The 2012 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships got underway Wednesday night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, as the No. 8 seed Portland Pilots defeated the No. 9 seed Santa Clara Broncos 74-70 in the opening game, behind 24 points and 11 rebounds from Ryan Nicholas. We are now down to an eight-team bracket in the WCC Tournament, which continues on Thursday night.

The No. 1 seed Saint Mary's Gaels and No. 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs get byes until the semifinals, which aren't until Saturday. Here is the remaining tournament schedule:

Thursday, March 1

No. 5 San Francisco vs. No. 8 Portland (6 p.m., BYUtv)

No. 6 San Diego vs. No. 7 Pepperdine (8 p.m., BYUtv)

Friday, March 2

No. 4 Loyola Marymount vs. USF/Portland winner (6 p.m., ESPNU)

No. 3 BYU vs. USD/Pepperdine winner (8 p.m., ESPNU)

Saturday, March 3

No. 1 Saint Mary's vs. LMU/USF/Portland (6 p.m., ESPN2)

No. 2 Gonzaga vs. BYU/USD/Pepperdine (8 p.m., ESPN2)

Monday, March 5

Championship Game (6 p.m., ESPN)

For a printable WCC tournament bracket, go here.