The West Coast Conference tournament got off to a stunning start on Thursday afternoon, when the No. 9 seed Pacific Tigers were blown out in the first half by the No. 8 Pepperdine Waves 56–9.
Absolutely nothing was falling for Pacific, who shot an abysmal 3-for-28 from the field and 1-for-13 from three-point range in the first half. The team had 10 turnovers and did not have a single player with multiple made baskets across the first 20 minutes of play.
Pepperdine, which at one point held a 39–2 lead, was on fire offensively. The team connected on 22-of-32 (68.8%) field goal attempts, including five threes on nine attempts.
College basketball fans were awestruck by the lopsided conference tournament matchup, with the Waves’ early stranglehold of the game generating plenty of reactions on social media.
What a start to the West Coast Conference Tournament 😮 pic.twitter.com/YG1xUdB24N
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 7, 2024
Want to know how crazy this college basketball season has been? Pacific owns a road win over California and just weeks ago, had a halftime lead against Gonzaga. Against a Pepperdine team that canned their coach less than 48 hours ago, they trail 39-2. That’s not a typo, 39-2!! pic.twitter.com/l052CGRGNg
— Greg Peterson (@GUnit_81) March 7, 2024
Pictured on the left is Pepperdine’s campus.
On the right is a picture of Pepperdine’s basketball team when it’s time to play Pacific.
The lead is 49-7. pic.twitter.com/XZhRq2BkID
— T3 Bracketology™️🏀 (@T3Bracketology) March 7, 2024
13 minutes into the game and Pepperdine’s entire starting lineup has individually outscored Pacific pic.twitter.com/ZhSU2DELCH
— Austin Mitchell (@Austin_Cree) March 7, 2024
Wait…Pepperdine’s up 39-2 on Pacific in the 1st haff? 39 to TWO?
— Mychal Thompson (@champagnennuts) March 7, 2024
Pepperdine 39, Pacific 2.
This is not a typo.
— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) March 7, 2024
cannot take my eyes off Pacific-Pepperdine, this is the good stuff
— Connor Pelton (@ConnorPelton28) March 7, 2024