Saint Mary's beats Pepperdine 81-66 in WCC tourney semis

LAS VEGAS (AP) Joe Rahon scored 18 on 7-of-12 shooting, while Dane Pineau made 8 of 10 field-goal attempts and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds to help top-seeded Saint Mary's beat No. 4 seed Pepperdine 81-66 Monday night in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament.

The Gaels will face either second-seeded Gonzaga or No. 3 seed BYU in the finals Tuesday night.

Emmett Naar had 14 points with nine assists, and Kyle Clark scored 11 on 4-of-4 shooting for Saint Mary's (27-4), which lost both regular-season matchups against Pepperdine (18-13).

Saint Mary's shot 66.7 percent (18 of 27), including six 3-pointers, in the first half and went into the break leading 44-24.

The Waves used a 16-4 run to trim their deficit to 10 with 5:28 left, but Naar scored seven during an 11-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to seal it.

Lamond Murray Jr. led Pepperdine with 20 points.