These Teams Happy Season Is Not Over : College basketball: Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara meet in first round of NIT.

Jerry Pimm, the longtime coach at UC Santa Barbara, doesn’t dispute the sentiment that his team would rather be playing in the NCAA tournament.

But since the Gauchos were not invited, he says there is nothing wrong with playing in the National Invitation Tournament.

“We’re still sharing in the March Madness,” he said. “It’s not the NCAA tournament, but it’s still March and it’s still madness.”

He is also pleased that the Gauchos (18-10) will be playing longtime rival Pepperdine (22-7) in the first round. The teams will meet at 7:30 tonight in the UC Santa Barbara Campus Events Center.

“I think it’s a good matchup for both teams,” Pimm said. “It’s a local rivalry and a natural for the first round. I don’t think the fact that we’ve played once before enters into the picture.”

Santa Barbara defeated Pepperdine, 60-55, in a nonconference game Dec. 14 at Malibu, and the Gauchos have won five of the teams’ last six meetings.

The coaches agree that the familiarity of the teams will help in preparation.

“It’s a plus from the standpoint that we don’t have to dig up 50 tapes or scramble for information about them,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. “I guess it goes both ways. We’re not hiding any secrets about each other.”

For Pepperdine to win, though, the Waves will have to shoot better than they did in the first meeting. Pepperdine held a 32-22 lead over the Gauchos at halftime of that game, but made only 21.4% of its shots after intermission.

It was a forgettable game for Pepperdine guard Damin Lopez, the team’s top outside shooter with a West Coast Conference high of 60 three-point baskets this season. Lopez scored a season low of four points, made only one of 10 shots and did not make a three-pointer in five attempts.

Asbury is also concerned about Santa Barbara’s experienced starting lineup, which includes four seniors and a sophomore. The leader is senior guard Idris Jones, who averages 13 points.

Forward Paul Johnson and guard Ray Kelly also have double-figure scoring averages.

One of the keys to Pepperdine’s success has been its scoring balance. The Waves have five players averaging between 10 and 16 points, led by forward Dana Jones’ 15.7 average.

The 6-foot-6 junior, the WCC player of the year, was the conference leader with an average of 9.3 rebounds and a shooting percentage of 63.3%.

“They have a lot of people they can go to,” Pimm said. “You look at their personnel and they’ve all gotten better as the season has gone along. That’s the sign of a strong, competitive program.”

Perhaps the biggest question is how the Waves will respond to playing in the Campus Events Center, known as “the Thunderdome” because of its boisterous crowds. Pepperdine has not won there since taking a 65-63 victory over the Gauchos in 1984.