It’s Rough, but Waves Extend Streak, 52-48 : College basketball: Pepperdine overcomes physical play of Santa Clara for 27th WCC victory in a row.

Pepperdine extended its West Coast Conference winning streak to 27 games Saturday night, but it had to survive the physical play of Santa Clara to do so.

The Waves (18-6, 11-0) beat the Broncos, 52-48, before 3,925 at Toso Pavilion, and moved closer to the conference record of 31 victories in a row, set by the University of San Francisco from 1954-57.

“It was rough,” said Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury. “But it’s always rough up here.”

Santa Clara (10-13, 6-4), which often seems more intent on intimidating the opposition rather than look for the basket, was rough on Pepperdine throughout.

The lead changed 11 times, nine in the second half. There were also six ties.

The teams tied in rebounds, 32-32, but Santa Clara, as usual, had more personal fouls, 22-12.

Pepperdine made 13 of 22 free throws, and the Broncos four of nine.

It was that kind of a night.

“It was a great win under tough conditions,” Asbury said. “People are concentrating on the streak and coming at us. But it was a great effort on our part, and we played well when we had to.”

Pepperdine’s Doug Christie had a team-high 17 points on five-of-15 shooting, a reflection of the shots he had to take with Santa Clara players hanging all over him. Geoff Lear had 15 points for the Waves.

Pete Eisenrich, a 6-foot-9 forward-center, led Santa Clara with 17 points. He made seven of eight shots from the field, including all three of his three-point shots.

Santa Clara began the game in typical fashion, trying to outmuscle and intimidate Pepperdine.

And it worked for the first half. The Waves, taken out of their game by the Broncos’ rough tactics, started out raggedly.

Derek Noether and Lear each missed two free throws in the early going, and the Waves didn’t score until Damin Lopez sank a 15-foot jump shot with 15:41 remaining in the half.

But Santa Clara was having its problems offensively and could manage just a 4-2 lead.

Christie, the Waves’ leading scorer, didn’t score until there was 5:48 remaining in the half, when he made a three-point basket. The teams were tied 25-25 at halftime.