LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A third game in three nights, a short bench, foul trouble – none of it mattered as the eighth-seeded Pepperdine men's basketball team pulled off another incredible outing at the West Coast Conference Championships, routing fourth-seeded San Francisco 89-72 in the quarterfinals on Saturday night behind
Colbey Ross' 26 points.
After a pair of double-digit second-half comebacks on Thursday and Friday, the Waves (16-17) didn't need one tonight after sinking 14 three-pointers and amassing their highest point total against a WCC team this year.
The Waves' reward: a spot in Monday's semifinals against top-seeded and #1-ranked Gonzaga.
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had his 17th game this season scoring 20 or more points. He made four three-pointers and was 8-for-9 from the foul line. He also had nine assists and five rebounds. He's averaging 20.0 points in the three WCC Championships games.
- Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored 14 points and had seven rebounds.
- Senior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) scored 13 points, made three three-pointers, pulled down five rebounds and had two steals in a season-high 39 minutes. He didn't come off the floor in the second half.
- Senior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Kinston HS/Miami Dade JC) had his best game of the tournament with 12 points and seven rebounds.
- Freshman guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) was in double-figures for the second time in three nights with 11 points.
- Junior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) gritted out 11 first-half minutes on his foot injury and scored eight points, though he did not play in the second half.
KEY STATS
- Pepperdine outshot the Dons 49.1% to 42.9%. In the second half, it was 56.0% to 40.0%.
- The Waves went 9-for-16 from three in the first half and finished at 14-for-28. Six different Waves hit a three and five of them hit multiple threes. USF was 1-for-6 in the first half and finished at 6-for-23.
- Pepperdine helped itself at the foul line by going 19-for-25 compared to USF's 12-for-21.
- The Waves forced 15 turnovers and enjoyed a 16-4 edge in points off turnovers.
- San Francisco had just two players in double-figures and was led by Charles Minlend's 17 points.
PLAY BY PLAY
The Waves hit their first four three-pointers in the first four minutes to break out to an early lead. A 12-3 run that included another four three-pointers took the game from a 21-16 deficit to a 28-24 lead.
An 11-2 run capped off by a
Kameron Edwards three-pointer gave the Waves their largest lead at 39-28 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the half. Pepperdine went into the break with a 42-34 lead.
Kameron Edwards didn't return after halftime, and then sophomore guard
Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) picked up his second, third and fourth fouls within the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half.
That helped the Dons go on an 8-0 run, pulling within two points at 49-47 with 13 1/2 minutes to play. But
Kessler Edwards hit a three, and then freshman center
Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) and Edwards dunked on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back up to nine at 56-47.
Three-pointers by Ross and Dunn made it 64-50 with under nine minutes to play, and the Waves were never challenged the rest of the way, while growing the lead to as many as 23 points at 85-62 with under three minutes to go.
Smith eventually fouled out, while Ross, Dunn and Ohia Obioha all finished with four fouls.
NOTABLES
- Pepperdine will be playing in its third WCC semifinal in the last five years, and for the 16th time in tournament history.
- This is the third time in two years that the Waves have beaten a team in the WCC Tournament after being swept in the regular-season series (Santa Clara 2018; Pacific and USF 2019).
- Pepperdine improved to 8-1 all-time against San Francisco at the WCC Tournament.
- This is the fourth time Pepperdine has won three games at a single WCC Championships (the Waves were champions at the other three in 1991, 1992 and 1994).
- Fourteen three-pointers was one shy of Pepperdine's season best. The Waves lead the conference in three-pointers per game.
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Lorenzo Romar said: "For three days, we've really come together and stayed together. That's made a big difference in the way we've been able to perform. The team believes in each other at this time of year. You can see what's going on. We still have a long way to go in this tournament. We have a big-time opponent, as we know, the best in the country, up next. But togetherness, it breeds resiliency and courage and that's what our guys have had. Jade' was in foul trouble, Kameron went down, we're without
Andre Ball, but guys didn't lose belief, and that's why we're sitting here with a victory."
UP NEXT
Monday's game against Gonzaga tips at 6 p.m. and it will be televised by ESPN. There will also be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.
