Waves Go Quietly Against Santa Barbara

This time, there were no late-game heroics for Pepperdine. They wouldn’t have helped much anyway.

Two days after stunning USC on a three-point bank shot in the waning seconds, the Waves were surprisingly quiet in the second half of a 68-51 loss to UC Santa Barbara in front of 3,797 on Saturday night at Santa Barbara.

It was Santa Barbara (5-2) with the decisive run to end the game, a 20-5 spurt in the final 11:13 that gave the Gauchos victory and, at the same time, validation from a closed-door meeting Thursday afternoon.

Angry and frustrated after a 77-70 loss at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, the Gauchos held a 90-minute meeting before practice the next day.

“The whole team was embarrassed,” forward Adama Ndiaye said. “I think we spoke [Saturday] on the court.”

Ndiaye, who sat out last season because of a fractured finger, had 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Pepperdine (4-3) rallied from a 12-point deficit to defeat USC, 78-77, but Santa Barbara turned a 48-46 edge into the start of a rout with consecutive three-point baskets by Nick Jones.

“It was a huge game to show we can play with the big-name teams,” said Jones, who had 11 points.

Pepperdine made 17 of 61 (27.9%) shots. Craig Lewis, the hero against USC, made three of 12 shots and had 12 points. Terrance Johnson was two-for-10 from three-point range and had six points.

Santa Barbara 23 of 41 (56.1%) shots.