NCAA Basketball: Best games from 2019-20 season – Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary’s

An unexpected battle between Pepperdine and Saint Mary’s became a postseason gem; let’s remember how it all went down.

The national pandemic caused the college basketball season to come to a stop, but it wasn’t before a few postseason tournaments had already taken place. While a grand majority of postseason play had yet to really begin, those few conferences that did play had some games that really delivered. On our top 40 games of the 2019-20 season, we look closely at one of the most exciting postseason games of the year in an unexpected place.

13. Saint Mary’s 89, Pepperdine 82 (WCC Tournament Quarterfinal)

March 7, 2020, Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV

We didn’t get a ton of postseason action this year. Just about a dozen conference tournaments had concluded by the time the season was brought to a halt, and we were still a few days short of an NCAA Tournament bracket. Fortunately, there were some incredible games in the tournaments that did conclude, with one of the wilder games coming out of the WCC; but this didn’t involve Gonzaga.

Pepperdine entered the season knowing full well that an NCAA Tournament bid was quite the uphill battle. They still had the talents of Colbey Ross and both Kameron and Kessler Edwards, but with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, among others, looming ahead of them in the standings. The Waves played .500 ball across the season and earned the 6-seed in the WCC Tournament. They had just knocked off Santa Clara the night before.

Saint Mary’s had been ranked at the start of the season but had hit a few speedbumps along the way. They entered play at 24-7 and looking like an NCAA Tournament team, though they had failed to beat Gonzaga in a pair of chances that season. Still, with wins over Wisconsin, Utah State, and BYU, this Saint Mary’s team was no slouch, with the recent play of Jordan Ford plenty evident of that.

Clearly, Pepperdine needed this win a lot more than the Gaels, even if an upset to Pepperdine would hurt Saint Mary’s chances, and they came to play early. Ross scored 7 points on the Waves’ first 3 possessions as they jumped to the early advantage. The Waves took an early 7-point advantage, but it was completely erased just two minutes later, in part on an and-1 from Ford.

Kessler Edwards hit a pair of 3-pointers, but Saint Mary’s offense came to play as well, taking a 4-point lead soon after. The Waves hit a long offensive drought, seeing the Gaels grab a 29-21 advantage with a few minutes left in the half. Ross hit a big 3-pointer to stop the bleeding, but Ford replied with one of his own. Leading by double digits for part of that first half, Saint Mary’s headed to the half up 40-31.

An early 3-pointer from Tommy Kuhse gave Saint Mary’s a 13-point lead and it looked like the Gaels were about to coast into the WCC semifinals. Ross, however, would not relent, hitting three huge 3-pointers for the Waves, who tore into the Gaels lead and got back into the game. Ford replied with his own 5-point spurt, but the rest of Pepperdine’s offense was ready to help as well.

Ford continued to make shot after shot and before long the double-digit lead was back for Saint Mary’s. A spurt by Kessler Edwards and a 3-pointer from Ross erased the lead again. A few minutes later, Ross hit another 3-pointer that made it a 2-point game with three minutes left.

Neither offense made any headway in the final three minutes, and it wasn’t until Ross’s two free throws in the final seconds that more points went on the board. Now tied at 72, we spiraled towards overtime.

Ford and Ross played hero all game long, though overtime began with 3-pointers traded by Tanner Krebs and Sedrick Altman. Neither team led the first overtime by more than a single possession. Ross put Pepperdine in front on an and-1 opportunity with 30 seconds left, but a Krebs free throw tied the game and we headed to a second extra period.

Pepperdine’s exhaustion caught up with them, as Saint Mary’s pulled away in the second overtime. The Waves got the early lead on a Keith Smith layup, but those would be the only points they’d score. Ford made a big 3-pointer late in the period and secured the win with a late pair of free throws, sending Saint Mary’s to the semifinal against BYU.

This ballgame was an absolute clinic between Colbey Ross and Jordan Ford, with Ford’s Gaels coming out on top. Ross has 43 points, with seven 3-pointers, while teammate Kessler Edwards added 21 points, 10 rebounds, and played the entire game.

Ford has 42 points and also played all 50 minutes, clawing and fighting to secure his Gaels one of their hardest fought wins of the season. The Waves greatly outshot the Gaels from long range but just didn’t have enough in the tank at the very end.

Pepperdine’s season completed with the tough loss, while Saint Mary’s would upend BYU before falling once more to Gonzaga in the WCC championship game. The bottom line is that this battle between Ford and Ross is unlike anything we saw all season, especially in a do or die postseason affair. They both put everything they had out on the court and gave us one of the best games of the entire season in the process.