Waves Misfire at Brick House, 70-64

Free-throw shooting or masonry? It’s getting difficult to tell with Pepperdine’s basketball team.

The Waves tossed up another load of bricks from the foul line Tuesday night, making only three of 17 free throws and squandering a four-point halftime lead in losing to San Jose State, 70-64, in a nonconference game before 1,094 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Afterward, this question begged asking: When’s the last time a Division I team shot better from the three-point line (38.9%) than the foul line (17.6%), as Pepperdine did?

“I’ve never seen that,” said Wave Coach Lorenzo Romar, who nonetheless defended his team. “No one tries to miss free throws. As much as it hurts, no one is going out and purposely trying to miss free throws. I can’t fault my kids.”

Pepperdine (1-3) has made only 38 of 87 free throws (43.7%) this season, but Romar said he isn’t planning to do anything different, such as bring in a shot doctor to work with his players.

“I’ve been in this situation before,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. All you can do is practice.”

It was Pepperdine’s worst foul-shooting performance since making one of eight attempts against Texas El Paso on Dec. 29, 1993.

Romar was more upset with Pepperdine’s defense in the second half. San Jose (3-1), playing its fourth game against a West Coast Conference team, quickly overtook the Waves behind forward Olivier-Saint Jean, who finished with game highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The Spartans took their biggest lead, 55-46, with 8 minutes 12 seconds to play and held off Pepperdine, which closed to within 66-62 on a three-point basket by guard Marques Johnson with 1:07 left. Saint-Jean countered with a breakaway dunk to snuff out the comeback effort.

“Defensively we broke down,” Romar said. “We didn’t give the type of effort we’re capable of giving . . . . Olivier Saint-Jean is a great player. Guys like that, they’re going to score. I was disappointed we gave up so many easy baskets.”

San Jose got a big second half from guard Brad Quinet, who scored all but two of his 15 points in the last 20 minutes.

Johnson led Pepperdine with 19 points, making five of eight three-point shots, and forward Marc McDowell and center Bryan Hill each scored 12 points. Hill had 10 rebounds.

Saint-Jean started the game as if he hadn’t cooled off from his 27-point, 10-rebound performance Sunday in San Jose’s 76-65 victory over Santa Clara. The 6-foot-6 junior from France scored 10 points in the first six minutes, showing off a gravity-defying leap and a smooth jump shot.

Saint-Jean’s three unanswered baskets on an ally-oop dunk, an inside shot and a turnaround jumper gave San Jose a 14-13 lead. But Pepperdine held the Spartan leader without a point the remainder of the half as it surged to a 32-28 lead at intermission.

The Waves’ defense, and in particular sophomore forward Tommie Prince, forced Saint-Jean outside, where he misfired on several attempts, some forced. He also missed two one-and-one free-throw attempts. The Spartans made only 12 of 29 shots (41.4%) in the first half. They shot 59.3% in the second half.