Wipeout for Wave Guards in San Diego
Pepperdine got caught with its guard down Thursday night, losing the battle of the backcourts and a chance to make a move in the West Coast Conference.
With guards Gerald Brown and Jelani Gardner combining for only 16 points, the Waves lost to last-place San Diego, 78-70, before 2,117 at the Sports Center.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar, whose team had a three-game winning streak broken. “It was a huge setback for us. I imagine we have to go undefeated the rest of the way to have a chance to win [the] conference [title].”
The Waves (13-8, 5-4 in the WCC) could have moved to within one-half game of first place. But with Brown and Gardner, the team’s leading scorers, both having off nights, Pepperdine slipped to fourth.
Brown made one of eight shots and finished with a season-low six points, and Gardner had six turnovers and three assists.
Romar benched Gardner with 3:56 to play after the junior threw away a pass on a fastbreak with San Diego leading, 69-63. The turnover came just minutes after Gardner took a hard fall on a drive to the basket.
“He fell on his tailbone and could hardly move,” Romar said. “I watched him. He saw the open man but he didn’t have anything on [the pass].”
San Diego (10-11, 2-7) thrived on its guard play. Alex Parker and freshman reserve Dana White each had 17 points and Brock Jacobsen, a junior from Crescenta Valley High, scored a season-high 15. White’s total was a career best.
Jacobsen said the Toreros’ game plan was to slow down the Waves and, in particular, Brown and Gardner.
“They have two of the best guards in the league,” said Jacobsen, who was The Times’ Valley player of the year in 1995. “We knew we had to get out and pressure them. We wanted to be aggressive.”
Said Romar: “San Diego did a good job of taking our transition game away.”
The 6-foot White was a demon near the basket for San Diego. Twice he worked his way inside for three-point plays, the last one giving the Toreros a 65-58 lead with seven minutes left. They led by at least six the rest of the way.
Pepperdine twice went ahead by one early in the second half. But after two free throws by Bryan Hill gave the Waves a 45-44 lead, San Diego responded with a 7-0 run.
“We played with a lot of spirit,” San Diego Coach Brad Holland said. “We played to win rather than play not to lose.”
Tommie Prince scored a season-high 15 points and Kelvin Gibbs added 13 for Pepperdine.
San Diego opened a 17-8 lead before Pepperdine came back behind Gibbs and Prince, pulling to within 34-32 at halftime.