull together and do it without him. We’ll just have to go out there and play harder and harder.”

Lear said that Christie “is very important to us.” He added that the Pepperdine players planned to meet after returning to their hotel, and that he thought the meeting would “bring us closer together. I can see us coming out there tomorrow even more together than what we were tonight.”

Portland Coach Larry Steele, whose team ended its season with a 5-23 record, was asked how he thought Pepperdine would do against USF, and he answered:

“My first question would be, ‘How’s Doug Christie?’ Obviously, there’s going to be a big difference if he doesn’t play.”

Steele said he would be surprised if USF doesn’t play as well against Pepperdine as it did against Loyola. He said that the Dons may be “the team to beat.”

Asbury said he expects a tough game against USF. “When you play a Bay Area team in the Bay Area for a tournament, you’re going to have a tough game,” Asbury said. “They’re a good basketball team, well-coached.”

Pepperdine forward Dana Jones, the WCC freshman of the year, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Dan Gray led Portland with 18 points.

The University of San Diego (17-11), which beat Gonzaga (14-14) in the first round Saturday, will meet St. Mary’s in the other semifinal at 7:30 tonight.