Sutton gets his 800th victory

Eddie Sutton says he remembers the tough losses more than most of the victories, but he’ll make an exception for San Francisco’s 85-82 West Coast Conference victory Saturday night at Pepperdine.

It was career victory No. 800 for Sutton, who came out of retirement Dec. 26 with 798 victories and took over a struggling Dons program after Coach Jesse Evans left in mid-season.

He is only the ninth coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-victory mark and the fifth at the Division I level, joining an elite group that includes Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Jim Phelan.

That alone is enough to make an imprint in his 71-year-old memory, but the way it transpired made it even more special.

San Francisco (6-15, 2-4 in WCC) trailed, 53-34, with 17 minutes 18 seconds left in the second half, but clamped down on defense and staged an improbable rally at Firestone Fieldhouse that was capped with a three-point basket by Danny Cavic that gave San Francisco an 83-82 lead with 16 seconds to play.

“It’ll always be a special game,” Sutton said. “It’s hard to come from 19 points down in the second half on the road. That doesn’t happen very often.”

Pepperdine led from the beginning, making a three-pointer for the game’s first basket, and held the lead until Dior Lowhorn tied it on a layup with 4:11 to play.

The Dons held Pepperdine (7-15, 1-5) to only one field goal in the final 6:25, closing with a 19-7 run.

“We definitely wanted to get this for him,” Cavic said. “It’s a great, great accomplishment for him and he deserves it in every way. And it’s a great accomplishment for us because no matter what happens, we get to be a part of 800. This is something to remember for the rest of our lives.”

Some were beginning to doubt whether it would happen. Sutton left Oklahoma State in 2006 with 798 victories and had to be coaxed out of retirement by family members.

San Francisco went 0-4 in his first four games before he got to No. 799 and had lost three in a row since.

“I’m pleased that it’s happened,” said Sutton, who has downplayed the milestone since taking the San Francisco job. “I think it probably means more to my sons and grandsons. Hopefully we can win a few more before the season ends.”

Sutton, who has coached at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, earned his historic victory in front of about 1,000 fans, some of whom were wearing Oklahoma State shirts and carrying signs that read “800” and watching two teams trying to stay out of the WCC cellar.

And there were no television cameras in sight. The only video evidence of the accomplishment are game films and the Pepperdine webcast, so Sutton will almost have to remember this one.

“I will,” he said. “I don’t know if there will be too many more coaches who coach long enough to get to 800, so that’s something.”

peter.yoon@latimes.com