Pepperdine Falls Just Short, 77-71

Missing its tallest player, Pepperdine knew it needed a big effort to stay with West Coast Conference co-leader Santa Clara.

The Waves were successful for 30 minutes at Santa Clara, but foul trouble and defensive breakdowns eventually took their toll as Santa Clara pulled away for a 77-71 victory Friday night before 3,195 at Toso Pavilion.

Ragged play resulted in the teams combining for 37 turnovers, 60 fouls and 78 free throws.

“It was like a night-league game with a bunch of old guys fouling,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said.

“We didn’t play very well. For 30 minutes, we competed. But we had far too many mental breakdowns defensively and at times our shot selection wasn’t very good.”

Pepperdine, 9-6 overall and 1-2 in the West Coast Conference, played without starting center omm’A Givens, who served the first of a two-game suspension after fighting with and injuring a teammate in practice Tuesday.

According to sources, Givens punched and broke the jaw of Aaron Butler.

Santa Clara (12-3, 3-0) took command after the 6-8 Hill was benched with 14:14 to play. The Broncos followed with a 17-4 run to take a 60-51 lead with eight minutes left.