Pepperdine Cruises on Auto Pilot, 72-47

Pepperdine opened West Coast Conference play with a defensive stand Friday night, clamping down on Portland for what must have seemed an eternity to the punchless Pilots.

During the game’s pivotal stretch, the Waves held Portland without a field goal for more than 12 minutes on their way to a 72-47 victory before 1,721 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine’s 25-3 run turned a seven-point deficit with eight minutes left in the first half into a 45-30 lead four minutes into the second half. That was all the Waves needed to extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 6-0 at home.

“The defensive end is what did it for us,” Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “[It] was something that was much-needed because in the last three or four ballgames we didn’t play the type of defense we can play.”

Jelani Gardner led Pepperdine (9-4) with 17 points, including two alley-oop dunks, and backcourt partner Gerald Brown added 15.

Portland (7-6), after making 11 of its first 18 shots, made only five of its last 31 shots to finish 16 of 49 (32.7%). The Pilots were five of 24 in the second half.

“We hit a point where we gave up too many offensive boards,” said Portland Coach Rob Chavez, whose team was outrebounded, 45-27. “And we didn’t get the ball inside enough. We settled for too many outside jump shots.”

The Pilots missed all nine of their three-point attempts in the second half and finished three of 18 from behind the arc.

Pepperdine forward Tommie Prince said the Waves were determined to kick their defense into high gear after Portland opened a 27-20 lead.

“In the middle of the first half, they were talking a lot of trash,” Prince said of the Pilots. “They started to play a little rough and tough, so we just tried to make sure they didn’t get off any good shots.

“Once we started locking them up, they didn’t say anything.”

Prince, a 6-foot-5 junior who usually guards the opponent’s leading scorer, helped limit Portland forward Jason Franklin to four points, eight fewer than his season average.

“Tommie did a marvelous job defending [Franklin],” Romar said. “He keys our defense.”

After falling behind, 27-20, Pepperdine held Portland without a field goal for the last eight minutes of the first half and outscored the Pilots, 17-3, to take a 37-30 lead at intermission.

Center omm’A Givens scored five points and Prince and Gardner each scored four during the run, which was highlighted by Gardner’s alley-oop dunk on a pass from Robert Fomby.

Pepperdine will face a tougher challenge at 5 tonight when it hosts Gonzaga, one of the favorites for the WCC title.