Pepperdine Can’t Miss for a Half and Wins at San Jose State, 65-46

Jelani Gardner scored 16 points as Pepperdine defeated San Jose State, 65-46, in a nonconference game Saturday night at San Jose.

Nick Sheppard added 10 for the Waves (9-6), who have won three of four games after losing five of six.

Ben Sanders scored 12 and Michael Quinney 10 to lead the Spartans (7-6), who have lost their last two after winning five in a row.

Pepperdine set a school record for a half by shooting 80% (16 of 20) in the first half. The Waves shot 79% (19 of 24) against Cal State Fullerton in December 1985.

While the Waves held the hot hand from the field, San Jose State converted only one of its first 10 shots, and was seven of 25 (28%) for the half.

At one point in the first half, the Spartans went nearly six minutes without scoring, falling behind by 10 points in the first seven minutes.

Pepperdine led by as many as 21 points en route to a 38-19 halftime advantage.

The Spartans couldn’t put a dent in Pepperdine’s big halftime lead. The closest they could come was 14 points early in the second half.

The Waves held a 25-point lead before subbing liberally with five minutes remaining.

Long Beach State 75, Idaho 68--Ramel “Rock” Lloyd proved to be more than solid with a game-high 32 points to lead the 49ers to a Big West Conference victory in front of 1,706 at Moscow, Idaho.

The transfer from Syracuse made 10 of 18 shots and 10 of 11 free throws.

Long Beach State (4-6 overall, 1-0 in conference), which led by as many as 17 points in the second half, saw its lead cut to 71-68 with 2:08 remaining. But the Vandals’ Avery Curry missed a three-point shot and a reverse lay-in over the next 1:30. Lloyd and Mate Milisa each made two free throws in the last 26 seconds to secure the 49ers’ victory.

Devon Ford came off the bench to lead Idaho (4-6, 0-1) with 19 points. Ford also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Idaho shot 36% from the field and Long Beach shot 54%.

The victory ended the 49ers’ three-game losing streak. The Vandals have lost four in a row.