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Three weeks ago, when hope for a shot at the regular season conference title vanished quicker than you could say Gonzaga Bulldog 16-game winning streak, Pepperdine put its sights on a second-place finish, a distinction that would qualify it for a free-pass into the WCC’s tournament’s semifinals — right along with the squad from Spokane.
Now, after fighting through a season tarred by injuries, sickness and poor NCAA rule making (see Yakhouba Diawara), the Waves will get a chance to earn the No. 2 seed outright on the court when they travel to St. Mary’s Saturday afternoon for their final game of the regular season.
Though Pepperdine must first play San Francisco, a team it lost to at home earlier in the season, the outcome of that game is basically irrelevant if the Waves can get a win against the Gaels.
“If we want to be second we have to beat St. Mary’s,” Head Coach Paul Westphal said. “Even if we lose to San Francisco, because we’d be tied with St. Mary’s at worst, and we beat them twice, we would get the higher seed.”
But if Pepperdine beats San Francisco and loses to St. Mary’s, who plays LMU Thursday night, the tiebreaker in that case would go the Gaels.
“The good news is we are at least guaranteed a top four finish, which gives us at least one bye,” Westphal said.
Nearly a month ago the Waves won a shootout at home against the Gaels 86-82, despite allowing St. Mary’s to shoot 64.3 percent from the field. It would have be a sure loss for Pepperdine if Diawara hadn’t come through with 30 points (8-of-16 from the floor), and made 14 of his 15 free throw attempts.
“They’re real good, and they’re especially good at home,” Westphal said of St. Mary’s. “When they played down here they were incredibly hot but we found a way to win anyways.”
Pepperdine hopes shots keep falling for guard Terrance Johnson, whose performance will be critical against St. Mary’s.
“We’ve known all season long that getting that second seed is big, especially after we realized we weren’t going to get the first seed,” Johnson said. “The first and second are basically the same so that was our goal, make sure we finish our conference in second no matter what.”
After getting handled by San Francisco at Firestone Fieldhouse 81-69 in what was arguably Pepperdine’s worst performance of the WCC season, the Waves will have to do much better if they want to ensure themselves a tie with St. Mary’s going into Saturday’s deciding game.
Submitted February 26, 2004
MALIBU, CA
