Pepperdine Just What DePaul Needs, 90-65

DePaul may not have ended Pepperdine’s hopes for an NCAA tournament berth Saturday night, but the Blue Demons at least put a big dent in them.

Senior forward Tyrone Corbin scored a game-high 20 points, and senior guard Kenny Patterson added 14 while breaking a school career assist record in leading DePaul to a 90-65 rout of the Waves before 14,355 fans at the Rosemont Horizon.

Pepperdine, which had won 11 of its last 12 games, dropped to 17-8. DePaul, which had lost three of its last four games, raised its record to 15-6.

Last Wednesday, Dayton beat DePaul for the second time this season and snapped the Blue Demons’ 36-game home-court winning streak. On Friday, a local sports columnist called for new head Coach Joey Meyer, 35, to take an early retirement.

After DePaul rolled over Pepperdine, Meyer, who took over this season when his legendary father, Ray, retired after 42 years at DePaul, said:

“I guess I can coach another game. I got a one-game reprieve from early retirement.”

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick, who has no seniors, had hoped for an upset of DePaul and a strong boost toward making the NCAA regionals in case the Waves don’t win the title in the West Coast Athletic Conference, where they are 5-1.

Afterward, however, Harrick said: “I’d rather win the league. But I’m happy for Joey Meyer. They came out, were very aggressive and played a good strong game.

“I’m not sure our guys have been in a game of this magnitude.

DePaul, which shot 72% in the first half and cooled to 52.8% for the game, took a 3-0 lead at the outset as Patterson fed junior center Marty Embry an alley-oop pass for a lay-in. Embry was fouled and sank the free throw.

The Blue Demons, pressuring Pepperdine on defense with a full-court press and then a two-three zone, raced to a 16-6 lead with 15:54 left in the first half.

The Waves, who never led, cut their deficit to 20-16, mostly on the outside shooting of Jon Korfas, who scored eight points in fewer than three minutes. But DePaul started pulling away as Pepperdine seemed rattled by the raucous crowd. The Waves lost the ball 15 times on steals.

Patterson, who had three steals, led the defensive pressure as well as the attack. His 11 assists gave him 611 for his career and broke Clyde Bradshaw’s school mark of 606, set in 1978-81.

The Blue Demons, who led at halftime, 45-32, went on a 15-2 run at the start of the second period that was ignited by a Patterson jumper from the right of the key, followed by his driving layup after taking a feed from Tony Jackson.

That 15-point burst made it 60-34, and Pepperdine fell behind by as many as 29 points, the last time at 78-49.