MORAGA Calif. _- A bad start doomed the Pepperdine men’s basketball team and then it only got worse from there in a 96-46 loss to Saint Mary’s in a West Coast Conference game on Saturday evening in a sold-out McKeon Pavilion.
Pepperdine fell to 4-15 1-2. The Gaels (17-1 4-0) ranked #25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll set two school records with their 14th consecutive win and their best 18-game start in school history.
Freshman guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles Calif./Pasadena HS) and sophomore forward Mychel Thompson (Ladera Ranch Calif./Stoneridge Prep) combined to score 31 of the Waves’ 46 points. Bell scored 20 points his second-highest output of the season and added seven rebounds and three steals. Thompson scored 11 points.
The Waves fell behind 16-1 before they made their first field goal with 14:33 left a running jumper in the lane by freshman guard Dane Suttle Jr. (Los Angeles Calif./Summit College Prep). The score was 28-3 before they made their next one with 8:44 to go when Thompson drove the lane and hit a fading jumper from the right baseline.
Thompson’s basket seemed to bring the Waves to life for a while as it began a 12-0 Pepperdine run over the next three-plus minutes. Bell scored three straight baskets as he made a steal and went all the way for a dunk scored again on a fast-break lay-up and then hit a runner in the lane. Thompson then sank a jumper and freshman forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos Calif./Mission Hills HS) made two free throws. Still the Waves trailed 28-15 with 5 1/2 minutes left.
The Gaels then regrouped and went on an 11-2 run of their own before going into halftime with a 42-21 lead. To the Waves’ credit they outscored the Gaels 18-14 over the final nine minutes of the first half.
Saint Mary’s lead went past the 30-point mark at 60-28 with 15 minutes left past the 40-point plateau at 73-32 with 10 minutes left and reached 50 points at 88-38 with 3:10 left.
Pepperdine shot 32.8% from the field while Saint Mary’s made 50.8%. The Gaels’ impressive ball movement led to 27 assists on 33 field goals including a season-high 15 three-pointers. Saint Mary’s Diamon Simpson led all scorers with 24 points including a 10-for-11 performance from the free throw line.
Of the 12 players that saw action for the Waves nine were freshmen or sophomores and seven weren’t on the roster last year. Four freshmen and a sophomore started for Pepperdine.
The Waves play their third straight game against a 2008 NCAA Tournament team when they host Gonzaga on Thursday (Jan. 22) at 6 p.m. The game will be televised by FSN West.