Similar to the last rivalry thriller against Loyola Marymount the Pepperdine men’s basketball team made an energetic second-half comeback against the Lions in Los Angeles on Saturday night. But this time a powerful Pepperdine offensive surge in the second half was not enough to defeat its rival despite its success in the previous West Coast Conference matchup against the Lions earlier this season. LMU defeated the Waves 77-61.
Junior forward Mychel Thompson led the Waves Saturday night with 18 points. He said the Lions came out more prepared than did his team.
“I think they had a lot more energy then we did Thompson said. We should have brought more intensity. We just didn’t bring it like we should have in a rivalry game.”
This was the first time the Lions (12-12 3-5) pulled off a win against Pepperdine since 2006 and it was one of just three losses to our cross-town rival in the past 25 meetings. Pepperdine (7-17 3-5) broke a seven-game winning streak against LMU with the loss.
“We showed we were the better team in the first game Thompson said. We should have given them a lot— they were ready for us and I guess we weren’t ready for them.”
The Lions who shot 50 percent from the field held Pepperdine to 35.3 percent shooting for the game and 44.0 percent in the second half.
Sophomore guard Keion Bell scored in double digits with 13 points and sophomore guard Taylor Darby had eight points and 10 rebounds. This contribution was unsatisfying for Darby though who said he had a bit of an “off night.”
“We knew they were gonna try to fight us Darby said. They always come out ready to play. Their stadium was loud and we tried to keep our composure but they came out on fire. And I could have played better. I kept trying to play as hard as I could but it was difficult because sometimes you don’t have a good feeling— you just know nothing is going in.”
Just as in the previous LMU matchup in which the Waves trailed by 13 points at halftime the Waves were once again down by this margin with a score of 37-24 at halftime. Yet unlike the Waves’ victory of 79-75 Jan. 9 LMU expanded its lead shortly following the halftime buzzer to 57-30 with a 14-point run.
Four Lions scored in double digits led by Drew Vinley with 22 points.
An ultimately unsuccessful Waves comeback— consisting of a 23-8-run— began when junior forward Jonathan Dupre and freshman guard Caleb Willis hit back-to-back three-pointers. Dupre hit another three-pointer at the end of the run to put the Waves back in the game 65-53 with 6:50 remaining on the clock.
“Once we settled down we played pretty well Darby said. In the second half we made a good comeback but I think we still just didn’t have enough that game.”
While Pepperdine started out the WCC season play undefeated after three home games the last LMU loss tallied up a six-game losing streak for the Waves in away conference games.
“We have played in tough places to win at Thompson said, but we were still in a lot of those games. If we’re able to get over the hump and make a few more plays I think we will be able to win. We just need to focus on what we did last games to beat these teams and do some of the stuff we did. It is hard to beat us when we play hard.”
The Waves continue their Bay Area road trip away from Firestone Fieldhouse tonight at San Francisco at 7 p.m. and Saturday at Santa Clara also at 7 p.m.
The team defeated both Northern California teams earlier this month both of which were at home however. There are six games left in the WCC season and four will be played on the road.
“We just need to focus on shooting the ball in like we did against them before and play defense more as a team Darby said. If we win the games at home later it will put us in a good place for third or fourth in the conference. Two of the last three games will be at home with a lot of fans. Hopefully we will finish strong with a win.”
