Pepperdine Has Found a Way to Gets Students Off the Beach

Rarely does Firestone Fieldhouse help Pepperdine overcome its reputation as a school of laid-back students more interested in catching a wave than a basketball game.

The on-campus gym is usually little more than half full. But that will change Saturday at 5 p.m. when the Waves host Gonzaga in a West Coast Conference men’s game.

First place is at stake and the student body apparently knows it. The game is already sold out.

It also will be televised live on Fox Sports West 2, giving Pepperdine fans a rare opportunity to display some passion in front of an audience beyond Malibu.

Pepperdine (17-6, 7-1 in conference play) is one game behind Gonzaga (18-5, 8-0) after losing to the Bulldogs, 62-57, on Feb. 3 at Gonzaga. The Waves blew a 15-point, second-half lead in front of 4,000 roaring fans at Martin Centre.

“Gonzaga definitely has the best home-court advantage in our conference,” Coach Jan van Breda Kolff of Pepperdine said.

The Waves appeared on their way to victory at Gonzaga until their shooting turned cold down the stretch.

“We played well the first 30 minutes, we controlled the tempo,” van Breda Kolff said.

“They made a couple of things happen to change the momentum and the crowd got involved. They got confidence, then we were playing catch-up. It was a game of runs and momentum, and those kind of games usually go to the home team.”

Pepperdine fans have an opportunity to turn the tables on the Bulldogs on Saturday night.

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This is only the fourth Pepperdine game televised this season. Nearly every game has been broadcast over the Internet, with Al Epstein calling the play-by-play.

Any previous broadcast of a Waves’ game, or for that matter the games of numerous colleges, can be replayed by logging onto broadcast.com.

Epstein called Pepperdine games on radio for many years, but when the cost of a radio contract was determined to be prohibitive by Pepperdine athletics officials, he was left with the Internet.

“We hope to be back on the radio next season, but broadcast.com is a great way to listen to a game,” Epstein said. “You can go to the archives on the site and retrieve any game.”

A user can fast-forward to any point in a game and hear Epstein’s description of a pivotal play. Spectators and players who attended a game can review it later.