Ross, Edwards lead Pepperdine over San Diego, 76-71
AP
Jan 12, 2019
San Diego Toreros (AP) The Pepperdine Waves were coming off three-point losses in their previous two games and coach Lorenzo Romar had an uneasy feeling against San Diego.
''Well, here we go again fellas,'' he remembers telling his team. ''Let's finish this one.''
The Waves did just that, giving Romar his 400th career coaching victory.
Sophomore guard Colbey Ross scored a career-high 27 points and Kameron Edwards added a season-high 23 for the Waves, who dominated the last four minutes to hand the Toreros their first home loss this season, 76-71 Saturday.
The Waves were coming off three-point losses at home against San Francisco and at Santa Clara, games in which they had the lead.
''We had been in those,'' said Romar, who's in the first year of his second stint with Pepperdine. ''As I joked in the game with our guys, we've had a lot of practice in these. We've just got to finally figure out the last part, to win it, and the guys did that tonight.''
Romar improved to 400-293 in 21 seasons as head coach at Pepperdine, Saint Louis and Washington.
San Diego, which played the last 10 minutes without its second-leading scorer, guard Olin Carter III, had a 61-58 lead when Andrew Ferguson was whistled for a flagrant 1 foul against Edwards. Edwards made both free throws and then was fouled during the ensuing possession and made one of two free throws to tie it at 61.
Tyler Williams made two free throws for the Toreros' last lead before Ross made two free throws and then hit a pretty floater in the lane to give Pepperdine a 65-63 lead with 2:39 to go.
Edwards' brother, Kessler, made a dagger 3-point shot with 1:54 left for a five-point lead and the Toreros couldn't recover.
Kessler Edwards scored 13 points for the Waves (9-9, 2-2 West Coast), who outscored USD 18-10 in the final four minutes.
Ross' previous career high was 25, done several times.
Isaiah Pineiro scored 19, Carter 12, Williams 11 and Finn Sullivan 10 for USD (12-6, 1-2).
Carter suffered an abdominal injury with 10:27 left and the Toreros trailing 47-44. He didn't return. The Toreros were already without guard Isaiah Wright, who has a hairline fracture in his right wrist.
''At times they were having their way with us for a while there when they made their comeback and took the lead,'' Romar said. ''Without him in the game, they're just not used to playing without him. That helped out. But at the same time i thought our guys were resilient. Even though the assists don't reflect it, I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball, making plays. Our guys stepped up and made plays.''
USD fell to 9-1 at home this season under first-year coach Sam Scholl.
''We're not making excuses,'' Scholl said. ''You've got to win. If you're going to be a good team, you've got to be able to play through injury, succeed through injury. ... We had opportunities.''
Pepperdine scored the last seven points of the first half, including Kessler Edwards' 3-pointer, to take a 30-26 lead.
BIG PICTURE
Pepperdine: The Waves came in with six players averaging double digits in scoring.
San Diego: The Toreros played their fourth game without Wright, who was hurt Dec. 23 against Drake. USD had a week off since its last game, a 73-64 win against Pacific.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine hosts BYU on Thursday night.
San Diego is at Portland on Thursday night.
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1st Half
PEP
Waves
23
USD
Toreros
24
Time
Team
Play
Score
0.0
End of period
20:00
Jumpball received by San Diego
17:47
Personal foul on Eric Cooper Jr.
15:28
+2
Colbey Ross made layup
9-8
14:51
Out of bounds turnover on San Diego
14:39
+2
Kameron Edwards made layup
13-8
14:15
Personal foul on Darryl Polk Jr.
13:14
Personal foul on Darnell Dunn
12:14
Offensive foul on Andrew Ferguson
10:16
Offensive foul on Jade Smith
10:18
Commercial timeout called
8:17
Offensive foul on Darnell Dunn
7:50
Personal foul on Andrew Ferguson
7:40
+2
Kameron Edwards made layup, assist by Colbey Ross
19-20
7:15
Offensive rebound by Yauhen Massalski
7:09
Personal foul on Eric Cooper Jr.
5:47
Personal foul on Olin Carter III
5:30
Shooting foul on Yauhen Massalski
3:03
Isaiah Pineiro missed layup
2:53
Offensive foul on Kameron Edwards
1:23
Personal foul on Joey Calcaterra
58.0
Personal foul on Colbey Ross
2nd Half
PEP
Waves
37
USD
Toreros
36
Time
Team
Play
Score
18:20
Personal foul on Jade Smith
17:04
Shooting foul on Olin Carter III
16:48
Shooting foul on Colbey Ross
16:28
Personal foul on Andrew Ferguson
16:09
Personal foul on Eric Cooper Jr.
15:36
+2
Kessler Edwards made layup, assist by Kameron Edwards
40-32
15:17
Personal foul on Kameron Edwards
14:21
+2
Olin Carter III made jump shot, assist by Joey Calcaterra
40-36
13:00
Personal foul on Darnell Dunn
13:00
Offensive foul on Isaiah Pineiro
12:39
Personal foul on Isaiah Pineiro
12:34
Shooting foul on Yauhen Massalski
11:01
Commercial timeout called
10:25
Personal foul on Tyler Williams
8:45
Shooting foul on Isaiah Pineiro
8:10
Shooting foul on Jade Smith
7:11
Personal foul on Kessler Edwards
7:11
+1
Isaiah Pineiro made 1st of 2 free throws
51-54
6:27
Personal foul on Darnell Dunn
6:13
+1
Kameron Edwards made 2nd of 2 free throws
55-56
6:13
Colbey Ross missed layup
6:11
Defensive rebound by Joey Calcaterra
5:56
Traveling violation turnover on Yauhen Massalski
5:45
Shooting foul on Yauhen Massalski
5:45
+1
Kameron Edwards made 1st of 2 free throws
56-56
5:45
Kameron Edwards missed 2nd of 2 free throws
5:45
Defensive rebound by Isaiah Pineiro
5:14
Joey Calcaterra missed layup, blocked by Kameron Edwards
5:12
Offensive rebound by San Diego
5:08
Isaiah Pineiro missed 3-pt. jump shot
5:06
Defensive rebound by Eric Cooper Jr.
5:01
Lost ball turnover on Kameron Edwards, stolen by Tyler Williams
4:57
Out of bounds turnover on Tyler Williams
4:57
Eric Cooper Jr. missed 3-pt. jump shot
4:55
Offensive rebound by Jade Smith
4:45
+2
Kameron Edwards made layup
58-56
4:45
Shooting foul on Tyler Williams
4:45
+1
Kameron Edwards made free throw
59-56
4:32
+2
Isaiah Pineiro made layup, assist by Tyler Williams