Waves Come Crashing Down, 76-48

Gonzaga showed no mercy in its 76-48 rout of Pepperdine during Sunday night’s West Coast Conference semifinal at Toso Pavilion.

And for that the Waves should be thankful.

While defeating top-seeded Santa Clara the night before, Pepperdine lost its leading scorer, guard Gerald Brown, who suffered a right knee injury and possible ligament damage.

Five minutes into Sunday’s game, the Waves’ other standout guard, Marques Johnson, went down because of a severely sprained right ankle.

Their roster, already decimated because of injury and illness over the course of the season, was down to only six players.

If the eighth-seeded Waves, 10-18 overall, had to take to the court one more time, who knows what might have happened.

It’s been that kind of season.

One in which they were unexpectedly abandoned by their coach, Tony Fuller, only hours before a game on Jan. 20. One in which three true freshmen have been counted on to fill the void created by their fallen teammates.

“I guess our bad luck is over tonight,” interim Coach Marty Wilson said.

Perhaps.

Second-seeded Gonzaga (21-7), whose starters took control of the game after holding only a five-point lead with 16 minutes to play, advanced to tonight’s final against Portland. Forward Lorenzo Rollins led four Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points. Seven-foot center Paul Rogers added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

The Waves, led by junior guard Khary Hervey with 12 points, will finally put a very tumultuous season behind them.

And a groundswell of optimism for next season is already beginning to build, according to sophomore forward Bryan Hill, who scored 10 points against the Bulldogs and emerged as the Waves’ emotional leader.

“We’ll take a week off, but only a week, and then we can start looking forward to next season,” Hill said. “We’ll sit down with Lorenzo [Romar] and have a team meeting, and see where he is coming from. And that is really when we start next season.”

Romar, a UCLA assistant, was recently hired to restore the order and prestige the Pepperdine program has not had since the days of Jim Harrick and Tom Asbury. He will take over as soon as the Bruins’ season is completed.

And the folks in Malibu will no doubt extend a warm welcome. Romar, 37, is a masterful recruiter. He was instrumental in landing such Bruin standouts as Charles O’Bannon, Toby Bailey and Jelani McCoy.

Romar relishes the challenge associated with taking over a team that lost nine of its last 10 games.

“I don’t think we are starting over,” he said before the WCC tournament. “People think you are because you finished in last place and last year you didn’t do too well, but I don’t think it’s Ground Zero. I think there’s a nucleus there.”

Providing, of course, that Brown’s injury isn’t too severe. He will be examined this week in Los Angeles.

“I’ve watched Gerald Brown [a junior] since he was in high school--he’s a very good basketball player,” Romar said. “And Bryan Hill on the inside is a hard worker. He finished fifth in the league in scoring, and he’s averaging 7.5 rebounds a game. He has real good hands around the basket.

“Marques Johnson [a junior] is returning too. Those three guys provide a pretty good nucleus.”

Romar wouldn’t say what plans he has for the current coaching staff, or what players he is interested in, only that a solid and sizable inside player would be key to opening up the Waves’ offense.

“You have two guys averaging 15 points [Hill and Johnson] and one guy close to 19 [Brown],” he said. “You get a guy who can rebound the ball and bang in there and take some pressure off of them, you can do some things.”

OTHER SEMIFINAL GAME

Portland 65, San Diego 52--The Pilots used a balanced attack and superior athleticism to pull away in the second half and advance to tonight’s final, a rematch of last year’s title game.

The Pilots took a 28-27 lead into halftime, but turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding the Toreros to only one field goal in the first 10:38 of the second half to open a 48-37 lead.

San Diego (14-14) which had won five of its last six, shot only 28.6% from the field and committed 20 turnovers.

Portland (18-10) shot 44.3%. Reserve Kweemada King scored 16 points to lead three Pilots in double figures. Brian Miles led the Toreros with 13 points, despite four-for-14 shooting.

WCC Notes

Thanks to all three Bay Area teams losing in Saturday’s first round, only 2,380 fans attended Sunday’s games. . . . The Gonzaga-Portland tip-off is at 9:07 and will be telecast by ESPN.