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USF Men's Basketball - 2010 Zappos.com Quarterfinals Advance - Loyola Marymount
REVISED March 5, 2010
UPDATE: USF will take on Loyola Marymount in the 6:00 PM quarterfinal of the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Tournament Saturday at the Orleans Arena. It will be the fifth time the Dons and Lions have met in the WCC Tournament with USF holding a 4-0 record in those contests. LMU held on for a 87-84 victory against longtime rival Pepperdine in opening round action Friday night.
Complete WCC Quarterfinals Game Notes in PDF Format 
2010 Zappos.com WCC Tournament Central: WCC Tournament Central
By Stacy Hicklin
USF Beat Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- A town where anything can happen seems to be the perfect host for a much-anticipated West Coast Conference Tournament this season.
The general consensus among coaches is that the tournament title is up for grabs by as many as five teams - with the University of San Francisco counted in that pack.
"I thought the conference top to bottom was as close as it has been in years," St. May's coach Randy Bennett said in a teleconference this week. "It's going to be an interesting tournament with teams coming out of the four and five spots that can make some noise in this tournament."
The Dons (12-17, 7-7) enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed; hence enjoying a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
Fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount (16-14, 7-7) kicks off the tournament against No. 8 Pepperdine (7-23, 3-11) in a first-round match up at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 5 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
The two teams have gone in drastically different directions in the second half of the season. The Lions have won five of their last seven games and the Waves ended the season with 11 consecutive losses.
USF plays the winner of that game at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 6 at Orleans Arena.
The Dons lost at Pepperdine 83-68 in mid-January, but beat the Waves 77-47 at home in mid-February. USF swept Loyola Marymount this season with a 70-67 nail-bitter win on the road in January and then a 75-66 win at home in February.
"We're going [to Las Vegas] for one reason: we're trying to get three wins and go to the dance [NCAA Tournament]," USF coach Rex Walters said.
If the Dons were to win their quarterfinal game against either Loyola Marymount or Pepperdine, they would face No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the semifinals. USF upset the Bulldogs 81-77 in overtime and lost by only five points last weekend in Spokane.
"The teams that have given us the most problems this year are slotted to play us in that semifinal game," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I think Loyola and San Francisco are playing some really good basketball right now.
"Look at [USF's] last 7-8-9 games and they are trending up, playing better than their overall record. If you play them right now, you scratch your head at some of their scores in November and December and even some in January." USF won five out of six games before dropping two tight games at Gonzaga and Portland last weekend. Three of those wins came in overtime.
"We have to be tough and we have to be together," Walters said. "This is going to be an unbelievable tournament. It's all well-coached teams that know each other well."
Tip-off of USF's quarterfinal game is set for 6:00 PM at the Orleans Arena in a game broadcast live on the flagship station of Dons Basketball Green 960 and will be available on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area Plus and ESPN 360.
2010 Zappos.com WCC Tournament Central: WCC Tournament Central
