Pepperdine Squeaks Past Irvine

Pepperdine came in with the preseason reputation. It also had more talent, more quickness and more height than UC Irvine. With all that going for them, the Waves probably expected more than a 50-46 victory in front of 2,268 in Irvine’s Bren Center.

But it was enough, in the end, for a victory.

“That was a tough, grind-it-out game,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Our guys stepped it up and made some big plays down the stretch. That was a game we would have lost last year.”

A year ago, Irvine (0-2) would have been run off the court before halftime against such talent. Transfers Jelani Gardner (California) and omm’A Givens (UCLA), plus the return of All-West Coast Conference guard Gerald Brown (knee injury), make the Waves significantly better than the 6-21 team of last season.

But it wasn’t until Brown made a 10-foot jumper for a 48-44 lead with 24.9 seconds that the Pepperdine lead seemed secure. Irvine’s Junior Bond missed a three-point attempt and Gardner was fouled. His two free throws with 17.2 seconds left ended Irvine’s upset hopes.

The Anteaters, who have lost 14 consecutive games, did not have a starting player taller than 6 feet 7. The Waves’ shortest starter was 6-4. Yet the Waves had only a 35-31 rebound advantage.

The 6-11 Givens scored 12 points, but was surrounded when he had the ball on the post. Gardner, at 6-6, was guarded by the 5-8 Bond for much of the game but made only one of eight shots and scored five points. What perimeter offense Pepperdine got came from Brown (13 points) and Tommie Prince (11 points).

Neither team shot well. Pepperdine shot 37% from the field. Irvine shot 38%. The Anteaters missed 19 of 23 three-point shots.

Pepperdine was leading, 41-36, with seven minutes left when Irvine made one last run. Juma Jackson’s layup tied the score, 42-42, with 3:09 left. But Prince scored on a layup and Givens sank two free throws for a 46-42 lead.