Pepperdine Stymies St. Mary’s Early, 81-61

Going into Saturday night’s game, Pepperdine had defeated St. Mary’s 10 consecutive times in West Coast Conference play.

Make that 11.

The Waves led by as many as 30 points and coasted to an 81-61 victory before 3,104 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

“We showed a little more resiliency tonight,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said.

“I’m still not going to be sure if we’ve worked out the kinks until we have a close game.”

After struggling most of the way in its conference-opening loss to Santa Clara on Friday, Pepperdine, 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference, took control early against St. Mary’s (8-5, 1-1).

The Waves went on an 18-0 run early in the first half and led by 35-19 at halftime.

Pepperdine was led in the half by point guard Bryan Parker, who scored nine points on three three-point baskets although he went scoreless in the second half.

The Gaels (8-5, 1-1) hurt themselves in the first half by making 14 turnovers and sinking only 36.4% of their shots.

“I can’t fault our defense,” Asbury said. “It’s been a good defensive team. This team has played as well from a set defense as any team I’ve coached in my 15 years here.”

Pepperdine had four players score in double figures, led by forward Dana Jones with 23 points.

Chris Johnson had 18 points to lead the Gaels, who committed 21 turnovers and shot 38%.