By Lauren Gustus
Sports Editor
Hearing Gonzaga head coach Mark Few whine and cry in a post-game press conference after a close victory over home team San Diego. Including ludicrous statements such as, “I thought long and hard about our team coming down here.”
And . . .
“The position this league put us in is ridiculous. Sending us down here in white shirts to play a game on their (home) court.”
A revelation that overall the problem with Pepperdine’s student body lies not in its quality, but its quantity. An example: The Cedric Suitt “Block-O-Meter,” adjusted with magic marker accordingly.
A sign that read, “Heather, keep your maiden name!” The presumable addressee was Dickau’s fiancée.
Seeing junior reserve guard Michael Westphal occupy the role of sparkplug after the Waves struggled to pull away from the Portland Pilots in the first half of game one of the WCC tournament. Although he spent some time on the hardcourt due to rough play and non-calls on fouls, Westie hit a big three and answered the call on defense. He sent the Waves to the locker room smiling after a falling-down three pointer at the buzzer.
Witnessing the lady Waves’ Sarah Richen parade around Jenny Craig Pavilion after the girls had clinched the WCC title and an NCAA berth, refusing to surrender a somewhat sizable WCC Championship placard.
Not a highlight: Dickau putting up a team-leading 27 points in the second half to scorch the Waves’ hopes of a WCC title.
Watching a Jimmy Miggins dunk unfold, the tail end of which ended up on the face of an unsuspecting Pilots forward waiting on a rebound that would never arrive, during the second half of play.
Seeing the girl’s team at the guys’ game on Sunday night, after the lady Waves had already clinched their title and could have been back in Malibu eight hours earlier.
The discovery that Terrance Johnson breaks out a new pair of kicks at the halfway mark of each game.
A pronouncement that should Dan Dickau ever fall short in the NBA, his skills are well suited for the silver screen. Shamelessly falling to the parquet as a result of phantom elbows and ghostly hip checks, the guy will be a star one way or another.
Craig Lewis, fondly referred to as “C-Lew” by the mass of orange T-shirts camped out the in far left corner of Jenny Craig, bringing a calm demeanor and a sharp three-point shot to the tournament as time wound down in each contest.
Not a highlight: An unsightly fall by a certain member of Pepperdine’s cheer squad that resulted in the appearance of a stretcher.
Schoolyard moves and subsequent dishes, courtesy of Gary Colbert.
St. Mary’s freshman point guard, Aussie Adam Caphorn, who doesn’t look old enough to drive a car, let alone drive the lane.
Not a highlight: Coky Rochin at the foul line. If you haven’t seen him in action, consider yourself lucky.
Rob Turner collecting an offensive board and, without returning his feet to the ground, promptly depositing it for two on a massive dunk that fired up those who had spaced out during a game that was decidedly over for St. Mary’s.
Not a highlight: The expulsion of King Neptune, apparently because he wrapped Bulldog fan on the head with his trident.
The cheers of 2,500 Zags fans in red T-shirts, silenced, after the Waves hit the locker room with a one-point lead at the half, and Dickau had just two points.
WAKE FOREST: WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The Pepperdine men’s basketball team got a better draw in the NCAA Tourney this weekend than did their conference rivals, the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
The Waves are seeded 10th, and today they take on the No. 7-ranked Demon Deacons from Wake Forest. Tip off is at 11:45 a.m., at the ARCO Arena, home of the Kings, in Sacramento.
Gonzaga, the WCC tournament winner, was given a lowly No. 6 seed, and will play No. 11 Wyoming in New Mexico. If the Zags win, they have to play powerhouse Arizona in the second round.
If the Waves can pull out a “W” today, then they take on a beatable Oregon Saturday.
By employing the transitive property generally reserved for mathematicians, one could deduce that since Pepperdine beat USC earlier this season, and since USC beat Oregon in conference play, Pepperdine could beat the No. 2-seeded Oregon Ducks.
The Deacons are led by first-year coach Skip Prosser, and will have to travel all the way from Winston-Salem, N.C. Now that’s March Madness — the higher seed travels 3,000 miles to play its first-round game.
Wake Forest has lost six of its last nine games. But the Deacons play in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), a traditionally strong conference that includes Duke and Maryland, who both earned No. 1 seeds in the Tourney.
Today’s meeting is the first ever between the Wake Forest and Pepperdine.
March 14, 2002