Pepperdine Is a Loser Again on the Road With 27 Turnovers

Pepperdine committed a season-high 27 turnovers and lost for the 11th time in 12 road games in falling to Santa Clara, 65-53, Sunday as the Broncos moved into a first-place tie in the West Coast Conference.

Marlon Garnett led Santa Clara with 20 points. Lloyd Pierce and Brian Jones added 10 points each for the Broncos, 13-9 overall and 7-3 in the WCC, who share the conference lead with Gonzaga.

Bryan Hill and Marc McDowell had 16 points apiece for Pepperdine (5-17, 3-7 WCC).

Garnett and Craig Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend a 39-28 Santa Clara lead to 45-28 less than five minutes into the second half. Johnson finished with nine points and made all three of his three-point shots.

Pepperdine used a 12-2 run to close within 60-53 on two free throws by Hill with 1:11 remaining, but the Broncos made five of six free throws after that to close out the scoring.