PEPPERDINE ZIGS PAST 'ZAGS FOR UPSET PEPPERDINE 88, GONZAGA 79.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

MALIBU - The swagger is unmistakable now, a confidence strengthened by three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, the prestige of being the 13th-ranked team in the country and a winning streak that stretched nearly two months.

Gonzaga hasn't just arrived on the national scene, it's busted through the front door, plopped down on the sofa and kicked up it's feet on the coffee table.

And all that meant, well, absolutely nothing to Pepperdine on Friday. The Waves are working on a nice little strut themselves these days, or did you think those victories earlier this year over USC and UCLA didn't get tucked away for future reference?

Pepperdine used those confidence-building wins, not to mention a juiced up home crowd, a remarkable effort on the boards and terrific defensive intensity to upend the Bulldogs 88-79 at Firestone Fieldhouse in a key West Coast Conference game.

``Not a lot of teams want to give us credit, and they came in with a lot of publicity and confidence, but we know we can play too,'' said Pepperdine forward Jimmy Miggins, who finished with 12 points. ``We've played some good teams this year, beaten some teams a lot of people didn't think we could beat. But this shows we can play with anyone.''

The victory by the Waves (10-6, 3-0) pushes their season-long winning streak to five games and ends a 12-game winning streak by the Bulldogs (15-3, 2-1). Pepperdine did it by outrebounding bigger Gonzaga 47-33 and dominating them on the offensive glass 24-8. In doing so, the Waves offset a poor shooting night in which they shot just 40 percent from the field, connecting on 30 of 75 shots.

``We talked all week about rebounding, that's what the coaching staff kept stressing and that's what we wanted to do well tonight,'' said Glen McGowan, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. ``And that's exactly what we were able to do.''

Pepperdine got 15 points and 12 rebounds from Boomer Brazzle, a team-high 21 points from Terrance Johnson and 11 from Devin Montgomery.

Zach Gourde had 25 points for the Bulldogs and Cory Violette added 15. Point guard Dan Dickau had 15 points but wasn't effective until a late run at the end of the game.

``We played the type of game we're capable of playing, and our rebounding was the key,'' Cedric Suitt said. ``We knew we could play with this team, and now everyone else does, too. This was a big win for us.''

When the Waves encounter trouble this year, it usually starts with bad shooting and poor rebounding, two areas in which Gonzaga is extremely proficient. The Bulldogs are among the best rebounding teams in the country, beating opponents on the boards by an average of 11.1 per game, and they couple had that with 46-percent field-goal shooting.

``We were able to dominate them on the boards,'' Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal said. ``I give a lot of credit for that to our student body, they were terrific tonight and that got the guys extremely pumped up.''

The Waves pulled away midway through the second half, using a 10-3 run to go ahead 73-64 with four minutes left. Montgomery, Johnson and Miggins alternated hitting free throws over the final minutes to hold off any Gonzaga rally.

The Waves wasted a chance to hold onto a lead late in the first half, getting outscored 7-0 over the final two minutes to wind up trailing 36-34 at intermission.

Gonzaga's late run overshadowed Pepperdine's strong first-half effort, especially on the boards. The Waves outrebounded Gonzaga 27-19 and had 15 offensive boards compared to four for the Bulldogs. The rebounding absorbed a cold shooting half in which the Waves shot just 31 percent from the field (14 of 44), including a horrid 2 of 15 on 3-pointers.

Pepperdine got 10 points and six rebounds from Brazzle and eight points from Johnson by halftime. Gourde had 10 points and Violette added nine for Gonzaga.

TODAY PORTLAND at PEPPERDINE 7 p.m. TV/Radio: FSN2/830-AM

PEPPERDINE vs. PORTLAND

Tipoff: 7 p.m., at Firestone Fieldhouse.

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net 2; 830-AM.

Pepperdine (10-6, 3-0) update: The Waves beat Gonzaga 88-79 Friday to move into first place in the West Coast Conference. Terrance Johnson had 21 points and Boomer Brazzle added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Pepperdine is 5-0 since the return of power forward Glen McGowan from suspension.

Portland (4-13, 0-3) update: Portland, coached by former UCLA assistant Michael Holton, lost 85-77 at Loyola Marymount on Friday. Sophomore guard Casey Frandsen averages a team-high 18.9 points for the Pilots, who have lost nine in a row.

- Vincent Bonsignore

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Pepperdine's Boomer Brazzle drives past Gonzaga's Blake Stepp during the Waves' upset of the No. 13 Bulldogs on Friday.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box:

PEPPERDINE vs. PORTLAND (see text)