San Diego Delivers Knockout Blow Against Pepperdine, 56-54

SANTA CLARA — Pepperdine made it interesting with a second-half comeback, but missed chances in the final minute allowed San Diego to escape with a 56-54 upset in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament Saturday night at Toso Pavilion.

After rallying from a nine-point deficit to take the lead, the Waves gave up a three-point play to San Diego’s Ryan Williams to fall behind by two with 1:16 to play and failed to convert on their last two possessions.

Pepperdine’s season ended when Kelvin Gibbs missed a 10-foot jump shot in the key with three seconds left and the rebound rolled out of bounds.

“We had a pretty good shot,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “It just didn’t fall.”

It was a disappointing loss for the second-seeded Waves (17-10), who entered the tournament after winning their final four regular-season games, including a victory at Gonzaga, the WCC champion.

But seventh-seeded San Diego (14-13) was confident it could compete with the Waves after beating them, 78-70, three weeks ago at San Diego.

“The pressure was on them,” Torero forward Brian Miles said.

Playing tough defense, San Diego limited Pepperdine to 20-of-52 shooting (38.5%) and forced 16 turnovers.

“What we saw was a great battle between two of the hottest teams in the league,” said San Diego Coach Brad Holland, whose team has won five of its last seven games. “We grinded it out on defense. We knew Pepperdine was going to make a run in the second half.”

San Diego took its biggest lead, 39-30, early in the second half before Pepperdine rallied behind Gerald Brown. The senior guard made successive three-point baskets to ignite a 12-2 run that put the Waves ahead, 45-43, with 9:12 to play.

Brown, who scored 21 points, gave Pepperdine its final lead, 54-53, on a three-point basket with 1:52 to play.

On the game-winning play, the Waves trapped Miles near the baseline with a double team, but he found Williams cutting to the basket. Williams made a layup and was fouled by Bryan Hill before making the free throw, finishing with a game-high 23 points.

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In other first-round games:

San Francisco 83, St. Mary’s 66--Reserve guard M.J. Nodilo scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half and fifth-seeded San Francisco got 20 offensive rebounds.

San Francisco (17-10) has won four consecutive games by an average margin of 25 points.

David Sivulich scored a game-high 22 points for fourth-seeded St. Mary’s (12-15).

Santa Clara 74, Portland 53--Sophomore guard Brian Jones, from Wilmington Banning High, scored 22 points to help the Broncos (18-9) end a four-year losing streak in the first round.