Three days ago, this Saturday’s opponent for the Utah men’s basketball team appeared to be a relief.
The Pepperdine Waves were 1-1, coming off a 75-58 win over Cal-State Fullerton and a 96-93 double overtime loss to UC-Irvine. Utah had beaten the Waves last year 69-56 in Malibu, Calif., and only two seniors returned from the 22 9 team that took second place in the West Coast Conference and advanced to the second round of the National Invitational Tournament.
Then came Nov. 28.
Pepperdine was slated to invade UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion and attempt to upset the No. 10-ranked Bruins, a team it had not beaten in 46 years. Fat chance, right?
Pepperdine was successful.
Trailing 36-33 at half, the Waves used a 17-6 run to take a 61-54 lead with 10:57 remaining. In the stretch, forward Jimmy Miggins scored 8 of his team-high 20 points. UCLA countered with its own 17-6 run and led by 2 with 6:16 left in the game.
However, Pepperdine went on a 17-8 run to end the game and won 85-78. Miggins, a junior transfer from Los Angeles City CC who averages a double-double, also grabbed 11 rebounds in the win. Senior guard Craig Lewis is averaging 15.3 points a game, and true freshman Terrance Johnson scores 14.0 per game.
The Waves will enter the Huntsman Center Saturday beaming with confidence after such a morale-boosting win. “This is a big win for our program,” said first-year coach Paul Westphal, who joins the Waves after his release from the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics (prior to coaching the Sonics, Westphal was at the helm when the Phoenix Suns made the NBA Finals in 1993. He also coached the Suns to the NBA’s Pacific Division title in 1993 and 1995.) “We are going to enjoy the victory [over UCLA],” he said.
Meanwhile, the Utes are coming off two straight losses, the latest a turnover infested 76-61 loss to No. 22 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Utes trailed 20-5 with 12:26 left in the first half. The Utah offense was incredibly sloppy, turning the ball over 21 times in the game, including 10 times in the first 10 minutes.
Defensively, Majerus’ bunch forced 16 Crimson Tide turnovers, but ‘Bama’s 63.2 percent shooting in the second half propelled it to the 15 point win.
The 3-point shot, which is so critical to Utah’s offense, was not falling. The Utes hit 6-21 shots from beyond the arc, a pace of 28.6 percent. Nick Jacobson and Britton Johnsen, two of the top three leading scorers through the first three games, combined to shoot 6-20.
Utah will have to clean up its offensive game, both in shooting and in ball care, to get past Pepperdine.
One familiar name on the Pepperdine roster is former Utah guard Gary Colbert. Colbert played for the Utes as a sophomore in the 1999-2000 season before transferring to southern Utah JC Dixie State College. As a Ute, Colbert started 16 of the 29 games he played in, placing second on the team in assists while scoring 3.6 points a game. Colbert started the first two games for Pepperdine, but did not play versus UCLA. He averages 6.5 points, 3 assists and 18.5 minutes a game.