Washington leads dominant second half, easy Tigers victory at LMU

Defense shines, depth of guard play improves in season-changing win

As late as halftime of last night’s game in Los Angeles, bringing up the notion of a “dominant Tigers win” in WCC play would have likely produced a series of eye rolls or worse. But a strong finish to the first half followed by a “dominant” 14-0 run to start second half produced the first decisive, 20+ point victory in the Dave Smart era - on the road to boot - as Pacific hammered LMU 85-58 in a game that was pretty much over with 10 minutes remaining.

Including the final stages of the first half, the Pacific run was 22-0 and keyed by multiple, consistent one-and-dones defensively and another spectacular offensive performance from 6’4” Lamar Washington, who was pushing in transition, taking advantage of Lions bigs off switches and making perimeter shots. It was another in a growing resume of signature games for Lamar who is quickly inserting himself into all-WCC honors discussion. Last night, he went for 31 points (18 in the second half), 10 rebounds, six assists, five steals and a big charge taken.

Coach Smart has tweaked his rotations over the past few games - once again last night giving Washington an early breather into first-half TV timeouts so managing the point guard’s minutes much more effectively. The result last night was a more energetic, fresher leader in the second half.

Pacific generally dealt well with full court pressure, zone defenses and double teams when Washington was attacked - areas that plagued the group in the past. Pacific also shot a scorching 67% in the second half including 7-13 from three with timely contributions from two previously “secondary” scorers (see more below).

But in the end, defense and rebounding (Pacific dominated the glass 40-23, limiting LMU to just 6 “o” boards) - historical staples of well-coached and successful Dave Smart teams - were the driving force behind last night’s “dominant” win over a middle-of-the-pack WCC team in their gym. That said, “making shots” also helped as 6’3” Jefferson Koulibaly had arguably his most complete offensive game in WCC play with a pair of important, early-second-half threes, the second taking on meaningful significance after LMU came out of timeout with a corner three from 6’6” Caleb Stone-Carrawell knocking down a three.

In multiple prior games, an opponent’s made open three at that stage in the game would start a long run and there was a creeping sense in some that history could repeat itself. But Koulibaly’s second three with 11 1/2 minutes - Jefferson finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds - created a calming effect, bumping the Tigers lead back to 15 and starting another 10-0 run - mini-crisis averted, something that in past games were issues. In what turned out to be the “game over” run, Washington took a charge, finished a slick turnaround in the lane and then fed 6’4” Petar Krivokapic for the first of his four consecutive threes and all 12 of his points to ultimately grow the lead to 27 and “the rout was on”.

Lamar continued his all-WCC-esque play down the stretch, stripping an LMU player and feeding Koulibaly for an easy lay-in and then working through the Lions press to feed 6’7” Elias Ralph (15 points, 7 rebounds) for what was a punctuating two-handed slam by the Albertan with two minutes remaining to again bring the lead to 27.

This game did appear precarious in the first half as the Lions broke out to a 26-17 lead after Pacific scored the game’s first 7 points. Ralph struggled to start the game offensively and then had to sit with two fouls but Smart managed that situation well - Elias got back in the game and immediately found 6’2” Seth Jones in the corner with a slick find and the Juco transfer banging in a three to bring the game back to 26-24. Washington again kept the Tigers in it in the first half with 13 points on 6-10 shooting and keyed the last first-half run.

7’0” Jazz Gardner (6 points, 6 rebounds) was quietly effective with some in traffic defensive rebounds, nice finishes inside including a “decisive” move in the paint against LMU’s 1-3-1 zone.

On to Corvallis to meet an Oregon State group that pounded Pacific 91-55 in Stockton in January and comes off a road loss at Portland 84-72, the Beavers second consecutive loss and third in four games. Game time is 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET.