Bruins Coast to a 95-82 Win Over the Waves

Pepperdine faced a doubly intimidating task Saturday night.

First, it had to play in Pauley Pavilion, where far better teams have foundered over the years. Just ask North Carolina.

Worse yet, the Waves had to face a UCLA team still on an emotional high generated by its 89-84 upset victory over the top-ranked Tar Heels last Monday night.

The combination proved too much for Pepperdine, which fell behind early, trailed by as many as 25 points, and finally succumbed, 95-82, before a crowd of 11,102.

Reggie Miller, Jerome (Pooh) Richardson and Dave Immel combined to bring about the Waves’ downfall while improving the Bruins’ record to 3-0.

Miller, playing on a sore ankle, scored the first basket on an alley-oop pass from Jack Haley. He found himself with 15 points by halftime and ended the night with 20.

Richardson, running the show like a magician with no-look passes and fancy dribbling, had 9 assists and 9 points in the first half. He finished with 14 assists and 11 points.

Immel, who saw most of his playing time in the second half, scored a team-high 22 points, 17 of them in the second half. He made 7 of 11 shots.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard was quick to praise Miller after the game. The Bruin senior forward suffered a badly sprained ankle in Friday’s practice, but Hazzard said he “played like an All-American,” against the Waves.

“He didn’t know he had a bad ankle,” Hazzard said.

Hazzard also had kind words for his oft-maligned center, Haley, who played aggressively, clogged up the middle and forced some poor shots by Pepperdine players. He finished with 7 points and 2 assists but only 1 rebound.

“Jack Haley did some things tonight that most of you didn’t think he could do,” Hazzard said.

The Bruins blew open a close game with a 13-0 burst in a three-minute span to take a 28-12 lead midway through the first half. Then, they scored 10 straight points en route to a 46-16 lead that Pepperdine managed to cut to 46-26 by halftime.

UCLA led, 70-45, eight minutes into the second half before the Waves, behind three three-pointers by freshman guard Craig Davis, closed within 81-68 with 5:18 remaining.

Davis, in fact, appeared to be the only Wave who didn’t seem intimidated by either the Bruins or their home court. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4 of 5 three-pointers.

Levy Middlebrooks scored 22 points to lead Pepperdine, which fell to 2-1.

Eric White, Pepperdine’s leading scorer, was held to two points on 1-of-9 shooting in the first half. He finished with 14 points.

Pepperdine shot an atrocious 30.6% in the first half, making only 11 of 36 shots. UCLA, meanwhile, hit on 18 of 35 shots (51%) in the half to open its big lead.

The Bruins, Hazzard said, “played very well” for 75% of the game, “but what was really impressive to me was when we ran the 45-second clock out in the first half.

“If you don’t play hard, somebody on the bench is going to come and get you. We didn’t have that last year.”

At the outset, Pepperdine seemed befuddled, psyched-out perhaps, by the Pauley Pavilion mystique.

The Waves either missed their shots or turned the ball over.

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick had said before the game that UCLA had the best talent in the West. His players apparently believed it.

Harrick may be right about the Bruins. They weren’t timid about displaying their talents. Harrick said his team was “very tight, very nervous” in the first half. “But we came back in the second half and made a game of it.

“Of course, they (the Bruins) probably weren’t playing as hard by then.”

They’ll have to do so in their next game when the Bruins face St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 13.