Gonzaga Rolls Over Pepperdine
As the gulf continues to widen between West Coast Conference rivals Gonzaga and Pepperdine, the slumping Waves appear to be a team springing leaks in every direction.
But Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal made it clear he wasn’t prepared to bail out after No. 16-ranked Gonzaga rolled to an 87-70 victory in a WCC opener Thursday night at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, extending the Waves’ losing streak to five games.
“They’re real good,” Westphal said of Gonzaga. “But I’m not ready to anoint them [champion] yet. Let’s play it out and see if some things start going our way.”
Pepperdine’s shooting and rebounding will have to improve for that to happen. The Waves made only 26 of 70 shots and were outrebounded, 44-25.
Gonzaga (11-2) dominated the Waves inside, led by 6-foot-8, 265-pound center Cory Violette, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. Guard Blake Stepp, the Bulldogs’ other senior leader, finished with 19 points after scoring three in the first half.
“Obviously that’s something that we take a lot of pride in,” Coach Mark Few said of the rebounding margin. “I thought we had a good approach for being on the road. We played pretty aggressive.”
Junior forward Glen McGowan paced Pepperdine (5-11) with 20 points and six rebounds. He was the only Wave to shoot over 50%, making eight of 14 attempts. Freshman guard Shaun Davis had 16 points and six assists.
Gonzaga, the three-time defending WCC champion, took a 40-27 halftime lead despite getting only seven combined points from forward Ronny Turiaf and Stepp, its leading scorers. Stepp sat out most of the half after picking up his second foul.
But cold-shooting Pepperdine couldn’t capitalize. The Waves made only nine of 34 shots, including three of 16 from three-point range, in the first half.
After Terrance Johnson opened the game by making a three-point basket, the Waves missed their next 10 shots before rallying. They pulled to within one, 20-19, on Alex Acker’s three-point basket.
Gonzaga then got a boost from an unlikely source. Derek Raivio, a 6-1, 158-pound freshman guard, made two consecutive three-point baskets to ignite a 20-8 Bulldog run to end the half.
“We were hanging right there and Raivio made those two threes and gave them a little bit of breathing room,” Westphal said.
Pepperdine never got closer than eight in the second half, when Stepp broke out of a slump by making four of five three-point shots. Gonzaga finished 10 for 17 from three-point range, compared to eight for 30 for the Waves.