Officials Wave Off Pepperdine Hopes

This was supposed to be Lorenzo Romar’s reluctant return to Pauley Pavilion.

Instead, it nearly became the initial defining moment of Jan van Breda Kolff’s tenure as Pepperdine coach.

Confounding UCLA with a mix of pressure defenses, the Waves withstood poor shooting and a significant height disadvantage before losing, 68-66, when a basket at the buzzer by guard Craig Lewis of the Waves was disallowed Tuesday night.

Romar was a UCLA assistant under Jim Harrick before taking over at Pepperdine in 1996, only months before Harrick was fired. Had he not already left for Malibu, Romar might have been in line for the Bruin job, which went to Steve Lavin.

UCLA was left off Pepperdine’s schedule for three years, giving Romar time to build the downtrodden Waves into a winner.

Romar felt good enough about this season’s roster to schedule UCLA, but he departed for Saint Louis, leaving van Breda Kolff to lead Pepperdine into Pauley Pavilion for the first time since 1992. And almost win here for the first time.

Van Breda Kolff, run out of his alma mater, Vanderbilt, after six seasons and happy to take an enormous pay cut for a killer view of the Pacific Ocean, has sparked the Waves to a strong start, although they are 0-3 against ranked opponents.

Pepperdine (8-4) led from midway through the first half until eight minutes remained in the game. The lead changed hands several times, the last on a spinning bank shot by Jerome Moiso with 43 seconds left that give UCLA a 67-66 lead.

Moiso’s free throw with 23 seconds left made the score 68-66. Pepperdine’s Brandon Armstrong missed a 35-foot three-point shot and the ball was knocked out of bounds under the basket by UCLA (7-2) with 2.1 seconds left.

David Lalazarian missed a long shot on the baseline and Lewis grabbed the rebound and put back a bank shot. Television replays seemed to indicate there was 0.1 seconds left when he released the ball.

Lalazarian angrily chased official Ruben Ramos off the floor, but in the locker room took a philosophical view.

“We had plenty of chances before that,” Lalazarian said. “We came in expecting to win. The little things got us.”

The ending spoiled a spirited if sloppy effort by Pepperdine, which shot only 35.9% but forced 15 turnovers, including seven steals.

“Pepperdine was sharper and crisper and executed better than us,” Lavin said. “Our team did a good job of finding a way to win, but basically, they had their way with us for the first 20 minutes.”