Pepperdine Knocks Off San Diego, 83-73, Despite Charity

Pepperdine men’s basketball Coach Jan van Breda Kolff could have cried foul.

His team shot 17 fewer free throws than San Diego in the first half.

His best player, Brandon Armstrong, idled on the bench in the second half, saddled with four fouls.

And the Waves nearly crashed against a team that 24 hours earlier allowed Loyola Marymount to win a West Coast Conference game for the first time in nearly two seasons.

But the Pepperdine coach was all smiles after Pepperdine defeated San Diego, 83-73, in a WCC game Saturday in front of 2,433 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

With Armstrong on the bench, the Waves got to show off some depth. And hustle. And freshman point guard Micah McKinney.

McKinney drilled two three-point baskets midway through the second half to keep San Diego at bay, and reserve David Lalazarian had his second consecutive strong game, making three of five three-point attempts and finishing with 14 points.

“Our guys did a great job of finding a way to win the game,” Van Breda Kolff said. “It was hard because our defense is predicated on pressure and once we were in foul trouble, we were afraid to do too much.”

Armstrong scored 22 points despite playing only 28 minutes, five below his average.

The Waves (10-5, 2-0 in WCC play) avoided losing via foul trouble, but almost couldn’t get around Sam Adamo, who drilled six three-point shots and finished with a career-high 24 points for the Toreros (8-7, 0-2).

The Waves started each half with 10-0 runs, but were caught, and passed, by San Diego after each run.

San Diego was expected to challenge for the WCC title, but Coach Brad Holland was left pondering an empty weekend.

“We spotted them 10 points at the start of each half,” Holland said. “We can’t be giving teams 20 points on the road and expect to win.”