Gonzaga Sends Loyola Marymount to Big Loss

Blake Stepp had 16 points and 10 assists to help send No. 8-ranked Gonzaga past Loyola Marymount, 87-57, on Saturday at Spokane, Wash., for its 12th consecutive win.

Cory Violette scored 13 points and Ronny Turiaf had 12 for Gonzaga, which outrebounded Loyola Marymount, 40-24. The Bulldogs shot 61% and held the Lions to 32% shooting.

Gonzaga, which improved to 19-2 overall and 9-0 in the West Coast Conference, has won 18 of its last 19 games against Loyola Marymount (11-11, 2-7).

Charles Brown and Wes Wardrop scored 16 points apiece for the Lions. Sherman Gay, who came in averaging 16 points, was held to four.

Stepp scored 11 points in a 15-2 run early in the second half to put the game away.

Gonzaga is 22-0 at home when ranked.

Saint Joseph’s and Stanford, the only remaining undefeated Division I teams in the country, handed the Bulldogs their two losses.

Pepperdine 71, Portland 67 -- Glen McGowan scored 28 points and Chase Griffin made four free throws in the last 25 seconds to lift the Waves (10-14, 5-4) past the Pilots (10-12, 4-5) at Portland, Ore.

Portland, which led for the last seven minutes of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, has not defeated Pepperdine since 1999.

The Waves turned the game around with a 17-4 run that put them in front 45-43. McGowan had 11 points in that run.

Donald Wolfson led Portlandwith a career-high 26 points.

From Associated Press

BIG WEST

Cal State Northridge 56, UC Irvine 51 -- Ian Boylan scored a game-high 16 points for the visiting Matadors but it was Davin White’s two free throws with 17.3 seconds left that clinched the victory before a sellout crowd of 5,000 at the Bren Center.

White’s free throws came after Thomas Shewmake volleyed a missed shot out to Boylan, who got the ball to the point guard where he was immediately fouled. With its second consecutive road victory, Northridge (9-10, 5-6) jumped the slumping Anteaters into a fourth-place tie in the standings with Idaho.

“This is huge for us,” said Boylan, who shook off a knee injury suffered in practice Friday. “Our young guys and our veterans led. We moved up in the standings and some people fell behind us.”

Irvine (9-11, 4-7) scored only 21 second-half points and shot only 36.5% for the game. Coach Pat Douglass drastically altered the starting lineup, benching his top two scorers Adam Parada and Stanislav Zuzak, but the move couldn’t keep the Anteaters from losing their fifth in a row.

Greg Ethington had 11 points, but missed two free throws that would have tied the score with 57 seconds left.

Northridge also got contributions from little-used reserves Terrell Jones and Austin Waggener, who combined for 12 points and hit key outside shots in the second half.

Parada played 15 minutes and scored 10 points, making all four of his shots. Mike Efevberha and Ethington each had 11 points.

-- Eric Stephens

Cal State Fullerton 69, UC Riverside 66 -- The Titans (7-12, 3-7) suited up only nine players and played without two key guards, yet rallied from a 40-26 halftime deficit at Fullerton to hand the Highlanders (6-12, 3-7) their fifth consecutive loss.

Sophomore David Warsaw, who returned Jan. 24 from an ankle injury to start the last two games, skipped Friday’s practice, citing personal problems. He was absent again Saturday, but first-year Coach Bob Burton is expected to meet with him today.

Senior Derick Andrew, who started the first 16 games but had not played since injuring an ankle Jan. 29 before Fullerton’s 80-71 loss at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was dismissed from the team Saturday for “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to Burton. He is the fifth returning player to have been dismissed, or to have quit the team, since Burton took over.

Nonetheless, backup guard Yaphett King led the comeback, scoring seven points during a 13-0 run that opened the second half. Fullerton got its first lead, 47-46, when Zakee Smith made his only shot -- a three-pointer at the 11:45 mark.

Center Pape Sow scored 23 points and had 12 rebounds for Fullerton. Guard Nate Carter scored 25 points for Riverside.

-- Paul McLeod

No. 24 Utah State 63, UC Santa Barbara 54 -- Nate Harris scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds, and the Aggies (19-1, 11-0) extended their winning streak to 16 games with a victory over the Gauchos (12-8, 6-5) at Logan, Utah.

Cardell Butler had with 19 points to lead Utah State, which has not lost since a 56-45 defeat at Utah on Dec. 3.

The Aggies have won the two games they have played since returning to the Associated Press rankings for the first time since 1971.

Cameron Goettsche and Casey Cook led Santa Barbara with 10 points each. The Gauchos, who led 30-28 at halftime, made only eight of 27 shots in the second half.

Pacific 67, Long Beach State 58 -- Miah Davis scored 21 points and Christian Maraker scored 19 to lead the Tigers (15-7, 10-1) at Long Beach.

Kevin Roberts scored 11 points for Lond Beach (6-14, 4-7).

From Associated Press