Pepperdine Overwhelmed in 81-69 Defeat

Three consecutive West Coast Conference victories did wonders for Pepperdine’s confidence heading into Saturday night’s home game against San Francisco.

Maybe those victories did too much. With a nationally televised rematch looming Thursday against 10th-ranked Gonzaga, the Waves turned in a clunker as the Dons never trailed in an easy 81-69 victory in front of 2,507 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Coach Paul Westphal was visibly upset and indicated he would make changes in the starting lineup. San Francisco (14-9, 4-3 WCC) led by as much as 21 points in the second half and the Waves could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

“San Francisco outperformed us in every phase of the game,” Westphal said. “They basically outplayed us, outcoached us, outworked us. They just kicked sand in our faces.”

San Francisco shot 59.6% from the field against a porous defense. Alvin Broussard and Jerome Gumbs each had 19 points and Dommanic Ingerson scored 17.

Pepperdine (9-13, 4-3) missed its first eight shots and fell behind, 22-9, midway through the first half.

Yakhouba Diawara had 22 points and Shaun Davis had 17 for the Waves.

Coach Philip Mathews said his team has had a different attitude since he took away any references to the team’s “We Play Hard” slogan after the Dons dropped to 0-3 in league.

“The guys decided they wanted to play hard,” Mathews said. “They want to do what we ask them to do. Coming to L.A. and getting a sweep against two pretty good home teams is phenomenal.”

-- Eric Stephens

Loyola Marymount 82, Saint Mary’s 77 -- After losing their first three WCC home games, the Lions kept their composure down the stretch to hand the Gaels their second road defeat in three nights in front of 1,770 at Gersten Pavilion.

Loyola Marymount (11-9, 2-5) was led by junior guard Charles Brown, who finished with 17 points and eight assists. Senior Sherman Gay scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the second half.

“We showed great character,” Coach Steve Aggers said. “I believe that Saint Mary’s is the second-best team in the league.”

The Lions controlled much of the first half behind Brown, who made plays on both ends of the court to spark Loyola to a double-digit lead.

With Brown scoring 11 points, the Lions led, 36-25, with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

But the Gaels went on a 14-2 run to take a 39-38 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Lions took control early and held a 71-60 lead with 5:15 remaining. But they did not take care of the ball for a brief stretch and Paul Marigney, who scored 11 points and had five steals, led a Saint Mary’s rally that cut the Lions’ lead to 73-71 with 2:36 remaining.

Guard E.J. Rowland scored a career-high 22 points for the Gaels, who had lost at Pepperdine on Thursday.

-- Lonnie White