Uptempo Pepperdine Too Much

Pepperdine was off and running Friday night.

Having survived a close call in their opener, the Waves left nothing to chance in cruising to a 99-57 victory over Norfolk State before 1,630 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The 42-point margin was the largest for the Waves since beating Portland, 101-53, in the 1975-76 season.

Pepperdine (2-0) overwhelmed Norfolk State (0-2), a first-year Division I program, with an uptempo attack that was missing Tuesday, when UC Irvine’s slow-down tactics frustrated the Waves in their 50-46 victory.

“The key was our team got to play our style tonight,” Pepperdine guard Jelani Gardner said. “UC Irvine tried to slow us down and make it a half-court game. . . . We want to dictate our style on our opponents.”

Gardner, a transfer from California, scored 18 points and was one of five Waves to score in double figures. He made four of six three-point shots after missing all four of his three-pointers and scoring only five points against Irvine.

“I just wanted to make sure I came back with a good performance,” said Gardner, who had six assists and four steals. “You never want to play back-to-back bad games.”

Forward Bryan Hill led Pepperdine with 20 points, center omm’A Givens scored 17, guard Gerald Brown added 13 and reserve forward Kelvin Gibbs had 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Waves shot 61.8% (34 of 55) and were in command after an 18-4 run gave them a 23-8 lead. Givens, a transfer from UCLA, capped the run with an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Gardner.

“For us to go out and give an effort for 40 minutes was as good as anything that happened tonight,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “This is something our guys can build on.”

The Waves, who led by as many as 44 points, will face a tougher challenge Monday night, when they host to Wisconsin.

“I think we’re ready,” Gardner said. “I think we have the talent to play with any team in the country, as long as we play our style.”

While Norfolk State represented perhaps the biggest cupcake on Pepperdine’s schedule, Wisconsin could be the Waves’ toughest opponent until they travel to second-ranked Kansas on Dec. 18.

“That’s going to be a big-time basketball game Monday night,” Romar said. “Wisconsin is a great team. We’ve got to be ready to play.”

Pepperdine’s aggressive defense forced Norfolk State into 21 turnovers and a 32.7% shooting performance. The Spartans, a former Division II power, made only six of 31 shots in the second half.