Toreros Pull an Upset of Pepperdine, 69-64

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said that he had seen it coming.

His Waves, ranked 20th by United Press International, had won 9 of their last 10 games and had cruised to four easy victories in the West Coast Athletic Conference before taking on the University of San Diego Thursday night. Harrick was worried that his team might be ready for a letdown.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd of 2,800 at the USD Sports Center, Harrick’s fear was realized as the Toreros pulled off a stunning upset, 69-64.

USD streaked to a 39-22 lead by playing a nearly-perfect first half. Although Harrick may have seen it coming, his Waves still were decked by something similar to an overhand right.

After that, the Toreros hung on through some nervous moments in the second half to improve their record to 4-1 in the WCAC and 14-5 overall. Pepperdine (4-1, 16-4) fell into a second-place tie with USD in conference, one game behind Loyola Marymount, which beat St. Mary’s Thursday.

“They really played a marvelous first half against us,” Harrick said. “The game was decided then. They were flawless in the first half.

Well, almost flawless. USD did commit one turnover in the first 20 minutes. Otherwise, the Toreros were exactly what Harrick said.

USD handled Pepperdine’s 2-2-1 zone press to perfection, and worked flawlessly on the offensive end where the Toreros continually found the open player for easy shots.

Toreros’ guard Pete Murphy hit his last five shots of the half, all from long range, and forward Mark Manor was 3 for 3 from the perimeter. USD shot 58% from the floor (18 of 31) before halftime. Pepperdine, meanwhile, hit 10 of 27 shots in the first 20 minutes.

“We knew this was just another game, but we came out really fired up,” said Murphy, who wound up with 18 points to lead USD. “There was a lot of excitement at first, but once I got settled down, my shot felt real good.”

USD Coach Hank Egan had said all week that he was preparing for the Pepperdine game just like any other. Afterward, he echoed those same sentiments with a little additional charge.

“Sure this was like any other game, but these are a lot of fun, too,” Egan said. “You get to watch a heck of a game and lose some weight at the same time.”

The weight loss Egan referred to was in direct response to the Waves’ second-half comeback attempt that nearly averted the upset.

“Hey, we knew that 17 points at the half was nothing against this team,” Egan said. “You can’t keep them down all night. You know they’re going to make a run at you.”

Pepperdine didn’t disappoint him. The Waves scored the first six points of the second half to cut the margin to 11 and managed to rattle USD for the first time. The Toreros turned the ball over on two of first three possesions of the second half.

The Toreros answered Pepperdine’s first charge with a 9-2 run of their own to boost the lead to 48-30 with 12:34 remaining. The Toreros still had a 63-50 lead with 3:41 remaining before the Waves made one last run.

Eric White, who led all scorers with 21 points, scored on a rebound basket with 59 seconds left to bring Pepperdine within 65-62. However, Paul Leonard and Scott Thompson each hit two free throws to wrap it up.

USD had to hang on without Murphy, who suffered a sprained left ankle with two minutes left in the game when he became tangled with Pepperdine’s Jon Korfas. Murphy was unsure whether or not he would be able to play Saturday night, when the Toreros play host to Loyola.

“The ankle doesn’t feel too good, but I feel great,” Murphy said. “We knew this was a big weekend for us and we wanted to get off on the right foot.”