Half-Volley by Rollins Too Much for Waves

Much to Pepperdine’s dismay, Gonzaga’s Lorenzo Rollins found his shooting touch in the second half Saturday night.

As a result, the Bulldogs erased a 10-point deficit and defeated the Waves, 78-66, in a West Coast Conference basketball game before 1,874 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Rollins, who was scoreless and missed all four of his shots in the first half, scored 21 points on seven-of-10 shooting in the second half to help Gonzaga (14-6, 5-3 in conference play) beat the Waves for the sixth consecutive time and move into a tie for first place in the WCC with Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount and San Francisco.

“[Rollins] pulled us out of our zone [defense], and he got in his zone,” Pepperdine interim Coach Marty Wilson said.

Pepperdine (9-11, 2-6) took a 48-38 lead on a jump shot by Khary Hervey with 16:30 to play. But Rollins answered with two consecutive three-point baskets to ignite the Bulldogs.

A jump shot by Rollins gave Gonzaga the lead for good, 54-53, with 12:31 left, and his third three-pointer capped a 9-0 run to make it 71-60 with 3:17 left.

“I just had to knock them down,” said Rollins, a 6-foot-4 junior. “I knew I had to take care of business.

“Once we got [Pepperdine] out of their zone, we could just take our time and cut them up by playing Gonzaga basketball. We were playing too fast in the first half.”

Gonzaga made 65.4% of its shots after intermission.

Center Paul Rogers, a 7-foot junior from Australia, was a steady force for Gonzaga, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Pepperdine’s 7-foot center from Australia, Gavin Van Der Putten, had two points and three rebounds before fouling out.

“Two of their guys had better games than they should have,” said Wilson, referring to Rollins and Rogers. “We gave them second looks by letting them get offensive rebounds.”

Gerald Brown had 21 points for Pepperdine, only four in the second half. Bryan Hill added 18 points for the Waves, who lost their fifth consecutive game at home--the team’s longest losing streak at Firestone Fieldhouse since the facility opened in 1973.

Brown had 17 points as the Waves took a 38-34 halftime lead.