PEPPERDINE NOTEBOOK: PEPPERDINE NEEDS STRONG FINISH FOR TOP SEED.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer Now Pepperdine's attention turns to closing out the regular season without any missteps. The Waves host San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. tonight and Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. on Saturday, needing to win both to guarantee at least a tie for the West Coast Conference regular-season championship. Gonzaga, currently tied with the Waves (18-7, 11-1) for the top spot, plays at San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Saint Mary's Saint Mary's, island, Scilly Islands Saint Mary's, England: see Scilly Islands. this weekend. Should the Bulldogs (24-3, 11-1) and Waves both win out, a coin flip will determine who gets the No. 1 seed at the March 2-4 WCC WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → COE m (Conseil œcuménique des Églises) WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → Weltkirchenrat m tournament. San Francisco is tied with Santa Clara for third place, so there's incentive for the Dons to maintain their place in the standings and ensure the third seed in the tournament. Pepperdine beat the Dons both times they played. However, Waves coach Paul Westphal Not to be confused with Paul Westhead. Paul Westphal (born November 30 1950 in Torrance, California) is a retired American basketball player and coach in the NBA. A native of California, Westphal has had a storied career in the NBA, both as a player and as a head coach. was impressed with the way San Francisco played at home. ``A very tough place to play,'' Westphal said. Tough enough for the Dons to pull the upset against Gonzaga, Westphal can only hope. --The heart of the matter: Pepperdine struggled to beat Santa Clara and San Diego earlier this year. San Diego was especially tough, extending the Waves to double overtime in a memorable 96-91 Pepperdine victory. In the Santa Clara win, the Waves had to overcome a 12-point second-half deficit. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , Pepperdine isn't expecting either team to give them a free pass to the conference crown, especially with the WCC tournament coming up. The winner of the WCC tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament can mean: Men's Sports
``What I'm most concerned about is that they're two very good, very well-coached teams and how difficult it is to beat a team a second time,'' Westphal said. ``When you lose, it's just easier to make adjustments and identify problem areas and fix them. The winning team doesn't generally change anything the second time around.'' --Suitt success: Pepperdine center Cedric Suitt was selected to the 2002 WCC All-Academic basketball team, joining Waves' women's player Nadja Morgan. It's been a week of milestones for Suitt, who became the school's all- time leader in blocked shots with 157, surpassing the previous mark of 153 set by Geoff Lear. Suitt, who has 71 blocks this year, needs 11 to break the single-season Pepperdine record set by Anthony Fredrick in 1984-85. Suitt set a single-game record with 10 blocks in the Waves' double- overtime win over San Diego this year. PEPPERDINE vs. SAN DIEGO Tipoff: 7:30 p.m., Firestone Fieldhouse Firestone Fieldhouse is a multipurpose arena located in Malibu, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It was built in 1973 as the home of the Pepperdine University Waves basketball and volleyball teams, who still play at the Fieldhouse today. . TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; 830-AM. Pepperdine (18-7, 11-1) update: The Waves need to win their final two games - tonight against San Diego and Saturday against Santa Clara - to insure no worse then a tie with Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference championship. Both teams are 11-1, and if they finish in a tie a coin flip will determine who enters next week's WCC Tournament as the top seed. The Bulldogs finish against San Francisco and Saint Mary's this weekend. Pepperdine beat San Diego 96-91 in overtime earlier this year in San Diego. San Diego (14-11, 6-6) update: San Diego is fourth in the WCC with two games remaining. Andre Laws is averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game. CAPTION(S): box Box: PEPPERDINE vs. SAN DIEGO (see text) |
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