Pepperdine77

Indiana57

BUFFALO — To those who didn’t see Pepperdine’s 77-57 first-round whipping of Indiana, the score looked like a misprint. To those who did, the game looked like a mismatch. The unheralded Waves looked like the national powerhouse, and it was the Hoosiers who were outmatched and outgunned.

Pepperdine (25-8) pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, and the 11th-seeded Waves did it with awesome athleticism and confidence bordering on hubris. They toyed with Indiana down the stretch Globetrotter-style, making the Hoosiers look like their Generals. And if there were ever a night the big, red-clad General stalking the Indiana sideline would want to choke one of his players, this was it.

And even though Indiana center Kirk Haston sprained his knee just 1:57 into the game, chances are it wouldn’t have made any difference. The Waves sprinted to a 24-8 lead and never let up, playing to the crowd of 19,338 at HSBC Arena. Pepperdine takes on third-seeded Oklahoma State tomorrow at 12:10.

“I think they were shocked. They didn’t know what to expect. We saw their faces go down; that’s when we had to attack,” said sophomore guard Brandon Armstrong, who scored a game-high 22 points. And senior Tezale Archie, who had a game-high 11 assists and held All-American A.J. Guyton without a basket, said, “We knew we were underrated as the 11 seed. We don’t get a lot of air time. Hopefully tonight we opened some eyes.”

The Hoosiers (20-9) haven’t gotten past the second round since 1994, and on Tuesday, former player Neil Reed accusation that Knight choked him three years ago was reported. But it was his Hoosiers who choked last night.

“[The Reed accusation] didn’t even enter into it,” said Knight, whose Hoosiers were the first Big Ten team to lose. “We got pounded. I’m not talking to the greatest assemblage of basketball minds, but I’m sure you can all figure we just got pounded.”