Portland takes first-round win in WCC Tournament (Mar 03, 2017)
LAS VEGAS (AP) Jazz Johnson scored 17 points and Portland, which lost its last 16 conference games, beat San Diego 60-55 on Friday night in the first round of the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Gabe Taylor added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Xavier Hallinan scored 11 points for the 10th-seeded Pilots (11-21), who will face second seed and 20th-ranked Saint Mary's in a Saturday quarterfinal.
Brett Bailey made four 3-pointers and scored 19 points for the Toreros (13-18), who beat the Pilots twice in the regular season. Cameron Neubauer and Olin Carter III added 11 points each.
Six straight points by Taylor gave Portland the lead for good, 47-44, with 7 1/2 minutes to go. San Diego trailed by three and had the ball with 36 seconds left but Bailey threw a pass straight to Taylor and two free throws by Johnson completed the scoring.
