Pepperdine Makes a Few Waves in Loss to UConn

Rudy Gay’s one-handed jam on the run was one reason the University of Connecticut beat Pepperdine, 75-56, Friday night in front of an overflow crowd of 3,210 at Firestone Fieldhouse in the college basketball season opener for both teams.

So was Josh Boone’s softly accurate passing, impressive because Boone is 6 feet 10 and has arms nearly as long as his legs. And the fastbreak layups and three-pointers from Rashad Anderson helped.

Connecticut, ranked No. 3 in the country, made this pit stop on its way to Hawaii, where the Huskies will gather next week with other national powers such as Arizona, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan State and Gonzaga in the Maui Classic.

But the Waves learned some good things too.

Freshman point guard Michael Gerrity, newly arrived from Santa Ana Mater Dei High, is fearless and has a natural feel for the game. He made no-look passes and correctly judged when it was time to drive the ball to the basket and when it was better to make the pass.

“The kid was smart and crafty,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said of Gerrity.

Gerrity (game-high 19 points) caused a Husky turnover in the first 40 seconds, and two minutes later Connecticut guards Anderson and Craig Austrie were pointing at each other, asking who was supposed to be keeping up with Gerrity.

The Waves led, 12-8, with 16:08 left in the first half and were within six points, 30-24, with 4:01 left after center Derick Grubb rebounded his own missed shot and scored.

The Waves missed their last four shots of the half and had four turnovers in the final four minutes, but the Huskies led only 34-24 at intermission.

Gerrity hooked up with Grubb on a fastbreak, then the 6-foot freshman stole the ball from Austrie, converted the layup and followed a 20-foot jumper from Anderson with another driving layup to bring the Waves within 48-43 with 11:50 left in the game.

But the Huskies’ inside strength began taking its toll. Boone (18 points, 12 rebounds) had a slam dunk on a rebound, Gay (15 points, 10 rebounds) hit from the key and 6-11 Hilton Armstrong blocked a layup by Pepperdine center Jarrad Henry to help the Huskies slowly pull away.

The Huskies were missing two key players -- Marcus Williams of Los Angeles and A.J. Price, who are serving suspensions for their parts in the theft of four computers from campus housing earlier this year. So the students constantly chanted “Where’s my laptop?” while the Huskies were warming up.

Pepperdine Coach Paul Westphal said he was not disappointed by the final score. “I told them I feel good about them,” he said. “If they play that hard defensively the rest of their careers they’ll do fine.”

-- Diane Pucin

No. 5 Villanova 78, Stony Brook 35 -- Utilizing an effective man-to-man defense in their season opener, the Wildcats jumped to a 27-10 lead with 8:42 left in the first half at Villanova, Pa. A 19-4 run at the start of the second half gave them a 56-20 advantage, and the lead ballooned to 67-26 with 5:46 to play.

No. 9 Gonzaga 69, Idaho 60 -- Forward J.P. Batista scored 23 points, including three straight baskets with the game on the line, and the Bulldogs extended their home-court winning streak to 26 games, the longest in the nation.

After Tanoris Shepard made two three-point baskets to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 59-57 with 4:36 left, Batista bulled inside for three quick baskets to give the Bulldogs a 65-59 lead with 2:08 left.

No. 11 Boston College 80, Dartmouth 61 -- The Eagles, starting their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, routed their Ivy League opponent at Boston. They scored 12 consecutive points to break a 5-5 tie and the Big Green never got closer than six points.

Florida 75, No. 16 Syracuse 70 -- Taurean Green keyed a late second-half run to lead the Gators (4-0) over the Orange (3-1) in the championship game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Florida trailed, 62-60, with 6:43 left before it went on a 12-0 run. Green, who finished with 23 points and was named MVP of the tournament, had eight points during that span, including a three-point basket with 1:52 left to cap the run and give the Gators a 72-62 lead.

No. 17 Illinois 90, South Dakota State 65 -- Dee Brown scored 19 points and James Augustine had 18 and 14 rebounds to power the Illini at Champaign, Ill. The only two starters from last year’s national runner-up carried an often sloppy offense that committed 20 turnovers and overcame a stellar performance from Steve Holdren, who scored 28 points for the Jackrabbits.

No. 19 Wake Forest 78, Texas Tech 73 -- Justin Gray made a 25-foot jump shot with 3.7 seconds left to force a second overtime and then scored four of his 18 points in the extra session to lift the Demon Deacons (3-1) in the consolation game of the 2K Sports College Hoop Classic.

No. 23 Indiana 99, Nicholls State 65 -- The Hoosiers won their eighth consecutive season opener despite playing without starters A.J. Ratliff and D.J. White at Bloomington, Ind. Ratliff is out with a broken right thumb, and White has a broken left foot.

No. 24 Maryland 111, Fairleigh Dickinson 85 -- The easy win at College Park, Md., marked the first time since 1998 that the Terrapins reached the 100-point mark in an opener. They shot 56% (36 for 70) and were 32 for 38 from the free-throw line.

OTHER GAMES

Eastern Michigan 67, California 65 -- The loss at Ypsilanti spoiled the homecoming of Cal Coach Ben Braun, who led the Eagles to three NCAA tournament berths during his 11-year tenure. Chris Ramsey, an assistant under Braun in the early 1990s, won his debut.