WCC basketball tournament begins Thursday in Las Vegas

The West Coast Conference basketball tournament opens Thursday at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas with four women’s games.

Pepperdine (6-23 overall, 2-16 in conference games) plays Pacific (13-16, 6-12) in the opener at noon with the winner advancing to a quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Brigham Young (24-5, 16-2) at noon Friday.

Loyola Marymount (10-19, 6-12) opens against Portland (3-26, 1-17) at 2 p.m. with the winner meeting St. Mary’s (23-6, 14-4) on Friday at 2 p.m.

In other first-round games Thursday, San Diego (23-6, 13-5) plays San Francisco (18-11, 9-9) at 6 p.m., followed by Santa Clara (22-7, 13-5) facing Gonzaga (18-12, 10-8).

The men’s tournament begins Friday with Loyola Marymount (13-16, 6-12) playing San Diego (9-20, 4-14). The winner of that game will advance to a quarterfinal at 7 p.m. on Saturday against top-seeded St. Mary’s (25-4, 15-3).

In other men’s quarterfinal games, Brigham Young (22-9, 13-5) will play Santa Clara (11-19, 7-11) at 1 p.m., Pepperdine (17-12, 10-8) will meet San Francisco (15-14, 8-10) at 3 p.m. and Gonzaga (23-7, 15-3) and Portland (12-19, 6-12) will play in the nightcap at 9.

Semifinals for the men and women will be played Monday. The championship games are Tuesday, with the winners earning automatic places in the NCAA tournaments.