Boulder in Road for Pepperdine

A week after losing in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament, Pepperdine received a second life Sunday when it was invited to the National Invitation Tournament.

The Waves will travel to Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday to play Colorado, which lost to Texas in the Big 12 tournament last weekend.

It will be the first NIT appearance for Pepperdine (19-12) since 1993, when the Waves defeated UC Santa Barbara in the first round before losing to USC, and its first postseason appearance since losing an overtime game to Michigan in the first round of the 1994 NCAA tournament.

For Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar, the invitation not only means an extension to the season, but gives the third-year coach a sense that his program is headed in the right direction.

“Sure we would have liked to have made the NCAA tournament, but as a coach you want to get better every year,” he said. “Our first year we were 6-21, last year 17-10, and now this year we’re 19-12 and in the NIT. So we feel like we did accomplish something this year.”

The Waves play a team that finished 17-14 after its exit in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 tournament. The Waves and Buffaloes had only two common opponents, Texas Tech and Kansas.

The Waves lost to the Jayhawks and Red Raiders, and the Buffaloes won at Texas Tech and lost twice to Kansas.

The Buffaloes may be the home team, but it was Pepperdine who actually had the tougher schedule and a better RPI, 105 to 111.

In nonconference play, the Waves lost to tournament-bound Michigan State, Wisconsin, Siena and Kansas, and defeated Rhode Island. Colorado’s only nonconference opponent headed to the NCAA tournament was Kentucky, which defeated the Buffaloes by 12 in November.

“We’re just happy to be in the NIT,” Romar said. “Regardless of where we play, we’re in, so now we have to make the most of it.”