Pepperdine Wins Fifth in Row

With some increased clout after a roaring 14-point upset win over nationally ranked Wisconsin, Pepperdine looked to take out an undermanned UC Santa Barbara team Wednesday night.

Even as they ran their winning streak to five games with a 62-56 victory, the Waves showed that they are still a work in progress after losing most of a 25-point second-half lead in front of 1,409 in Firestone Fieldhouse.

“We kind of relaxed on defense,” said forward Glen McGowan, who had a game-high 18 points. “That’s been our problem the last few games when we’ve had a big lead.”

Yakhouba Diawara ended the first half with five points, including a buzzer-beating three-point basket and Pepperdine (5-1) opened the second half with a 13-0 run capped by three consecutive three-pointers by Alex Acker for a 46-21 lead.

“I think we still have a long way to go to be the team we want to be,” Coach Paul Westphal said.

Acker had 16 points and Diawara had 15. Santa Barbara (1-3), which has lost three in a row, was led by Chrismen Oliver’s 14 points.

The Gauchos suited up only 10 players because of injuries.

-- Eric Stephens

Loyola Marymount 76, Denver 71 -- The Lions used a 12-2 run during a two-minute span late in the second half to overcome a seven-point deficit at home.

Matthew Knight had 17 points for the Lions (3-1), and Daryl Pegram, Brandon Worthy and Charles Brown each had 15.

Erik Benzel had 22 points for Denver (2-2), including 17 in the first half.