Waves to Open NIT at Colorado
After losing five of its last eight games and being upset by Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference semifinal, Pepperdine’s basketball team gets another chance to end its season on a positive note when it begins play in the National Invitation Tournament tonight.
The bad news for the Waves is they have to travel to Boulder, Colo., to play a Colorado team that not only has the home-crowd advantage, but plays the style that gives the Waves’ defense the most difficulty--fast-paced.
The Buffaloes (17-14) led the Big 12 in scoring with a 73.2-point average. The Waves (19-12) were 1-6 in games in which they surrendered more than 73 points.
“They can really push the ball up the floor,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said of Colorado. “They have got two good guards, some outstanding shooters and the ability to score.”
Guard Kenny Price leads the Buffaloes in scoring, averaging 15 points, and in three-point shooting at 39.1%. He was the only player in the Big 12 to average three three-point baskets a game.
Tommie Prince, West Coast Conference defender of the year, will probably have the assignment of guarding Price for Pepperdine, which plays predominantly man-to-man defense.
And if the Waves go into the game on a bit of a downturn, the Buffaloes have been on an uptick.
Before losing to top-seeded Texas by six in the second round of the Big 12 tournament, the Buffaloes had won five in a row, one of those a 10-point victory over Texas Tech, which defeated Pepperdine in December.
The Buffaloes also defeated NCAA tournament-bound Oklahoma State during the streak.
One thing the Waves have going for them is the resurgence of sophomore forward Kelvin Gibbs.
After scoring only 16 points in the final three losses and being left off the All-WCC team, Gibbs scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Pepperdine’s two WCC tournament games.
The NIT will be the end of senior Jelani Gardner’s collegiate career. The California transfer leads the Waves with 14.2 points a game, and scored 13 points in each of his WCC tournament games.
He will be looking to lead the Waves to their first 20-win season since 1992-93, when Pepperdine went 23-8. And the 19 victories are the most for the Waves under Romar, a third-year coach who’s making his first postseason appearance as a head coach.
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Tonight’s NIT First-Round Games
(All times Pacific standard)
* Xavier (21-10) at Toledo (19-7): 4
* Hofstra (22-9) at Rutgers (18-12): 4:30
* Georgia (15-14) at Clemson (16-14): 4:30
* Seton Hall (15-14) at Old Dominion (24-8): 4:30
* Alabama (17-14) at Wake Forest (16-13): 4:30
* Providence (16-13) at North Carolina State (18-13): 4:30
* Georgetown (15-15) at Princeton (20-7): 4:30
* Butler (20-9) at Bradley (17-11): 5
* Nevada Las Vegas (16-12) at Nebraska (19-12): 5
* Pepperdine (19-12) at Colorado (17-14): 6
* Mississippi State (20-12) at Colorado State (17-10): 6
* Texas Christian (19-10) at Kansas State (20-12): 6
* USC (15-12) at Wyoming (17-9): 6
* Northwestern (15-13) at DePaul (17-12): 6:30
* Fresno State (21-11) at California (17-11): 7:30
* Georgia Tech (15-15) at Oregon (16-11): 9