Pepperdine 76, San Diego 68--The Waves never...

Pepperdine 76, San Diego 68--The Waves never trailed, held a double-digit lead for much of second half, and their defense forced 20 turnovers in a WCC victory before 1,783 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

However, Coach Jan van Breda Kolff found plenty to be dissatisfied with.

“I got on the team afterward, [talking] about some of the things we did incorrectly,” van Breda Kolff said after his team improved to 12-5 and opened conference play with consecutive victories for the first time since the 1992-93 season. “After about 10 minutes, I said the good news is that we won the game and did a lot of positive things, but I want you to bring your level of play up a little bit higher if we want to be a really good team.”

The Waves led, 38-26, at halftime and opened the second half strongly.

Center Nick Sheppard scored six points during an 8-0 run, with Pepperdine forcing two five-second calls while the Toreros were trying to in-bound the ball. But fatigue from Friday night’s 77-49 victory over St. Mary’s set in.

Brandon Armstrong scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half. Kelvin Gibbs scored 13 points, Sheppard and David Lalazarinan 12 each and Tezale Archie 10.

Andre Laws had 15 for San Diego (10-5, 1-1).