Pepperdine University lost Thursday night’s college basketball game in gut-wrenching fashion. The Waves were so close to a monumental win for the program and completely squandered the opportunity.
As a result, their true road losing streak was extended to 26 games. They have not won a game on the road in 26-straight tries. It was so, so close.
Pepperdine traveled north to face UC Davis for a non-conference matchup between two California-based programs undefeated at 1-0 on the young season. Everything went right for the visitors during the first half.
The Waves took a 48-31 lead over the Aggies at halftime. And then the script flipped.
Everything went right for the home team during the second half. UC Davis fought back from 17 down to tie the game with less than 10 seconds remaining.
At that point, a single free throw gave the lead back to Pepperdine with 5.1 seconds left. Had the clock expired, the Waves would have won their first true road game since February 27, 2021.
That is not what happened. Aggies guard Ty Johnson took the ball up the court, drove the lane, and laid in a go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds remaining.
Pepperdine could not pull a miracle. UC Davis won the second half 48-30 and won the game 79-78.
Absolutely brutal.
Buzzer-beaters are awesome. Johnson finished as his team’s leading scorer with 28 points and was the hero in the closing seconds.
On the flip side, the Waves fell to 1-1. They will play their next three games at home before facing a strong UC Irvine team on the road in a game that they will likely lose. Their next opportunity to break the losing streak will come against New Mexico at the end of the month. That is unlikely.
As are their next three road college basketball games against Colorado, Louisville and Gonzaga.
If Pepperdine is going to break its true road losing streak, its best opportunity comes at San Diego in January. That would be nearly two years since its last win at an opponent’s home stadium.