Pepperdine no match for Gonzaga, 82-57

Pepperdine picked a bad time to turn in its worst shooting performance of the season, making only 29% of its shots in an 82-57 West Coast Conference loss to first-place Gonzaga on Saturday at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Waves, 6-18 overall, 2-6 in the West Coast Conference, made only nine of 33 second-half shots (27.3%) and only two baskets during a span of 14 minutes 10 seconds that enabled the Bulldogs (17-7, 7-1) to turn a 46-39 squeaker into a 79-47 rout.

Pepperdine trailed by only four at halftime, 36-32, after Chase Griffin scored 18 points on four-of-seven three-point shooting, but the Waves made only four of 20 three-pointers in the second half -- two of them in the final two minutes.

“For us to be successful against a team like that, we have to be making our shots,” Pepperdine Coach Vance Walberg said. “Chase hit some shots in the first half and gave us a chance, but then you saw what happened in the second half.”

The Waves, who have only one player taller than 6 feet 7, also couldn’t find an answer for Gonzaga’s Josh Heytvelt, a 6-11 forward who set career highs with 27 points, 22 rebounds and six blocked shots. He out-rebounded the entire Waves team, which had 20.

“Everything looked pretty easy,” Heytvelt said. “I could almost read what the other person was thinking before it even happened. It was sweet.”

Pepperdine’s 29.2% shooting was a season low and its 57 points was the third time in four games they have failed to eclipse the 60-point mark. They surpassed 90 points in five of their first nine games.

Griffin led the Waves with 22 points. Kingsley Costain had 14.

It was the fifth consecutive victory and eighth in nine games for Gonzaga, the six-time defending conference champion that was coming off an emotional nonconference victory over No. 23 Stanford on Wednesday -- the Bulldogs’ fourth victory over a ranked team this season.

-- Peter Yoon

UC Riverside 82, Cal State Fullerton 76 -- Larry Cunningham scored 34 points in the second half to help the Highlanders upset the Titans at Riverside. It was the first Big West Conference win of the season for the Highlanders (5-17, 1-7).

Cunningham sparked Riverside’s offense in the second half, giving the Highlanders a 61-59 lead with just under eight minutes to play. The Titans (16-5, 6-3) tied the score on their next possession on Bobby Brown’s basket. The Highlanders answered with a 12-2 run.

Long Beach State 92, Pacific 64 -- Sterling Byrd sparked a 16-1 run over the first four minutes of the second half at the Pyramid as the 49ers (15-6, 6-2 Big West) built a 56-30 lead and were never challenged by the Tigers (8-13, 4-4) after that. The 49ers, who won for the 13th time in 15 games, improved to 10-0 at home this season.

UC Irvine 75, Cal State Northridge 66 -- Patrick Sanders scored 23 points, including 14 at the free-throw line, and Chuma Awaji had 19 to lead the Anteaters (11-13, 5-5 Big West) over the Matadors (10-12, 3-6) at the Bren Center. Irvine shot 55.6% from the field.

Loyola Marymount 74, Portland 59 -- The Lions (10-14, 2-6 West Coast) won for only the second time in 11 games. The visiting Pilots (6-18, 2-6) lost their sixth in a row and were unable to overcome a first half in which they made only eight of 22 shots.

WOMEN

UCLA 75, Oregon State 65 -- Noelle Quinn scored 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the Bruins (13-12, 7-6 Pacific 10) past the Beavers (8-13, 3-9) at Corvallis, Ore. UCLA outscored Oregon State, 19-8, over the last five minutes.

Oregon 73, USC 63 -- The Ducks (13-9, 5-7 Pac-10) made 27 of 30 free throws -- 21 of 24 in the second half -- to beat the Trojans (14-8, 8-4) at Eugene, Ore. Jamie Hagiya and Chloe Kerr had 12 points apiece for USC.