SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Darby had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Pepperdine opened the second half on a 14-2 run en route to a 63-57 victory over Santa Clara on Thursday night.
Caleb Willis added 15 points for the Waves (10-18, 4-12 West Coast), who closed out their regular season and will go into the conference tournament as either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed, depending on the outcome of Portland’s game against BYU on Saturday. A Portland loss vaults Pepperdine to No. 7 and a game against No. 6 seed San Diego. A Portland victory keeps the Waves at No. 8, where they would play Santa Clara again in an opening-round game.
Santa Clara (8-20, 0-15) has one regular-season game remaining Saturday at Loyola Marymount but is locked in as the No. 9 seed.
Raymond Cowels III led the Broncos with 15 points. Evan Roquemore added 12 points and five assists, and Niyi Harrison had 11 points and nine rebounds.
