Waves lose to Zags but down Pilots

Garrett Wait
Sports Editor

The Pepperdine men’s basketball team fell to Gonzaga University in a heartbreaker, but gained enough momentum from that game to bounce back against Portland University on Saturday. The Waves hope to carry over some of their winning ways as they get ready to face Saint Mary’s College and Santa Clara University on the road this week.

(Graham Shea/Assistant Photo Editor)

The Gonzaga game is the highlight of every basketball season for the Waves. The game is almost always a sell out and for the past few years, has been broadcast nationwide on one of the ESPN networks. Gonzaga is the team who has had the most success in the WCC lately and is the measuring stick for each team in the league.

If that’s true, Pepperdine is only an inch short of the Bulldogs.

The Waves battled with the Zags for 40 minutes Thursday night before losing 82-75. Pepperdine kept it close for most of the game and made a run late in the second half that had everybody in the stands going crazy. The rickety Fieldhouse was shaking as the Waves cut a 10-point Gonzaga lead to just two with under a minute to go.

Alas, Pepperdine couldn’t complete the remarkable comeback. The Bulldogs made some clutch free throws to stave off the upset and the victory extended the Zags’ winning streak over the Waves to eight games.

Pepperdine was without the services of freshman center Russell Hicks who was at home dealing with a death in the family. Without Hicks, the Waves’ interior defense had trouble stopping Gonzaga’s powerful inside combination of Ronny Turiaf, J.P. Batista and Sean Mallon. The Zags outscored the Waves 34-24 in the paint.

Without Hicks, Pepperdine was also overmatched on the boards. Gonzaga dominated the Waves by grabbing 47 rebounds while Pepperdine managed to snare only 22. Turiaf led Gonzaga with 12 rebounds, and senior guard Erroll Knight grabbed 11.

“We’ve been playing better the last four games,” said Head Coach Paul Westphal. “We cut down on turnovers, we’re doing a lot better job in that area. Hopefully we can get some better rebounding when we get some big guys back.”

Despite the lack of production from the post players, the Waves were able to keep Gonzaga within shouting distance. The Zags’ biggest lead of the game was 10, but was quickly cut down by the hot-shooting Waves.

Pepperdine senior forward Yakhouba Diawara led all scorers with 24 points in the game. He was followed by fellow senior Glen McGowan, who had 22.

(Graham Shea/Assistant Photo Editor)

McGowan made the biggest impact on the free-throw line, hitting on 12 of 14 attempts from the charity stripe. Junior swingman Alex Acker contributed 19 points, 16 of which came in the first half.

After nearly pulling off the upset against Gonzaga, Pepperdine turned its attention to Portland, who came into Firestone Fieldhouse looking for the season sweep after beating the Waves in Portland 81-71 last time the two teams played.

“It hurt to lose the game but we bounced back real well against Portland, who’s a good team,” Westphal said.

Pepperdine managed to avenge that loss, but narrowly escaped being beaten at home by a score of 72-66. The return of Hicks to the line up was one of the major differences in the game. The freshman center turned in a career effort, notching 14 points and blocking eight shot attempts.

The Waves were down seven with about seven minutes remaining in the game when Hicks came in. He immediately made an impact by swatting a shot on the first play he was in.

His eight blocks were two off the Pepperdine record set by Cedric Suitt in a 2002 game against University of San Diego. Westphal seemed elated to have this freshman for the next three years.

“He’s got potential to be one of the best players in the conference,” Westphal said. “To be a seven-foot freshman with the hands and timing that he has, it’s a huge head start. Once he gains some strength, the sky’s the limit for him.”

Diawara once again led the Waves in scoring, putting down 23 points against the Pilots. He also racked up eight rebounds, but Portland won the battle on the boards 38-37.

The Waves had four players score in double figures, as Acker and McGowan joined Hicks and Diawara with 15 and 14 respectively.

With Pepperdine winning the inside-points battle 36-20, Portland turned to their guards to keep them in the game. The Pilots launched 26 three-point shots, including 17 in the second half. However, they shot under 30 percent in the second half on those attempts and that was what eventually allowed the Waves to regain control of the game.

Pepperdine’s next two games come on the road as Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara host the Waves this weekend in the bay area. Last time Pepperdine and Saint Mary’s clashed, the Gaels got the best of the Waves 70-63 in Malibu.

Santa Clara, who sits one game behind No.-2 Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference standings, also beat the Waves in Malibu 83-71 last time the two teams got together. Pepperdine’s split over the weekend put them at 14-12 on the season and 4-7 in WCC play.

02-17-2005