By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
“The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is if it goes in or not.”
These are the words of NBA veteran and TNT commentator Charles Barkley, and how true they are.
On Friday the Waves had plenty of good shots, and Saturday they had a lot of bad ones.
The team split its weekend conference schedule, defeating the Broncos of Santa Clara 73-69 one day before losing 88-73 to the Toreros of San Diego.
Against Santa Clara, the Waves came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. With scoring coming from across the bench, the team hit 51.5 percent of its first half shots, including a stellar 7 of 15 from beyond the arc. Leading the attack was senior Boomer Brazzle, who finished the game with a team-high 19 points and three, three-pointers.
A week after a difficult loss to Gonzaga, Pepperdine increased its lead to as much as 24 points in a game that looked early on, especially after a thunderous alley-oop jam by sophomore Rob Turner, as if it was going to be a rout.
But just before half, the Broncos, with the help of poor interior play by Pepperdine, strung together a 20-7 run to pull the score to 43-32 before both teams retired to the locker room.
Determined not to let this one get away, the Waves wasted little time getting their touch back in the second half. After a well-fought for offensive tip-in by freshman forward David Patten, the Waves lead increased to 54-40, but the Broncos were not done yet.
Santa Clara answered with a 17-5 run of its own, and pulled the game, now firmly up for grabs, to within a two-point margin at 59-57. The feeling in the Pepperdine huddle was one of urgency.
“It wasn’t panic, but you get to the point where it’s like, ‘Come on, let’s go,’” senior forward Dustin Johnson said. “Let’s cut this out and go ahead and win the game.”
And that’s just what they did — thanks to the last minute free throwing shooting of senior guard Mike Westphal.
After three minutes of clutch Wave defense, Westphal made five out six free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to seal the win for the Waves.
Aside from Brazzle, other scoring came from Westphal and freshman guard Alex Acker, who each chipped in 14 points.
Also playing big for the Waves was senior forward Jimmy Miggins. Content with having his teammates do the scoring, Miggins pulled down a game-high 12 boards and dished out five assists. He also had five turnovers.
In Saturday’s game, the Toreros used a flawless first-half start to put the game out of reach early, and capture their first win at Firestone Fieldhouse since 1996. The Waves (10-7, 2-2) were taken off guard by San Diego’s potent shooting attack.
Expecting its toughest challenge to come from big men junior forward Jason Blair and senior center Jason Keep, Pepperdine was surprised by a stellar Torero shooting attack. San Diego made 11 of its first 12 shots from the floor on its way to a 27-12 lead with 9:55 remaining in the first half.
The Waves on the other hand, could neither shoot nor pass, sinking only 37.5 percent from the floor and hitting a mere 2 of 10 from three-point territory in the first half.
Despite a valiant defensive and rebounding effort in the second half, the team was never able to recover from the 48-34 first-half deficit.
“We’ve been real streaky lately,” Head Coach Paul Westphal said. “We let ourselves get way down in the first half, and then we made it interesting in the end, but we couldn’t quite pull it off … we’ve had a tough time playing consistently good, putting together an entire 40 minutes of basketball.”
Four separate Waves finished the difficult night with 12 points — Turner, Brazzle, Acker and sophomore forward Terrence Johnson. Miggins finished with 11.
Heading up the San Diego attack, which shot an impressive 58.5 percent from field goal range, was Blair who ended the game with 25 points and 9 rebounds. Keep finished with 15 points, nine boards and four assists.
Westphal credited a “much-improved” USD squad.
“I think they have one of the best front lines on the West Coast,” Westphal said. “And that was hard for us to match up with.”
With its conference record now at 2-2, Pepperdine is forced into a must-win situation nearly every time it steps on the floor.
“Every game we play now is a big game,” Mike Westphal said.
This weekend the Waves travel down Pacific Coast Highway to take on rival Loyola-Marymount on their home floor.
After crushing the Lions in Malibu last year, 84-59, the Waves had a much tougher game at home later that season. Coach Westphal expects the same challenge this year.
“This game means a lot to them,” Westphal said. “They’re always looking to beat Pepperdine.”
Mike Westphal agreed.
“They’d love to come out and beat us, but we need to beat them,” he said.
As they have in games past, the Waves will look to cut down on turnovers and continue to improve their inside play. The game is scheduled to be aired live on Fox Sports West, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
In other news, injured Pepperdine guard Devin Montgomery, who at first was expected back from a broken thumb, is now scheduled for season-ending surgery. It is unsure now if Montgomery, a senior, will be able to return to the Waves to play next season.
January 23, 2003