Pepperdine Fends Off San Diego, 72-58

After pulling out a four-point victory at San Diego last weekend, it didn’t take the Pepperdine basketball team long to put the Toreros away Friday night at Malibu.

The Waves gave up only one field goal in the game’s first nine minutes and went on a 17-0 run to take a 21-3 lead en route to a 72-58 victory before 2,155 at Firestone Fieldhouse. The victory extended the Waves’ winning streak to five and allowed Pepperdine, 15-7 overall, 6-1 in the West Coast Conference, to stay a game behind league front-runner Gonzaga.

Jelani Gardner led the Waves with 19 points before being ejected with 2:58 remaining for an intentional elbow. That was less than a minute after he and San Diego’s Dana White were given technical fouls for pushing under the basket after a foul.

Gardner acknowledged he was especially emotional during Friday’s game after a physical game at San Diego (12-7, 3-4) last Saturday.

“I wanted to come out here and kill these guys,” said Gardner, who had 14 in the first half, including a three-point basket at the buzzer. “I couldn’t think about anything more this week.”

Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar, who said he apologized to Torero Coach Brad Holland after the game for his team’s conduct, said his defense deserves the credit for the 47-24 halftime lead his team enjoyed.

“Tonight, [the Pepperdine defense] established that we weren’t going anywhere and we were going to compete,” said Romar, who started three guards and got better defense in return.

The Waves forced 14 turnovers in the first half and gave up only seven field goals in 19 shots.

The offense was just as hot the first 20 minutes, shooting almost 70%, led by Gardner’s six-for-seven performance.

Along with Gardner, Kelvin Gibbs had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“We’re starting to gel as a team,” Gardner said. “Now everybody knows their roles and everybody knows what they need to do every game.”

San Diego’s leading scorer, forward Ryan Williams, scored only six points.