San Francisco and Loyola Marymount tied at the half

Loyola Marymount and San Francisco are all tied at 38-38 at the half in the first of two second-round West Coast Conference tournament games tonight at the Orleans Arena.
Loyola Marymount led by as many as seven points until an 11-2 run momentarily gave San Francisco a lead in the final minute of the half.
Tim Diederichs converted an offensive rebound into a basket, however, to tie the score as time expired.
Dior Lowhorn has 13 points for San Francisco to lead all scorers. He also has seven rebounds.
Vernon Teel has eight points and four assists for Loyola Marymount, which has 10 fast-break points to just two for San Francisco.
The Dons were able to get to the free-throw line 14 times in the first half, converting on eight of the attempts.
The winner will play top-seeded Gonzaga tomorrow night.
Tonight’s second game will see No. 6 San Diego taking on third-seeded Portland.
The Pilots racked up 20 wins and were ranked at one point this season, but come into the tournament behind both Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

Letting it out

Loyola Marymount forward Kevin Young looks quite a bit different than he did yesterday.
Young had his hair tied down, though you could tell he had quite a bit going on up there.
Today, he has the afro fully puffed out.
It has to be one of the best fros in recent college basketball history.
The new look might be working
Young had back-to-back layups with about eight minutes remaining in the first half to give the Lions a 23-20 lead. He finished the half with seven points.

Earlier action

Most Las Vegas-based basketball fans probably missed the early session of games at the West Coast Conference tournament.
Not just because it featured two women’s games, but because it was going on at the same time as UNLV’s easy victory over Wyoming at the Thomas & Mack Center.
What fans may have missed was what is quickly becoming the early story of this event.
Eighth-seeded Santa Clara won again, knocking off No. 4 Portland 74-61.
The Broncos had won just three games all season, but have already won twice in two days in the tournament.
They don’t exactly get much of a reward for their efforts.
Santa Clara will play top-seeded Gonzaga tomorrow. The Bulldogs have been even more dominant than their men’s team this season, going unbeaten while leading the league in both scoring and scoring defense.
The other semifinal will feature third-seeded Pepperdine, a 60-51 winner over Loyola Marymount, taking on No. 2 Saint Mary’s.