SportsLine.com Report
March 19, 2000

Sunday: Cowboys ride Waves out of draw

Indiana's Bobby Knight never figured it out Friday night. For 25 minutes, it looked like it was a mystery Eddie Sutton would never solve.

But, just when it looked like Pepperdine and its defensive potpourri would be too much for Oklahoma State, Eddie Sutton and the Cowboys adjusted. They found the spaces in the multiple zones, hit the tough shots the Waves were leaving them ... and ended Pepperdine's attempt to join West Coast Conference rival Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 with a 75-67 victory in the East Regional in Buffalo, N.Y.

The Cowboys held a 15-point lead with 3:27 to play before a late Pepperdine flurry closed the gap. The victory pushes the Cowboys into the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1995 team, led by Bryant "Big Country" Reeves, went all the way to the Final Four. It also breaks a string of two consecutive second-round exits.

Oklahoma State held a 42-40 lead with 15:39 to play before consecutive buckets by Pepperdine center Nick Sheppard gave the Waves the edge. From there, it was off to the races for OSU, as Joe Adkins and Fredrik Jonzen keyed a 21-6 run that put the Waves in a hole they could not climb out of.

Adkins, a senior shooting guard, scored seven of his 18 points in the run while Jonzen, a sophomore forward, accounted for six of his game-high 21 in the decisive stretch. Pepperdine was led by the 19 points of Brandon Armstrong and Sheppard's 13

How They Got There

After winning the West Coast Conference regular-season championship, the Waves advanced to the title game of the conference tournament for a third showdown with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs got the better of the rubber match, 69-65 in overtime, but Pepperdine's NCAA inclusion was not a difficult decision for the selection committee.

The Waves' 24-8 record included wins over Miami, Louisiana-Lafayette, Fresno State, a narrow loss to full-strength Auburn, and bad-call loss to UCLA.

Starting Lineup

• PG Tezale Archie (6-1, 170, Sr.): Pushes the ball up the floor well; his quickness gets the Waves started up the floor. He can also shoot from long range, hitting 43 percent from long range.
• SG Brandon Armstrong (6-4, 180, So.): The Waves' top scorer (14 points a game), he offers good size at the off guard spot, and his long arms work to his advantage on defense. His two steals a game ranked third in the WCC.
• C Nick Sheppard (6-11, 270, Sr.): Nothing fancy here, just a solid blue-collar approach. He averaged 8.7 ppg and 6.8 rpg while shooting a team-high 56.6 percent from the floor ... has fouled out six times, and shoots just 58 percent from the line.
• SF Kelvin Gibbs (6-6, 270, Jr.): A wide body who is a scrapper, Gibbs averaged 7.1 rebounds (third in the WCC). Active for a big man, especially on defense, he uses his low center of gravity to full advantage.
• PF Tommie Prince (6-5, 215, Sr.): Last year's WCC Defender of the Year, Prince improved his offensive production to average 9.8 points a game this season.

Keys to Success

The hiring of Jan van Breda Kolff might have been the biggest off-season acquisition that accelerated the Waves rise back to prominence in the WCC.

While going 19-13 a year ago in earning a NIT berth under coach Lorenzo Romar, the Waves lost seven games by less than 10 points, indicating they weren't far from turning the corner. Although the Waves lost leading scorer Jelani Gardner to graduation, his talents were often overshadowed by selfish play that affected team morale -- and results.

The Waves offense is created by their defense, but when opponents can break the extending Pepperdine pressure, the Waves often lose their offensive rhythm.

The Coach

Van Breda Kolff took basically the same team from a year ago and won five more games to lead the Waves to their first WCC regular-season crown since they won three straight under Tom Asbury from 1991 to 1993. In six years at Vanderbilt, van Breda Kolff took the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in 1997 and to the NIT in 1994, '96 and '98.

The Bench

The Waves used depth to their advantage, 10 players averaging 6 or more minutes a game. Sophomore Craig Lewis made a big jump this year, contributing in a variety of ways (7.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.7 assists and 0.9 steals, 33-percent from 3-point range). David Lalazarian give the front line some depth, and Cedric Suitt is a 6-10, 225-pounder who adds to the good mass inside, especially defensively.

Offense

The Waves' offense feeds off the defense, looking to push the ball. And they'll let it go from long range, setting a school record with 221 3-pointers this season. Balance is also a key, as the Waves' top seven scorers average from 7.3 to 14.1 points a game, with just one player (Brandon Armstrong) in double digits.

Armstrong came into his own after being forced to sit out last season as a non-qualifier. In addition to his defensive attributes, he averaged 14.1 points and hit 39.6 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Defense

Pepperdine's defense is a frenzied, high-pressure approach. The Waves force an average of 18.7 turnovers a game -- 9.3 via the straight steal. Tommie Prince was the WCC Defender of the Year in 1999, and is again the defensive mainstay in shutting down the opponents' big gun. The Waves relentless pressure routinely takes its toll on opponents late in games, but they'll be facing higher quality teams in the NCAAs.