The Waves Fade After Fast Start

Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal would like to have shifted the Waves into high gear with the benefit of a full roster Saturday night against the high-flying Oregon Ducks.

Instead, he had to settle for makeshift, patching together a lineup depleted by injury, illness and foul trouble.

The short-handed Waves put up a fight, but fifth-ranked Oregon rallied behind forward Luke Jackson and pulled away down the stretch for a 105-90 victory before 3,387 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Although forward Glen McGowan returned from a knee injury to play in his first game of the season, Pepperdine (3-3) was still missing center Will Kimble, out after being diagnosed with a heart condition, and point guard Devin Montgomery, sidelined because of a broken thumb.

And the 6-foot-9 McGowan didn’t stick around long. He picked up four fouls in the first half before fouling out two minutes into the second half. Foul trouble also sent Wave center David Patten to the bench.

“I would have liked to see that game with our big guys not in foul trouble,” Westphal said. “It might have been a little bit different story.”

Jackson was the story for Oregon (6-0). The 6-7 junior led all scorers with 27 points and also contributed seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. His layup and dunk after successive steals gave the Ducks a 70-62 lead with 13:55 to play.

Pepperdine never got closer than three after that. Forward Jimmy Miggins had 24 points for the Waves, who went four minutes without scoring as Oregon extended its lead to 92-79 with 4:48 left on a three-point play by reserve center Ian Crosswhite, who scored a career-best 19 points.

Pepperdine got off to a fast start, making five of its first seven three-point shots and taking a 33-27 lead on a close-range basket by forward Boomer Brazzle.

But the tide turned for the Waves after Patten was called for a shooting foul against Jackson and drew a technical for protesting. Jackson made four free throws, starting Oregon on a 15-2 run.

During the stretch, Pepperdine’s coaches drew another technical when they sprang out of their chairs to argue that Jackson should have been called for traveling. Jackson made both free throws to give Oregon a 37-35 lead.

Westphal blamed the technicals, both called by official Dave Libbey, for taking the momentum away from the Waves.

“They were absolutely the most ridiculous, unprofessional, egotistical [technicals] I’ve seen in 40 years of basketball,” Westphal said.