March 7, 2026 Loyola Marymount vs San Diego [WCC Tournament]
Somehow the Lions have seemed to find their stride despite an extra short bench with the loss of Skip Salow for the rest of the season. They are winners of 8 straight games and are favored to beat a struggling San Diego team that went 4-10 in the conference this year. No player on the Toreros is scoring more than 9 points per game and they only score 64 points per game on 39.6% shooting.
2-0 against San Diego this year, a 92-64 win back on February 3 and a 90-88 overtime win just last week. Lucious Estrada has averaged 31 points in the 2 contests and Immanuel Kahrimanovic has scored 21.5 points per game: there’s a great chance for the guards to get their baskets against their tight man-to-man defense as they get to the basket or hit threes from skip passes to the weakside.
Oggy’s biggest concern, both literally and conceptually, is 7’3” Randolph Birley (C, 68 ovr). He cannot allow him to get easy offensive boards and putbacks. Herman Robbins (SF, 72 ovr) is also a knock-down 3 point shooter and the Lions will need to close out hard on him.
Oggy was bound-and-determined not to end up like his brother’s team and wanted to at least make the WCC final and give his team a chance at making the NCAAs.
The game started out with a bang as the Lions threw down 2 dunks and got a 5-0 lead quickly. Loyola Marymount fans were raucous and exploded with joy at the start, and it continued as they were up 9-0 before the Toreros even got on the board.
Lucious Estrada gets fouled and still makes the dunk.
At 15-7 San Diego finally called timeout. They were allowing too many easy baskets and had to regroup. The break worked for them as they started to hit some threes and made it a 17-10 game. For the rest of the half, Loyola found themselves up by 7-11, but was never able to fully put the game away. San Diego was being scrappy and the teams entered the break with Loyola Marymount up 39-31.
San Diego was only shooting 39% and Loyola Marymount was 0-4 from three, but the teams had managed to keep the scoring somewhat high. Allen Wentt had 15 points and Estrada had 9 while Birley was held to just 3 points. Multiple Torero players were in foul trouble with 2 fouls, and Oggy exhorted his team to keep attacking the basket to get them in trouble. If Birley and Robbins could get off the court, the Lions had a much better chance to close things out in the second half.
Coming out of the break, San Diego immediately hit 2 long shots and the game was just 39-36 and a few minutes later the Toreros had fully come back and were up 44-43. Then Wentt missed a bunny and Randolph Birley hit a three. Oggy turned to his assistants and said “what the hell is going on?” He couldn’t believe this. How was the 7-footer hitting threes. He hadn’t done that all season.
Allen Wentt helped get things to a better place by finishing through a foul.
Oggy ensured the ball got back into Lucious Estrada’s capable hands and it immediately paid off as he ran a pick-and-roll, feeding Wentt who threw down a dunk through contact and was fouled. That seemed to energize the Lions who went on a 9-2 run and were up 10 points with 7 minutes remaining.
However, the Lions weren’t able to put the game away. With just 1 minute remaining, San Diego had scored 8 unanswered points and was only down 71-67 with a minute to go.
However, Lucious Estrada hit a corner three to extend the game to 7 points with 30 seconds left in what would be a clinching basket. San Diego made a three, but then they had to start fouling and Loyola shot 8-8 from the line to close things out and win 82-72.
Lucious Estrada led the way with 29 points, going 14-14 from the free throw line. Allen Wentt added 23 points as well.
San Diego shot much better in the second half, bringing themselves up to 46% on the game, led by Witherspoon’s 26 points. Robbins was held to 5 points on 1-8 shooting, but Birley had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Comparing the teams, San Diego had 15 turnovers to Loyola’s 5 and the Lions were 27-31 from the line, while the Toreros were just 8-11. However, San Diego did have 10 offensive rebounds to LMU’s 2.
WCC Tournament Results
Somehow the Lions have seemed to find their stride despite an extra short bench with the loss of Skip Salow for the rest of the season. They are winners of 8 straight games and are favored to beat a struggling San Diego team that went 4-10 in the conference this year. No player on the Toreros is scoring more than 9 points per game and they only score 64 points per game on 39.6% shooting.
2-0 against San Diego this year, a 92-64 win back on February 3 and a 90-88 overtime win just last week. Lucious Estrada has averaged 31 points in the 2 contests and Immanuel Kahrimanovic has scored 21.5 points per game: there’s a great chance for the guards to get their baskets against their tight man-to-man defense as they get to the basket or hit threes from skip passes to the weakside.
Oggy’s biggest concern, both literally and conceptually, is 7’3” Randolph Birley (C, 68 ovr). He cannot allow him to get easy offensive boards and putbacks. Herman Robbins (SF, 72 ovr) is also a knock-down 3 point shooter and the Lions will need to close out hard on him.
Oggy was bound-and-determined not to end up like his brother’s team and wanted to at least make the WCC final and give his team a chance at making the NCAAs.
The game started out with a bang as the Lions threw down 2 dunks and got a 5-0 lead quickly. Loyola Marymount fans were raucous and exploded with joy at the start, and it continued as they were up 9-0 before the Toreros even got on the board.
Lucious Estrada gets fouled and still makes the dunk.
At 15-7 San Diego finally called timeout. They were allowing too many easy baskets and had to regroup. The break worked for them as they started to hit some threes and made it a 17-10 game. For the rest of the half, Loyola found themselves up by 7-11, but was never able to fully put the game away. San Diego was being scrappy and the teams entered the break with Loyola Marymount up 39-31.
San Diego was only shooting 39% and Loyola Marymount was 0-4 from three, but the teams had managed to keep the scoring somewhat high. Allen Wentt had 15 points and Estrada had 9 while Birley was held to just 3 points. Multiple Torero players were in foul trouble with 2 fouls, and Oggy exhorted his team to keep attacking the basket to get them in trouble. If Birley and Robbins could get off the court, the Lions had a much better chance to close things out in the second half.
Coming out of the break, San Diego immediately hit 2 long shots and the game was just 39-36 and a few minutes later the Toreros had fully come back and were up 44-43. Then Wentt missed a bunny and Randolph Birley hit a three. Oggy turned to his assistants and said “what the hell is going on?” He couldn’t believe this. How was the 7-footer hitting threes. He hadn’t done that all season.
Allen Wentt helped get things to a better place by finishing through a foul.
Oggy ensured the ball got back into Lucious Estrada’s capable hands and it immediately paid off as he ran a pick-and-roll, feeding Wentt who threw down a dunk through contact and was fouled. That seemed to energize the Lions who went on a 9-2 run and were up 10 points with 7 minutes remaining.
However, the Lions weren’t able to put the game away. With just 1 minute remaining, San Diego had scored 8 unanswered points and was only down 71-67 with a minute to go.
However, Lucious Estrada hit a corner three to extend the game to 7 points with 30 seconds left in what would be a clinching basket. San Diego made a three, but then they had to start fouling and Loyola shot 8-8 from the line to close things out and win 82-72.
Lucious Estrada led the way with 29 points, going 14-14 from the free throw line. Allen Wentt added 23 points as well.
San Diego shot much better in the second half, bringing themselves up to 46% on the game, led by Witherspoon’s 26 points. Robbins was held to 5 points on 1-8 shooting, but Birley had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Comparing the teams, San Diego had 15 turnovers to Loyola’s 5 and the Lions were 27-31 from the line, while the Toreros were just 8-11. However, San Diego did have 10 offensive rebounds to LMU’s 2.
WCC Tournament Results
- Santa Clara 72 – San Francisco 70. The #13 ranked the country falls to an objectively bad Santa Clara team. Paco Tudeme (SG, 78 ovr) was dominant for the Broncos with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks. Joshua Berrelleca (SF, 84 ovr) only had 4 points for the Dons as he struggled with fouls all night.
- Portland 73 – Gonzaga 68. Another big dog falls in the WCC as Portland’s frontcourt combines for 41 points vs Gonzaga’s 13.
- Pepperdine 68 – Saint Mary’s 64. B.A. Marks (C, 76 ovr) had 18 points in the win.
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