Jan. 11, 2002
Box Score
Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's men's basketball team (5-9/0-1 WCC) dropped its opening game of the West Coast Conference season, 67-51, to Pepperdine (8-6/1-0 WCC) on Friday night. Chase Poole led all scorers with 12 points while Pepperdine's Jimmy Miggins had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Poole was the only Gael to reach double figures and he led the team with eight rebounds, seven on the offensive glass. Adam Caporn had eight points, on 3-of-8 shooting, four steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Five players scored in double figures for the Waves. Miggins and Terrance Johnson led the way with 11 points. Boomer Brazzle, Devin Montgomery and Craig Lewis had 10 points each.
Pepperdine jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never lost hold of the game. Saint Mary's would cut the Waves lead to one-point, twice in the first half at 5-4 and 7-6, before Pepperdine opened the lead to 25-15 at the 4:39 mark of the first half. SMC cut the lead to 25-21 with 3:19 remaining in the half. A nine-point lead for Pepperdine turned into a 30-23 lead at the intermission when Bill Enea hit two free throws with no time left on the clock.
Two free throws by Johnson and a basket by Miggins opened the second half and gave the Waves an 11-point lead. Saint Mary's used a 13-6 run to cut the lead to four points with 11:44 left to play, but that would be as close as the Gaels would get. Saint Mary's trailed 53-47 with 5:39 remaining, but an 18-4 run to close the game by the Waves gave Pepperdine a 16-point victory in the conference opener.
Saint Mary's shot 16-62 (.258) from the floor while Pepperdine connected on 21-of-46 (.457) shots. Both teams grabbed 40 rebounds in the game. Saint Mary's committed 15 turnovers while Pepperdine had 20. The Gaels had 12 steals and Pepperdine had eight blocked shots.
Saint Mary's returns to West Coast Conference action with it host Loyola Marymount on Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. LMU also suffered an opening night loss to San Francisco, 75-66.
