Pepperdine Falls to Oklahoma State

There are going to be nights when a young team such as Pepperdine gets schooled in the finer points of college basketball. Tuesday was one of them.

Oklahoma Statedefeated the Waves, 69-49, at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Torre Johnson came off the bench to lead Oklahoma State (10-4) with 20 points and was one of four Cowboys in double figures. But it seemed the whole roster hurt Pepperdine, which was never in the game after the first five minutes.

“[The game] can be a good experience for us, because our defense was good enough to keep us in the game,” Wave Coach Paul Westphal said. “But they got too many offensive rebounds, and our shooting was horrible.”

Oklahoma State, missing two starters and starting three freshmen, has a roster as young as Pepperdine’s. But the Cowboys looked much more physically mature than the Waves, and they played with patience and poise that the Waves did not match.

They also overpowered Pepperdine rebounds, 42-26.

“The [young players] have grown up a bit,” said Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton, nine victories shy of becoming the fifth Division I men’s coach with 800 wins (791-303). “They’re definitely playing better than earlier in the year.”

Oklahoma State made the first half a nightmare for Pepperdine (4-8). The Waves simply had few good looks at the basket. Pepperdine made only four field goals (in 22 attempts) and scored a season-low 16 points in trailing, 37-16, at halftime.

Pepperdine warmed up slightly in the second half, but still shot only 27.1% overall (13 of 48). Michael Gerrity, with 13 points, was the only Wave in double figures.

“Three out of the last four games we had been shooting pretty well, and doing a better job of running our offense,” Westphal said.

“But tonight, we weren’t getting good shots, and when we did get shots, we weren’t making them.”