Gonzaga Ends Waves’ Road Streak, 63-52

Jeff Brown scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half as Gonzaga clinched second place in the West Coast Conference with a 63-52 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday night, ending Pepperdine’s streak of 26 road victories in the WCC.

The Bulldogs ended a 12-game losing streak against Pepperdine and finished the regular season at 18-8 overall and 10-4 in the WCC.

“It was a hard-fought game.” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. “Gonzaga played solid defense and we did not shoot the ball well in the second half. The conference tournament figures to be a real battle, as several teams have a legitimate chance of winning.”

Pepperdine (20-6, 11-3), is the top-seeded team for the third year in a row heading into next weekend’s WCC tournament. The Waves will play Loyola Marymount in the first round.

After trailing at halftime, 27-26, the Waves took their final lead with 13:28 remaining when Derek Noether scored on a jump shot to make it 36-35.

Gonzaga scored the next eight points, sparked by a three-pointer by sophomore guard John Rillie that made the score 43-36.

Pepperdine cut Gonzaga’s lead to 47-43 four minutes later, but Rillie made another three-pointer. Gonzaga scored its last 11 points on free throws.

Pepperdine played without junior guard Damin Lopez, who was held out of this weekend’s games. Lopez is expected to be available to play during the tournament.

Junior guard Bryan Parker led the Waves with 16 points. Guard Dana Jones was held to a season-low nine points, the first time this season that Jones has not scored in double figures.

The victory completed a 13-0 home-court season for Gonzaga.