Pepperdine loses two players

Pepperdine men’s basketball players Mike Gerrity and Chris Oakes have left the team and are pursuing other playing opportunities, according to a statement released by first-year Coach Vance Walberg.

“We wish Michael and Chris well as they look to find a system they are more comfortable playing in,” Walberg said in the statement.

Gerrity, a 6-foot sophomore guard from Santa Ana Mater Dei High, was selected to the West Coast Conference all-freshman team last season after averaging 14.1 points, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals a game. He had not played this season because of a foot injury.

Oakes, a 6-9 sophomore forward from Oakland Castlemont, has started all six games this season for the Waves, averaging 5.7 points and 2.8 rebounds.

Neither the players nor Walberg could be reached for comment, but a school spokesman said the players -- both recruited to Pepperdine by former coach Paul Westphal -- were unhappy with the up-tempo, high-pressure attacking system used by Walberg and the 1-5 start it had produced.

Transfers must sit out one year before playing again, so by leaving the team now, Gerrity and Oakes could become eligible to play at their new schools in the second semester of next season.

-- Peter Yoon

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USC sophomore guard Sead Odzic, who was being redshirted this season because of a lack of available playing time, plans to transfer at the semester break, Coach Tim Floyd said.

Odzic, who averaged 3.2 points and 15 minutes while appearing in all 30 games as a freshman, told Floyd he was targeting schools within several hours of his home in Skokie, Ill., possibly including those in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“He just worried about the quality of player that’s coming in and just wants to be a guy that’s playing 35, 38 minutes his junior and senior year,” Floyd said. “I hate it because I think he’s going to be a good player.”

-- Ben Bolch

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Loyola Marymount 58, UC Santa Barbara 55 -- Jon Ziri scored a career-high 17 points, which included a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:54 left at Santa Barbara.

Matthew Knight scored all 14 of his points in the second half as the Lions (6-2) came back from an 11-point deficit.

Alex Harris led UCSB (4-2) with 25 points.