Arizona Takes Mystery Out of Pepperdine

The question was legitimate. How, exactly, did Pepperdine beat UCLA and USC?

The folks at Arizona want to know. They especially wanted to know after watching the Wildcats pulverize the Waves, 94-71, Friday in the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Classic basketball tournament.

From the first four minutes, when the No. 14-ranked Wildcats ran off to a 13-2 lead, to the last 20 minutes, which was mainly an exhibition of sloppiness interrupted by turnovers, mistakes and missed shots, Pepperdine (5-6) was a cipher, a nonexistent opponent, a sacrifice made for an Arizona celebration.

The Wildcats will play Valparaiso, a 76-57 winner over West Virginia in the first game, for the championship on Sunday while Pepperdine will play the Mountaineers in the consolation game.

There was no hint from the Waves that they had been capable of beating two top-tier Pac-10 programs earlier this season. Not when they were one for 14 from the three-point line in the first half and four for 26 for the game. Not when they started the game with a miss and four consecutive turnovers, not when they shot 35.6%, not when they had 19 turnovers.

Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal said, “Quite honestly, I don’t know how to answer that question, not tonight,” when he was asked how Pepperdine, the Pepperdine here at the McKale Center, had beaten UCLA and USC.

“We missed a lot of ‘threes,’ and it’s tough for us when those shots aren’t going in,” Westphal said.

But it was more than a matter of missed three-point shots.

The Wildcats (7-3) were bigger, faster, better shooters, more enthusiastic rebounders. The Wildcats were clever passers and intrepid in going after loose balls and in knocking balls loose. The three-point shot was the friend of the Wildcats and a strange and impossible thing for the Waves.

Most of all, the Wildcats were happy to be home.

Since Nov. 8, Arizona has traveled to New York for two games in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, to Texas, to the Pond for the Wooden Classic, to Michigan State for a big CBS game, to Oregon State and then to Oregon, where the Ducks did to Arizona what Arizona did to Pepperdine. That is, Oregon beat Arizona, 105-75, handing Lute Olson his worst loss as Arizona coach. People in Eugene were probably wondering how it was Arizona had beaten Maryland, Florida, Texas, Illinois, etc.

“Our freshmen had played a total of 40 minutes in this building so far this season,” Arizona assistant coach Jim Rosborough said. “What happened in Oregon, I think, was a matter of a young team being mentally and physically exhausted. I can tell you that our kids were thrilled to be home.”

Rosborough was speaking because Olson was suffering from laryngitis and had lost his voice, which seemed to have made no difference to the Wildcats.

Freshman Salim Stoudamire, who had lost his way with his shooting and his confidence during the travel odyssey, made two three-pointers on his first two shots and Jason Gardner sank another to help Arizona take that quick 13-2 lead.

“Arizona just took us right from the start,” Westphal said. “They knocked us out. They were hitting threes, and they just took us out of it. I give them credit, but I also give us blame. If you’re patient, you can run your offense and you won’t be taken out of a game. We weren’t patient.”

Patience might not have mattered. Stoudamire never lost his shooting touch. He had a rookie-season high of 25 points and three of his teammates--Channing Frye (18), Gardner (16) and Rick Anderson (13)--also made it into double figures. Luke Walton, Arizona’s valuable passing-rebounding-scoring forward, only played 18 minutes because he had a sore Achilles’ tendon.

The Waves were down, 43-27, when Gardner made a four-point play by swishing a three-point shot, getting fouled and sinking the free throw.

By halftime it was 51-27 Arizona, and then the Wildcats scored the first four points of the second half.

Pepperdine freshman guard Terrance Johnson did have 24 points and made 11 of the Waves’ 31 baskets.