Nov. 20, 2006
Malibu, Calif. -
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A LOOK AT THE WAVES: After opening the season with four straight road games, the Pepperdine men's basketball team will have its first opportunity to play before its own fans when it hosts UC Santa Barbara in Tuesday's 7 p.m. home-opener at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Waves are currently 1-3 on the young season after suffering a tough 95-92 setback at Cal State Northridge on Saturday. Despite rallying from a 17-point deficit to take a five-point lead late in the second half, the Waves fell in the final minute. Senior guard Gregg Barlow led a group of four Pepperdine players in double figures with a career-high 24 points.
The Waves are in the midst of playing three straight contests against Big West Conference opponents. Following Tuesday's game against UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine will visit UC Irvine on Saturday in the opener of a second four-game road trip.
The road trip also includes contests at Oklahoma State (Dec. 2), Colorado (Dec. 4) and Long Beach State (Dec. 7). The Waves return home on December 9 to host Cal State Fullerton.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Tuesday's Pepperdine-UC Santa Barbara game can be heard live on the Internet at www.PepperdineSports.com.
Every men's basketball game throughout the 2006-07 season can be heard live on the Internet at www.PepperdineSports.com with veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein calling the action.
WALBERG ERA BEGINS: The 2006-07 season marks the beginning of the Vance Walberg Era. Walberg takes over as Pepperdine's 12th head coach after being hired on April 19 following four highly successful seasons at Fresno City College. During his tenure there, Walberg guided the Rams to a 133-11 (.924) record and won the California State Junior College Championship in 2005 after posting a 34-0 record. In 26 seasons as a junior college and high school coach, Walberg has compiled an overall record of 614-170 (.783).
ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA: UC Santa Barbara enters Tuesday's contest with a 3-0 record after posting wins over San Jose State (75-67), Montana State (88-56) and UNLV (79-76). The Gauchos are currently averaging 80.7 points a contest while allowing just 66.3 points a game. UC Santa Barbara has three players averaging in double figures and is led by junior guard Alex Harris who is contributing 22.0 points a contest. Junior forward Chris Devine is averaging 17.0 points a game and tops the Gauchos with 6.3 rebounds a contest. Head coach Bob Williams is in the midst of his ninth season and has guided UC Santa Barbara to an overall record to date of 125-111 (.530).
SERIES VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: Tuesday's contest between Pepperdine and UC Santa Barbara will mark the 70th meeting between the two programs with the Waves leading the all-time series, 37-32. The two teams met a year ago in Santa Barbara and the Gauchos registered a 65-56 victory. Pepperdine captured the last meeting in Malibu, posting a 62-56 win at Firestone Fieldhouse in 2004. The two clubs have split the last six meetings with each team winning on its home floor dating back to 2000. The Waves were the last team win on the opponents' home court when they defeated UC Santa Barbara, 68-64, in 1999.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE RECAP: Pepperdine concluded its season-opening four-game road trip with tough 95-92 loss at Cal State Northridge on Saturday. The Waves rallied from a 17-point deficit to take a five-point lead with less than six minutes remaining before succumbing in the final minute. Pepperdine was led by senior guard Gregg Barlow, who scored a career-high 24 points. Other Waves in double figures included senior guards Chase Griffin and Marvin Lea with 16 points each while senior guard Jason Walberg added 15. Pepperdine's second-half comeback was sparked by a pressure defense that forced 17 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. For the game, the Waves forced a season-high 31 turnovers. However, that was not enough to overcome a 52-24 deficit on the boards.
NEXT OPPONENT: Following Tuesday's game against UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine will embark on its second four-game road trip of the season when it travels to Orange County to take on UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center on Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. The Anteaters enter this week with a 2-3 record and are coming off an 85-42 loss at Oregon on Friday. Prior to hosting Pepperdine, UC Irvine will visit Nevada on Tuesday.
INJURY REPORT: Sophomore guard Michael Gerrity, who finished second on the team in scoring a year ago with 14.1 points a contest and was named to the West Coast Conference's (WCC) All-Freshman team, is currently out. Gerrity has a left foot injury and is hopeful of returning in two weeks.
RAINING THREE'S: Each night out this season, there will be a good chance the Pepperdine record book will be re-written. In just three games this season, the Waves already have set new marks for three-point field goal attempts. One night after taking a school-record 36 three-point field goal attempts against Northern Iowa, Pepperdine broke that mark with 43 against Nicholls State. The Waves also made a program-best 21 three-pointers against Nicholls State to eclipse the previous mark of 17 set against Santa Clara on February 23, 2002. Pepperdine also set a new mark for most three-point field goals in one half with 12. The Waves' 21 three-pointers also tie for the second-most in West Coast Conference history. Gonzaga made 22 from behind the arc against San Francisco in 1995 to hold the WCC mark. The Waves are tied with Loyola Marymount, which made 21 against Michigan in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.
WAVES ENTER NCAA RECORD BOOKS: Pepperdine's school-record 21 three-point field goals against Nicholls State on November 14 tie for the sixth-highest total in NCAA History. Troy holds the record of three-point field goals made when it totaled 28 (28 of 74) against George Mason on Dec. 10, 1994. A team has made at least 21 three-point field goals in a game a total of 21 times.
WAVES VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS: Pepperdine finished 0-3 against ranked opponents during the 2005-06 season. The Waves will face two teams (Washington and Connecticut) that were ranked in the national preseason Top 25. Washington opened the year ranked No. 16 while Connecticut was No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason poll. West Coast Conference (WCC) rival Gonzaga was among teams receiving votes. Pepperdine is currently 0-1 against ranked opponents in 2006-07.
KEEP YOUR BAGS PACKED: The Pepperdine men's basketball team will need to keep a suitcase handy as it plays 11 of 16 non-conference games on the road, including eight of its first nine. The Waves twice have stretches where they play four consecutive road games, including at the outset of the season when they play three contests in the Basketball Travelers Classic in Seattle, Washington and a game at Cal State Northridge on November 18. Pepperdine doesn't play its first home game until November 21 when it welcomes UC Santa Barbara to Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves will look to turn around their road fortunes this year after going just 1-14 away from Firestone Fieldhouse in 2005-06.
HAVE A CALCULATOR HANDY: Scoreboard operators are expected to be busy during Pepperdine games this season. First-year head coach Vance Walberg brings to Malibu a high-octane offense that has a reputation of regularly averaging 100 or more points a game. During four years at Fresno City College, Walberg's teams averaged 103.5 points a contest, including 107.6 points a game during the 2003-04 season. Through four games of the 2006-07 season, the Waves are averaging 84.8 points a contest.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Through four games of the 2006-07 campaign, Pepperdine is averaging 84.8 points a contest while allowing 90.0 points a game. The Waves rank second in the WCC in points-per-game, trailing only Gonzaga, which is scoring 87.0 points an outing...The Waves are second in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage (39.2) behind Santa Clara (39.5)...Pepperdine tops the conference in steals with an average of 10.0 a game and leads the WCC in turnover margin (+5.0)...Pepperdine is averaging 11.75 three-point field goals a game to lead the conference...Senior guard Marvin Lea ranks second to Loyola Marymount's Brandon Worthy (19.2) in scoring with 19.0 points a contest...Lea also is second in the WCC with 3.5 three-point field goals a game...Junior guard Kingsley Costain is second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage with a 52.9 percent mark and third in steals with 2.5 a contest...Senior guard Chase Griffin ranks fourth in free throw percentage (94.7).
FORMER WAVE Yakhouba Diawara MAKES DENVER ROSTER: Former Pepperdine men's basketball player Yakhouba Diawara, who played for the Waves from 2003 to 2005, became an official member of the Denver Nuggets' when the team's 15-man roster was announced on Tuesday. During his two seasons at Pepperdine, Diawara appeared in 45 games, starting 40, and averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. He had an- outstanding junior campaign as he played in 14 games and averaged 18.9 points and 6.6 rebounds a contest en route to earning All-West Coast Conference (WCC) honors. A native of Paris, France, Diawara played in eight preseason games for the Nuggets and averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists a contest while averaging 24 minutes a contest. Diawara made his NBA debut November 2 and scored his first career points against Minnesota on November 3.
PEPPERDINE AND THE WCC: Dating back to the 1997-98 season, Pepperdine has the West Coast Conference's (WCC) second-best record in league play. The Waves have compiled an overall record to date of 78-47 (.624), trailing only Gonzaga, which has posted a 113-16 (.876) record during the same time. Since 1998, Gonzaga and Pepperdine have either won or shared every WCC regular-season title. The Bulldogs claimed outright titles in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, while the Waves captured the 2000 regular season crown. The two teams shared the title in 2002.
Vance Walberg: Vance Walberg, the former head coach of Fresno City College, became the 12th head coach in Pepperdine history when he was named to succeed Paul Westphal on April 18. He made his Pepperdine coaching debut on November 12 at Washington and the Waves suffered a 99-91 to the Huskies. He is currently 1-3 (.250) at Pepperdine. During his four seasons as head coach at Fresno City College, Walberg compiled a 133-11 (.924) record, including a perfect 34-0 mark and the California State Championship in 2005. In addition to posting an undefeated season and winning the 2005 state championship, Walberg's Fresno City College teams won four straight Central Valley Conference (CVC) titles, made four consecutive trips to the Northern California Playoffs, advanced to the Final Four of the California State Championships three times and appeared in the state title game in 2003 and 2005. His teams were noted for an up-tempo style of play and during his four years in Fresno, the Rams averaged 103.5 points a contest, 107.6 points during the 2003-04 season. Walberg was twice named California Junior College Coach of the Year (2003, 2005) and was tabbed the CVC Coach of the Year four times (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). Prior to taking over at Fresno City College, Walberg spent 22 years as a high school coach and compiled an impressive 481-159 (.751) record. His greatest success came at Clovis West High in Fresno, California, where he produced a 343-68 (.834) record in 13 seasons, winning 11 league titles and finishing second on two other occasions. Walberg earned league Coach of the Year honors nine times, Section Coach of the Year on six occasions and was tabbed the California and West Region (Section 7) Coach of the Year in 1999. In 2001, he was selected the Cal-Hi State Coach of the Year. In 26 seasons as a head coach, Walberg has a career record of 614-170 (.783). A 1978 graduate of Cal State Bakersfield, Walberg was twice named the Defensive Player of the Year and served as team captain his senior year. In two seasons at De Anza Community College, he won a conference championship and concluded his career as the school's all-time steals leader. Walberg, a 1974 graduate of Monta Vista High in Cupertino, California, was a two-year varsity letterwinner during which he was named Co-Most Valuable Player and team MVP. He helped the Matadors to a league championship.
THE PROGRAM: In the midst of its 69th season of intercollegiate competition, the Pepperdine men's basketball program has compiled an overall record to date of 1085-837 (.564). A total of 22 Pepperdine teams have posted 20-plus win campaigns. The Waves have won 19 or more games eight times in the last 15 campaigns. Pepperdine made its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001-02, and the Waves have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) a total of eight times, including the Preseason NIT in 1985 and 2000. Since the start of the 1979-80 campaign, Pepperdine teams have compiled an overall record of 498-373 (.572), including a 253-127 (.666) mark in regular season West Coast Conference (WCC) play. Since the 1980-81 season, Pepperdine teams have either won or shared the WCC regular season title on 10 occasions-1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000 and 2002-and the program has won 12 basketball championships overall. Additionally, the Waves have captured the WCC Tournament championship three times-1991, 1992 and 1994.
WAVES AT HOME: Dating back to the start of the 1997-98 campaign, the Waves are 83-28 (.748) at home. Pepperdine's all-time homecourt record at Firestone Fieldhouse, dating back to the start of the 1973-74 campaign, currently stands at 321-117 (.733). The Waves finished the 2004-05 season with a 9-3 home mark. Pepperdine concluded 2005-06 with a 6-6 home record.
WAVES ON THE ROAD: Pepperdine concluded the 2005-06 campaign with a 1-14 road record. Since the 1995-96 season, the Waves are 86-114 (.430), including a 26-26 mark (.500) in neutral court contests. Pepperdine is 1-3 on the road, including 1-1 in neutral court games, during the 2006-07 season.
ON THE WEB: For all of the latest news, results and schedule information concerning Pepperdine Athletics go to http://www.PepperdineSports.com.
