The WCAC : Pepperdine Rolls Over Loyola, 86-77

Pepperdine closed out the regular season Saturday night with an 86-77 win over Loyol a Marymount in front of acapacity crowd of 3,104 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Loyola’s Keith Smith scored a game-high 22 points, breaking a school single-season scoring record, and teammate Steve Haney added 22 points, 16 in the first period. But the Lions trailed at halftime, 50-44.

Pepperdine (23-8, 11-1), the West Coast Athletic Conference champion and headed for the NCAA tournament, got 20 points from Anthony Frederick, Dwayne Polee and Eric White each added 18, and Jon Korfas had 13.

White also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the Waves, who outrebounded the Lions, 37-19. Loyola (10-16, 2-9) played without center Steve Haderlein, who has a stress fracture of his right foot.

The Waves, who have won 17 of their last 19 games, finished 12-0 at home this season.

Smith entered the game with a 25.8-point scoring average, fifth-best in the NCAA’s Division I.

In the first half, the junior guard was held to eight points, but he finished with 22. That gave him 668 points this season, breaking the single-season record of 659 set by Jim Haderlein, Steve’s brother, in the 1969-70 season.