LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Portland led by 14 points in the second half before a late Pepperdine rally finished the Pilots season in the second round of the Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championships. Pepperdine pulled out an 86-73 victory and will advance to face the No. 5 seed Oregon State Beavers on Saturday at 6 p.m. in a third round meeting.
Vukasin Masic led the Pilots (12-20) with 26 points, including a career-best seven three-pointers made. Austin Rapp added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Max Mackinnon chipped in 16 points as well.
The Pilots raced out to a 38-29 halftime lead and were up 54-40 with 12 minutes left in regulation, but the Waves rode a huge performance from junior guard Moe Odum to take control late.
Odum scored 26 of his game-high 31 points in the second half and added 11 assists in the contest. He spurred an 18-2 run capped by consecutive threes to give the Waves (11-21) a 58-56 lead. Portland struggled to score down the stretch and Pepperdine pulled away in the final minutes to secure the victory.
Portland shot 45 percent overall for the game and made 13-of-31 three-pointers, while the Waves finished at 47 percent and 12-of-34 from beyond the arc. Pepperdine made 14-of-16 free throws compared to 6-for-10 for the Pilots.
The Waves had a 41-28 rebounding margin which led to an 18-9 edge in second chance points.
The loss marks the final collegiate games for Masic and fellow Portland graduate student Chris Austin. Both finished in strong fashion down the stretch as Masic reached double figures in seven of the last eight games. He came up two points shy of 1,000 for his career. Austin scored his 1,000th point as a Pilot in a Feb. 27 home win against Pepperdine and reached double figures in 11 of the final 13 games.
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