Waves Win Another Title, 67-49

It was a struggle from start to finish for the Pepperdine basketball team against the University of Portland on Thursday night at the Chiles Center.

Though the Waves played poorly, Portland played even worse.

Pepperdine shot only 35.3% and committed 20 turnovers but still managed a 67-49 victory over the Pilots to clinch its third consecutive West Coast Conference title and win its 26th consecutive conference road game.

The victory also gave the Waves (20-5, 11-2) their third consecutive 20-victory season. Portland, which shot a season-low 26.2% in dropping its seventh game in a row, is 8-17 and 2-11.

“I think we had a real emotional game against Loyola Marymount last week, and we just weren’t as up emotionally for this,” Pepperdine center Derek Noether said. “We came out hard, but we ended up kind of flat.”

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury attributed part of the problem to the fact that the Waves played without guard Damin Lopez, who re-injured the hand that had been broken earlier in the season and did not suit up.

He will miss the team’s game Saturday against Gonzaga, but he expected to return for the conference tournament next week.

“We played so many games without Damin that I thought we could go without him in this one, but I guess we couldn’t,” Asbury said.

The Waves shot only 40% in the first half, but Portland shot only 20.7% on six for 29.

After spotting Portland the first basket of the game, Pepperdine scored 16 consecutive points to take control.

The Waves led by as many as 14 points in the half and held a 31-20 halftime advantage. Pepperdine stretched its lead to 19 points in the second half.

But it was a subdued celebration for the Waves after the game.

“It was a quiet locker room for this important of a game,” Asbury said. “They tried to throw ice on me, and that’s about the only thing we did. This will sink in more a little later, but they know they didn’t play well.”

Pepperdine was sparked by forward Dana Jones, who had game highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Steve Guild and Noether added 15 points each and forward Byron Jenson had 11.

Portland was led by forwards Matt Houle, with 15 points, and Grant Tracy, with 13. But the two combined to make only eight of 30 shots from the field.