Pepperdine Loses Its Third in a Row

Pepperdine’s trip to the Pacific Northwest last week was a frustrating exercise that resulted in uninspiring West Coast Conference losses to Portland and Gonzaga.

Returning home was supposed to be a clean slate, with the Waves starting fresh against another tough league opponent in St. Mary’s. The frustration only resurfaced and hit the boiling point Thursday as the Gaels dealt them their third consecutive defeat, 70-63, in a physical game in front of 2,073 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine, 12-8 overall and 2-3 in the WCC, dug itself a 12-point hole with 16:04 remaining. The Waves would rally to within 56-54 on Marvin Lea’s basket, but by then they were unhappy with the officiating of Jim Stupin, Steven Dreher and Tom Spitznagel.

After St. Mary’s pushed the lead to six, Pepperdine’s Glen McGowan drew contact on a drive to the basket, but no foul was called. Coach Paul Westphal yanked his jacket off and went ballistic, drawing a technical foul. Daniel Kickert followed with two free throws for an eight-point lead.

“Do I want to say anything about the officiating? Yes,” Westphal said. “Will I? No. They already know how I feel.”

Paul Marigney led the Gaels (16-5, 3-1) with 16 points.

“We hadn’t won here since 1997,” Marigney said. “It’s a great league. You’ve got to come out every night and be ready.”

Yakhouba Diawara had 20 points and McGowan had 16, but the Waves made only five of 16 three-point shots.

“Our offense wasn’t clicking,” McGowan said. “They were getting to loose balls that we should have gotten to. We could have played a lot better.”

Eric Stephens

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Santa Clara 68, Loyola Marymount 57 -- Kyle Bailey scored 27 points -- 23 in the second half -- to lead Santa Clara in front of 1,351 at Gersten Pavilion. Bailey was nine for 15 from the field and had six rebounds as the Broncos (10-9, 3-1) won their third in a row.

The Lions (9-9, 1-4) lost their third in a row and have dropped seven of their last nine.

Matthew Knight led Loyola Marymount with 20 points, and Charles Brown had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lions.