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Green Helps USF Beat Pepperdine, 76-59

LAS VEGAS (CBS / AP) ― Rashad Green scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds to lead No. 3 seed University of San Francisco to a 76-59 victory Saturday night over No. 6 seed Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals.

It was San Francisco's first postseason win over Pepperdine in seven tries.

San Francisco (17-13) will face No. 2 seed Gonzaga (22-9) in a semifinal game Sunday. Santa Clara (19-13) faces top seed Saint Mary's (23-7) in the other semifinal game.

Lorne Jackson led Pepperdine (12-21) with 18 points, while Joshua Lowery added 15 and Mychel Thompson 11 on 4-of-14 shooting.

"Rashad, Angelo (Caloiaro) and our team did a really good job on Thompson because he really lit us up last time," San Francisco coach Rex Walters said of Thompson, who scored 31 in San Francisco's 79-78 overtime win on Feb. 24.

"I thought our defensive effort was really good. We wanted to make Thompson and Jackson work for everything."

San Francisco dominated in the paint Saturday, holding a 42-12 advantage. The Dons also outrebounded Pepperdine 43-32.

San Francisco led 42-35 at halftime, and Pepperdine was within six after a putback by Taylor Darby.

The Dons then went on a 16-8 run, with a 3-pointer by Marko Petrovic giving San Francisco a 60-46 lead with 8:20 remaining.

San Francisco shot 64 percent from the field in the first half and 58.3 percent from 3-point range. Pepperdine stayed close by making 11 of 15 first-half free throws and 6 of 11 from beyond the arc.

The teams split the regular-season series, with Pepperdine winning 94-88 and San Francisco taking the rematch in overtime.

This one was close early.

Pepperdine led 11-8 with 16:33 left in the first half before San Francisco went on a 14-0 run.

Cody Doolin started it with a driving layup and Michael Williams capped it with a 3-pointer, steal and fastbreak layup.

Pepperdine countered with its own 9-0 run, fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers by Jackson and Dane Suttle Jr. to pull within 22-20.

The Waves stayed close by making 10 straight free throws in the first half. A 3-pointer by Jackson pulled Pepperdine within 42-35 heading into the locker room.

San Francisco was better in just about every category. The Dons shot 55.6 percent overall (30 of 54) and made 9 of 21 from beyond the arc. Their bench also outscored Pepperdine 23-6.

Pepperdine shot just 26.7 percent in the second half while making just 2 of its last 11 from 3-point range.

"For us to beat teams like Gonzaga it's got to be free will with the ball movement, finding the open man," Walters said. "But I thought it was pretty good tonight. We didn't run a lot of set plays, we just wanted to make sure that the ball found the open man and that we attacked."

(© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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