For Gonzaga, It’s Revenge

The framed team photos in the Gonzaga locker room came down after Pepperdine beat the Bulldogs last month in Malibu.

They’re leaning face-against-the-wall in Gonzaga Coach Mark Few’s office--two NCAA Sweet 16 teams and the 1999 Elite Eight team.

This is what Pepperdine wrought with its 88-79 victory.

This is what it feels like to be No. 8 in the nation--but No. 2 in the West Coast Conference.

Now comes an anticipated rematch tonight that could all but assure an NCAA tournament berth for Pepperdine, no matter what the outcome of next month’s WCC tournament in San Diego.

Gonzaga (23-3, 10-1 in the WCC) is already a shoo-in, and Pepperdine (18-6, 11-0) has built a solid resume along with the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 games.

Win tonight in Gonzaga’s raucous 4,000-seat gym--where the Bulldogs are 127-9 in the last 10 years--and the Waves can rest easy with a record that would include victories against UCLA and USC and a sweep of Gonzaga.

If Pepperdine loses--and doesn’t manage to win the WCC tournament either--the Waves will have to endure some uncertainty as they wait almost a week for Selection Sunday after the WCC final March4.

Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal is more used to scanning the NBA standings for postseason possibilities than worrying about the flaws of the RPI system, but he doesn’t see why the Waves should be on any bubble despite an RPI rating that hovers in the 50s.

“I think if they decided today, we’d be in. We’d clearly be in,” Westphal said. “[But] we have to finish strong.

“Somebody’s going to lose. I really don’t think a loss in a game like this hurts any good team. I don’t look at this game as an NCAA do-or-die type for us. We want to keep our winning streak going and win our league.”

A second “upset” of the Bulldogs figures to earn Pepperdine more than just a regular-season title.

“I think it would probably put us in the top 25,” Westphal said.

Even with a loss, Pepperdine is in fairly good position for an NCAA tournament berth.

With six losses, the Waves’ record isn’t gaudy, but apart from losses to UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine--teams that will have to win the Big West tournament to go to the NCAA tournament--Pepperdine’s setbacks came against NCAA-bound teams.

The Waves’ other losses are to Utah, Oregon, Georgia and Arizona, and all but the Georgia game were on the road.

Few, a coach with little patience for the automatic status seemingly granted teams from power conferences, can’t believe there’s any debate about Pepperdine.

“I shouldn’t even have to make a case for them,” Few said. “The thing I’m constantly amazed by is, OK, Pepperdine beats UCLA and USC--basically on their home court--and nobody’s talking about them being on the bubble.

“If you flip-flopped USC and UCLA, there’s no way they’d be undefeated in our league.”

As for missteps against lesser teams, Few again brings up UCLA.

“Pick one,” he said.

Westphal and Few are in solidarity hoping for two bids for the WCC.

But they’ll be on opposite benches in the battle for the regular-season title tonight--a game so anticipated at Gonzaga that students have pitched a tent as they await the game, and even some faculty and staff took a half-day off Monday to wait in line for tickets.

Westphal greeted the campers as Pepperdine arrived for practice Friday night, even inviting the students into the gym to watch. His friendly offer--which might have won the Waves a little support tonight in the crowd--was thwarted by building supervisors, who said it was against school rules and sent the students back outside.

Pepperdine won the first game by beating Gonzaga at one of its strengths--rebounding.

Guard Dan Dickau is the nation’s image of Gonzaga, but the inside trio of Cory Violette, Zach Gourde and Ronny Turiaf doesn’t get enough credit.

Still, the Waves outrebounded Gonzaga by 14 in the first game and had 24 offensive rebounds.

No small part of the credit for Pepperdine’s strength on the boards goes to Glen McGowan, who was suspended for the fall semester for instigating a fight with a teammate in the school library.

Since he joined the team in January, Pepperdine hasn’t lost.

“People forget Pepperdine added Glen McGowan,” Few said. “He makes them more physical. He killed us.”

And when Gonzaga got home, Few took a page from the playbook of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and redecorated the locker room.

“We covered up all our things painted on the wall,” he said. “We put up a nappy piece of cardboard and listed the opponent every week with a pin on it. It’s not very aesthetically pleasing, but ...

“After we lost to Pepperdine we had to sit down and say, ‘Everybody might be slapping you on the back about the rankings and want to talk to you about the tournament everywhere you go. But we’ve got to take each step one at a time. We’re in conference.’”