Dec. 15, 2006
Malibu, Calif. -
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A LOOK AT THE WAVES: The Pepperdine men's basketball team concludes a three-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts Northern Arizona at Firestone Fieldhouse beginning at 7 p.m.
The Waves enter Saturday's contest in the midst of a three-game losing streak after falling 82-76 to Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday. Junior guard Kingsley Costain scored 19 points to lead Pepperdine.
MEDIA COVERAGE: The Pepperdine-Northern Arizona 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).
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD RECAP: Richard Andrews scored a game-high 21 points to lead a group of five players in double figures as Cal State Bakersfield posted an 82-76 victory over host Pepperdine Thursday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. Junior guard Kingsley Costain was the top scorer for the Waves with 19 points while senior guards Marvin Lea and Gregg Barlow scored 18 and 10 points, respectively. The Roadrunners, who trailed by six points with 10:50 remaining went on a 13-5 run over the next four minutes to take a 66-64 lead with 6:25 to play and would never trail again. Pepperdine was hurt on the boards as Cal State Bakersfield held a 44-29 rebounding advantage and had 20 offensive rebounds. After trailing 38-33 at halftime, the Waves opened the second half with a 13-6 run to take a 46-44 lead with 15:23 remaining on a layup by Costain. Pepperdine held the lead until Andrews made a pair of free throws to put the Roadrunners ahead by two and marked the 12th lead change of the game. A poor first half shooting the ball hurt Pepperdine as it shot just 36.4 percent (12 of 33) in the first half and fell behind by 10 points with 2:39 remaining in the half. The Waves shot 60.7 percent in the second half and finished the game at 47.5 percent while the Roadrunners connected on 46.8 percent of their field goal attempts.
ABOUT NORTHERN ARIZONA: Northern Arizona begins the week with a 5-4 overall record and has won two in a row, including a 106-72 victory over Haskell on Saturday. The Lumberjacks are averaging 79.6 points a game while allowing 79.0 points a contest. Northern Arizona has four players scoring in double figures and is led by senior Ruben Boykin, Jr., who tops the club with 14.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. Head coach Mark Adras is in his eighth season guiding the Lumberjacks and has posted an overall record to date of 116-98 (.542).
SERIES VERSUS NORTHERN ARIZONA: Saturday's game will mark the 14th meeting between Pepperdine and Northern Arizona and the Waves lead the all-time series, 10-3. The two programs last met during in 1988 and Pepperdine recorded a 91-61 victory in Malibu.
NEXT OPPONENT: Pepperdine will play its final game before Christmas on December 20 when it travels across the country to take on nationally-ranked Connecticut in Hartford, Conn. The Huskies begin the week ranked No. 8 nationally and will host Saint Mary's on Sunday, December 17, before welcoming the Waves to the Hartford Civic Center.
INJURY REPORT: Senior guard Jason Walberg is lost for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury during practice on November 24. Walberg played in five games and averaged 14.0 points and 2.4 rebounds a contest.
LEA POSTS CAREER NIGHT: Senior guard Marvin Lea turned in a career night Thursday against Long Beach State as he scored a career-high 34 points. The senior guard also contributed four rebounds, three assists and two steals in Pepperdine's 95-90 loss to the 49ers. Lea's 34-point output was the most by a Waves player since Tashaan Forehan-Kelly scored 35 against Loyola Marymount last January. It also marked the most points scored by West Coast Conference (WCC) player this season, eclipsing the previous mark of 32 scored by Loyola Marymount's Brandon Worthy against Pacific on November 24.
RAINING THREE'S: Pepperdine leads the West Coast Conference (WCC) in three-point field goal attempts (299) and three-point field goals made (110). San Francisco is second with 186 attempts while Gonzaga is second in made three-pointers wit 72. Pepperdine is already 14 made three-pointers shy of equaling last year's season total of 124. The Waves already have set new marks for three-point field goal attempts in a game. 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.
HENRY NEARING CAREER TOP 10 FOR BLOCKS: Junior center Jarrad Henry, who has totaled 19 blocked shots in his last six games, is nearing Pepperdine's Top 10 for career blocked shots. Through 11 games this year, Henry has recorded 28 blocked shots to bring his career total to 74. He is six blocked shots shy of tying Kelvin Gibbs (1997-2001) and Gavin Van Der Putten (1992-96) for 10th place all-time. Henry has averaged 1.2 blocked shots a game for his career and currently ties for seventh on the program's career blocked shots per game list.
CLOSE GAMES: In Pepperdine's nine losses, seven have been decided by nine points or less and four have been decided by five points or less. The Waves' average margin of defeat in their losses is 8.4 points a game and, excluding Northern Iowa (83-58) and Oklahoma State (90-74), Pepperdine has lost seven games by an average of 5.0 points a contest.
FORCING TURNOVERS: Pepperdine, which has forced a West Coast Conference (WCC)-high 231 turnovers, is forcing 21.0 turnovers a game to lead the WCC and has a league-best turnover margin of +4.3.
LEA RANKS SECOND IN WCC IN SCORING: Senior guard Marvin Lea ranks second in the West Coast Conference (WCC) in scoring as he is averaging 18.5 points a game. Lea, who has prospered in head coach Vance Walberg's system, entered his senior season with a career scoring average of 3.3 points a game.
WAVES VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS: Pepperdine finished 0-3 against ranked opponents during the 2005-06 season. The schedule includes four teams that are currently in the Top 25 nationally. Pepperdine, which is 0-2 against ranked opponents thus far, opened the year at No. 16 Washington and suffered a 99-91 loss in Seattle. The Waves fell 90-74 at Oklahoma State on December 2. The Cowboys entered this week's rankings at No. 17. Pepperdine will also play at No. 8 Connecticut (December 20) and a pair of contests against West Coast Conference (WCC) rival Gonzaga, which is No. 16.
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.
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 2-9 (.182) 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 1086-843 (.563). 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 499-379 (.568), 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 83-31 (.728) at home. Pepperdine's all-time homecourt record at Firestone Fieldhouse, dating back to the start of the 1973-74 campaign, currently stands at 321-120 (.728). Pepperdine concluded 2005-06 with a 6-6 home record. The Waves are 0-3 at home this season.
WAVES ON THE ROAD: Pepperdine concluded the 2005-06 campaign with a 1-14 road record. Since the 1995-96 season, the Waves are 87-116 (.428), including a 26-26 mark (.500) in neutral court contests. Pepperdine is 2-6 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.
