So far chalk has prevailed in Las Vegas. The No. 7 seed Pepperdine Waves ended their season Thursday night with a 76-54 loss to the No. 6 seed San Diego Toreros in the 2012 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships at the Orleans Arena. Johnny Dee scored 30 points to lead San Diego in the win, including six three-pointers.
Dee made nine of 14 field goals on the night, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc for San Diego (13-17, 7-9), who shot 56.3% on the night.
This was the sixth meeting in the WCC Tournament in the last eight years for the Waves and Toreros. Pepperdine (10-19, 4-12) was led in scoring by senior center Corbin Moore, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in his final college game. Forward Taylor Darby, also playing his final game for the Waves, had 15 points and eight rebounds in defeat.
Pepperdine cut an 11-point halftime deficit to two with 15:53 remaining in the game, but San Diego went on a 32-12 run over the next 10 minutes to put the game away. Pepperdine lost all three games to San Diego this season.
San Diego advances to battle the No. 3 seed BYU Cougars in the second of two games Friday night, to be televised by ESPNU.