Waves Battered at Finish

It was Pepperdine’s last gasp, so Mike Gerrity gave it one last go.

The Waves’ freshman point guard had played only one game since suffering a foot injury in late January, but he returned to start against San Diego in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament Friday at McCarthey Athletic Center.

His comeback went about like Pepperdine’s season: Gerrity lasted 11 minutes in an 85-72 loss that ended the Waves’ season at 7-20.

At least now the Waves and Gerrity’s foot will get the long rest they need.

“He probably shouldn’t have played, but you can’t tell him no. He wanted to try,” Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal said.

The injury, diagnosed as a stress reaction in Gerrity’s left foot, was the final blow of a long season.

“When he went down, we lost seven in a row,” Westphal said.

San Diego entered with a four-game skid.

But the fifth-seeded Toreros (17-11) took advantage of eighth-seeded Pepperdine’s poor shooting and scoring droughts to advance to a quarterfinal against fourth-seeded San Francisco tonight.

San Diego freshman Brandon Johnson, a 6-foot point guard, scored a career-high 24 points and added eight rebounds, four assists and five steals.

“They really hug the shooter, and that opened up the lane when I penetrated, and some of those points came off turnovers, too,” Johnson said.

San Diego Coach Brad Holland said he had urged his team to play with more energy.

“We asked our guys to come out aggressive, and we had 16 total foul calls in the first half, so that’s fairly aggressive,” he said.

If not for trips to the free-throw line, Pepperdine really would have had a difficult time scoring.

The Waves made only six field goals in the first half -- missing 12 shots in a row at one point -- and needed a late surge to shoot 25% in the half.

The second half was a total change: Pepperdine shot 51.5%, but still trailed by as many as 18 points.

“We’ve had stretches like that all year,” Westphal said. “Offensively, we struggled so bad all year.”

Tashaan Forehan-Kelly, a senior guard, led Pepperdine with 21 points. Freshman center Chris Oakes scored 18.

Westphal completed his fifth season at the school with his worst record, a year after losing Alex Acker early to the NBA.

“Nobody likes a season like that. When we scheduled, we thought we’d have Alex Acker,” he said. “No, it wasn’t fun, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the challenge.

“I think we have a good young nucleus. I’m hoping this year of getting their brains beat out will motivate them, because I think the future can be very good.”

Santa Clara 72, Portland 68 -- Travis Niesen scored 19 points and Brody Angley added 17 for the sixth-seeded Broncos (13-15), who advanced to a quarterfinal game tonight against third-seeded Saint Mary’s. Pooh Jeter led seventh-seeded Portland (11-18) with 26 points.