GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
Photo by Ben Young/Ph. Editor
The Pepperdine men’s basketball team went into Gersten Pavilion looking to continue its recent dominance of cross-town rival Loyola Marymount University. The Waves won 13-straight games against LMU until Saturday night. The streak came to a screeching halt as the Lions handed Pepperdine a brutal 63-46 beating.
The Waves made a grand total of 16 shots from the floor, shooting a season-low 29.6 percent from the field. Pepperdine was unable to beat the LMU interior defense while allowing the Lions to dominate the inside game, outscoring Pepperdine 30-14.
Pepperdine was unable to hit shots in the LMU gym from any and all distances, going 11 for 23 from the free-throw line and a dreadful three for 18 from beyond the three-point arc.
“We know we can be good,” said injured senior forward Jesse Pinegar. “We just have to play better.”
The Waves’ leading scorer in the game was junior guard Alex Acker, who was the only Pepperdine player to score in double figures, notching 11 points. Acker didn’t score a single point in the second half, however, and the team was held to just 20 points in the half.
The first half of the game was competitive for the most part. Both teams went on major runs, and each threatened to blow the game open at one point or another. Pepperdine had a five point lead early in the half, but LMU’s 10-2 run put the Lions on top 20-17 for a short time.
The Waves gained the lead again at 21-20, but a 14-5 Lions run gave LMU the halftime lead and they never looked back.
Pepperdine senior forward Glen McGowan, who scored in double figures in 28-straight games prior to the Waves loss on Saturday, Jan. 22 against Santa Clara, failed to score more than 10 points for the second-straight game. McGowan had eight points on 3-12 shooting from the floor. The senior also hit just one of his five free-throw attempts.
Pepperdine Head Coach Paul Westphal took the team’s three leading scorers, Acker, McGowan and senior forward Yakhouba Diawara out of the game for much of the second half in an attempt to change the momentum of the game.
The Waves’ four-game losing streak was extended to five by LMU, who had come into the game as the worst team in the West Coast Conference and the only team in the league with an overall losing record. After the win, the Lions climbed back up to .500 at 10-10.
LMU sophomore forward Matthew Knight led all scorers with 15 points. Knight also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds against the Waves. Pepperdine was supposed to have a distinct size advantage in the game, but the Lions clearly out-muscled the bigger Waves for a 38-37 rebounding edge.
The match up was supposed to be one of futility as each team came in with long losing streaks. LMU had lost five straight to other WCC opponents. One team had to go home a winner and the Lions seemed to want it more.
In the second half, the LMU defense was able to hold Pepperdine without a field goal for the first 4:06. Junior guard Keith Jarbo hit a running baseline jumper to finally end the Waves’ drought.
Pepperdine’s loss to LMU dropped them to 2-5 in the league, in a four-way tie for 5th place. The Waves also fell to 12-10 overall on the season. Pepperdine’s road record this season has been their biggest problem, as the team has won only four of 12 games it has played away from Malibu.
“The coaches have told us not to get down on ourselves,” Pinegar said. “We’re in a pretty tight situation with five losses in a row but we have a good chance to come back.”
Pinegar, whose ankle injury has kept him out of each of the five games the Waves have lost, said he hopes to be back on Monday after another visit to the doctor this week.
Loyola hadn’t beaten Pepperdine since the 1998-1999 season until Saturday night. The Waves’ dominance over LMU was the longest such streak in Pepperdine history. Now, the team faces two more tough WCC road games to try to snap their five-game losing streak.
Pepperdine goes on the road this week to face University of San Francisco on Thursday evening. Last time the two teams played, the Waves were able to defeat the Dons in Firestone Fieldhouse 64-57. The Dons are 4-3 in the WCC, two games out of first place and is 4-1 in its past five games.
Saturday, Pepperdine travels south on the coast to match up against WCC foe University of San Diego, who the Waves handled easily in Malibu, 83-67. That game will be televised on Fox Sports Net West beginning at 4:30 p.m.
02-03-2005
