Calvin Hermanson scored 21 points and Jock Landale contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 18 Saint Mary's to an 81-58 victory over Portland in a West Coast Conference tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Emmett Naar also tied a career high with 11 assists to go with only one turnover as Saint Mary's produced 19 assists.

The No. 2-seeded Gaels (27-3 overall) advance to the semifinals Monday to face No. 3 BYU, which defeated Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

"It's good to get a day off in between," St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett said. "It gives us a day to get rest and more time to scout BYU, which is playing good basketball right now."

Portland, led by Jazz Johnson's game-high 26 points, finishes its season 11-22 in the first year under former NBA player and coach Terry Porter.

"We told our guys it's March, win or go home, anything can happen," Porter said. "They battled for most of the game. Saint Mary's just wore us down."

The Pilots battled back after trailing by 12 points with 4:15 left in the first half, scoring the last six points to cut the lead to 32-27 at halftime.

The Pilots stayed close at that point despite Saint Mary's shooting 50 percent from the field and having three players with eight points, including Landale, who also had seven rebounds by halftime.

After falling behind by 12 points in the second half, Portland once again rallied to cut the Saint Mary's lead to 49-43 with 10:35 left on Jarrel Marshall's jump shot.

The Gaels answered on the following possession with a 3-pointer by Hermanson. Tanner Krebs made a 3-pointer and Landale converted a three-point play in a 6-0 spurt that gave Saint Mary's a 61-46 lead with 7:29 left.

"Our guys really wanted it," Porter said, noting that the Pilots made all 11 of their free-throw attempts. "We just didn't have enough at the end."

Saint Mary's outrebounded Portland 38-23 led by Landale's effort. Dane Pineau also contributed 11 points with six rebounds.

The Gaels managed to pull away in the second half, limiting Portland to 35.7 percent shooting from the field including 25 percent from 3-point range.

"We knew we had to lock down their shooters in the second half," Landale said. "That was our main focus and I think we stepped it up when we had to."

Johnson was Portland's lone scorer in double figures and no other player had more than four rebounds.

"After last night's win (over San Diego), our guys were feeling good, loose and confident," Porter said. "That's why we had that good start. They made adjustments. We made adjustments. They were able to get it done."

NOTES: Portland's win over San Diego on Friday marked the first victory against a WCC opponent since Dec. 31, when the Pilots opened conference play 2-0. ... Finishing with a 26-3 overall record, St. Mary's claimed the highest win percentage for the regular season in program history. The total surpasses the 1988-89 team record of 25-5. ... Portland senior PG Alec Wintering and sophomore G Jazz Johnson received All-WCC honorable mention this season. Wintering missed the final 13 games of the season with an injury yet still earned his third straight conference honor. Johnson was recognized for the first time after averaging 15.5 points per game. ... Saint Mary's entered the game holding opponents to 56.1 points per game. The Gaels were first in the WCC and second in the nation in that statistic. The team has forced six teams in the WCC to their fewest point totals of the season (Portland twice: 33, 41; San Francisco 46; San Diego 27; Loyola Marymount 48; BYU 57; and Pepperdine (tied lowest 49).