Down by 6 With 3:55 Left, Pepperdine Upsets Santa Clara, 72-69

You gotta believe.

That was the message Pepperdine interim Coach Marty Wilson gave his players before they met Santa Clara on Friday night, and that was the reason he gave for the Waves’ improbable 72-69 victory before 3,715 at Toso Pavilion.

“We talked about believing,” said Wilson, 29, who took over as coach after Tony Fuller’s sudden resignation last Saturday, hours before an 87-76 loss to Santa Clara at Firestone Fieldhouse.

“We’ve just been talking about positive thinking and not giving up. That’s what got us through tonight.

“No one expected us to beat Santa Clara.”

Suiting up only eight players and using seven, Pepperdine (8-9, 1-4 in conference play) rallied from deficits of 12 points in the first half and nine in the second to break a five-game losing streak and earn its first West Coast Conference victory. The Waves were down by six with 3:55 remaining.

Guard Gerald Brown made the clutch plays down the stretch, hitting a shot from just inside the top of the key with 1 minute 7 seconds left to give the Waves a 70-68 lead, and sinking two free throws with 16 seconds left.

Drew Zurek made one of two free throws to pull Santa Clara (12-5, 3-2) to within 70-69 and Pepperdine center Gavin Van Der Putten threw an errant inbounds pass that was intercepted by Jason Sedlock.

After calling timeout, Santa Clara got the ball to guard Steve Nash, who missed a jump shot that was rebounded by Brown. Sedlock fouled Brown, leading to the junior’s two free throws.

Nash, who had 17 points for the Broncos, got off two three-point shots in the final seconds, but missed the first and had the second blocked by Wave forward Bryan Hill.

“Awesome,” Wilson said. ‘If I could retire right now, I would.”

Marques Johnson scored 21 points for Pepperdine, Hill had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Brown added 18 points.

Johnson helped the Waves recover from a dismal stretch midway through the second half, in which they were outscored, 17-2. Zurek’s third three-point basket of the run gave Santa Clara a 54-45 lead with 11:13 left.

Johnson made consecutive three-point baskets and Pepperdine crept back into the game.

Santa Clara, losing in Toso Pavilion for the first time in six games, made only 41.9% of its shots compared to 49.1% for Pepperdine.

The Waves play St. Mary’s at Moraga tonight.