On January 2 at BYU, Pepperdine was highly competitive through the first half before giving up a 26-3 run that buried them midway through the second.
Before 4,000 rabid fans at the Kennel, the run came midway through the first, but the result was the same.
Pepperdine trailed 21-13 when reserve Robert Turner seemed to ignite the team with two thunderous dunks in as many seconds. After the first, Jimmy Miggins stole the inbounds pass and gave it right back to Turner for the second. Suddenly trailing by just four and seemingly with the momentum, Pepperdine seemed poised to strike.
But it was Gonzaga that responded with a run.
The rest of the first half saw Gonzaga outscore the Waves 29-11, effectively forcing the Pepperdine coaching staff to spend the second half clearing the bench and getting its younger players some experience.
The Bulldogs, who make a habit of torching the nets against the Waves, shot 62% in the first half and 55% overall. Their balanced attack was led by Cory Violette's 17 points and 10 rebounds. Blake Stepp added 16 points and 10 assists, and Richard Fox, Ronny Turiaf, and Tony Skinner all joined them with double figure scoring.
For the Waves, Jimmy Miggins registered a game-high 18 points. Boomer Brazzle's 14 and Alex Acker's 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists were other silver linings for the Waves.
The Zags were able to use their considerable edge in size. Their big men got their points, but more importantly, the Waves were forced to play trick defenses. Coach Paul Westphal implemented a tight zone defense to make up the size difference, and overplayed passing lanes to force turnovers. While the Waves did get eleven steals, the defensive alignment led to some easy perimter shots for Gonzaga, and as usual, the Bulldogs delivered.
However, history suggests that the Waves (9-6, 1-1 West Coast Conference) have the WCC exactly where they want it.
In 2001, the Waves suffered an early 93-79 setback to the Zags, and won eight of their next ten.
In 2000, they lost 62-57 and won eight of their next nine.
In 1999, they were blown away, 83-52, then won six straight.
This year's Waves will have to shake this one off quickly, as they come home to face Santa Clara, which has the conference's best record at 10-4, and San Diego, which figures to give them similar problems to the Zags, as they feature two very talented and imposing big men in Jason Keep and Jason Blair.