GU powers past Waves

MALIBU, Calif. – On a Thursday evening when 18 NBA scouts requested credentials to the game, a whole bunch of Gonzaga Bulldogs made rather loud statements that they all, perhaps, deserve a chance to take their games to the next level.

Five players, led by Ronny Turiaf’s 20 points, scored in double figures and both Turiaf and Erroll Knight posted double-doubles as the Zags held off West Coast Conference rival Pepperdine 82-75 in front of an overflow crowd of 3,255 at Firestone Fieldhouse and a national ESPN2 television audience.

Along with Turiaf’s big effort, which included 12 rebounds, GU (18-4 overall, 9-2 in the WCC) got 19 points from Adam Morrison, 17 from Derek Raivio, 14 from Knight – who also had 11 boards – and 10 from J.P. Batista.

The win was the eighth straight for the Zags in the series and moved them into sole possession of the WCC lead, a half-game ahead of idle Saint Mary’s.

Pepperdine (13-12, 3-7) got a game-high 24 points from Yakhouba Diawara and made several late charges, but couldn’t match the Bulldogs’ remarkable scoring balance.

Gonzaga seemed to have the game won after Erroll Knight dunked off an alley-oop pass from Morrison and Turiaf made the second of two free throws to put the Bulldogs up 63-53. But Peppedine came back quickly, and in a big way, as Glen McGowan, who finished with 22 points, hit a pair of 3-pointers and Alex Acker added another as part of an 11-2 run that pulled the Waves to within 65-64 with 5:10 remaining.

The run ended, however, when Raivio – who had a made a huge 3-pointer from the top of the key a couple of minutes earlier – drained another trey. And the Bulldogs answered every other run the Waves made down the stretch.

Pepperdine, playing without third-string center Russell Hicks, who missed the game because of a death in the family, had little in the way of answers for the Zags inside – especially with starter Jesse Pinegar and his backup, Derick Grubb already sidelined by injuries.

The Waves’ McGowan, a 6-9 senior forward who missed practice on Wednesday because of the flu, had his moments to go along with those of Diawara. But in the end, they could not match the muscle of GU, which won the rebounding battle 47-22.

Gonzaga built a 41-38 halftime lead behind the aggressive play of Turiaf, who finished the period with 10 points, three blocked shots and nine rebounds – two more than Pepperdine could chase down as a team. The Waves did a remarkable job of staying close, considering they were outrebounded 25-7. In addition, GU shot 53.1 percent (17 of 32) from the field and made three of six 3-point tries.

It was Acker who did most of the heavy lifting for Pepperdine in those opening 20 minutes, scoring 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting. It helped, too, that the Waves were able to visibly rattle the Bulldogs with their full-court defensive pressure and force nine GU turnovers.

The Zags opened with a flurry, knocking down their first five shots and led 26-19 just over 10 minutes into the game. But Acker scored 12 points in the final 9:48 of the half to help prevent the Bulldogs from getting away.

Diawara had eight first-half points for Pepperdine, and McGowan added seven – five of which came from the foul line. The Zags’ other top scorers in the first half were Morrison with nine and Batista with eight.

GU’s dominance on the boards resulted in nine second-chance points to just one for the Waves. The Bulldogs also outscored Pepperdine 16-12 in the paint, but gave up 11 fast-break points – most of which came on easy run-out baskets following GU turnovers.