Pepperdine Continues to Roll, Defeats San Diego 59-47

Fresh off their huge upset win of BYU on the road, the Pepperdine Waves completed their first WCC road trip sweep since 2002 taking down the San Diego Toreros 59-47 on Saturday in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Like in their win over the Cougars, the Waves jumped ahead early and used lockdown defense to shut down the Toreros for their third straight victory.

Dec 13, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Pepperdine Waves forward Stacy Davis (5) drives to the basket against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Wells-Fargo Arena. Sun Devils defeated the Waves 81-74 Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

Stacy Davis came off the bench for the second straight game and had a game-high 18 points. Freshman A.J. John continues to develop into yet another quality piece of the rotation for the Waves as he had 8 points and a game-high 9 rebounds. The Waves were dominant on the glass with a 44-31 advantage in rebounds with 36 of their rebounds coming on the defensive end.

No player reached double figures for the Toreros as they struggled mightily against the strong defense of the Waves. The Waves entered with one of the best defenses in the WCC including being first in the nation in three point defense. It showed as the Toreros shot just 29.7% from field goal range and 25% from three point range. This comes one game after the Waves shut down the Cougars and their offense that is first in the nation in points per game.

The Toreros continue to struggle to find consistent output from anyone, even their core players like Johnny Dee and Chris Anderson. One encouraging sign from this game however was the play of their freshmen. San Diego entered the season with four freshmen expected to contribute right away, but none of them have done much of note. In this game three of their top scorers were from that freshman group highlighted by Marcus Harris who tied Dee and Anderson with a team-high 9 points. To have a chance to compete, the Toreros need more help from their supporting cast which will have to include at least 1-2 of the freshmen.

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Pepperdine improves to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in conference play with the win. They have won three in a row since losing to Saint Mary’s on New Year’s Day. They now return home to host two games next week including what could be a huge game against Gonzaga on Thursday.

The Toreros drop to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in conference play with the loss. They have lost three games at home, all of them during WCC play. They will head on the road this week with games at Saint Mary’s and Pacific.

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