Waves Do a Turnabout, Rout Columbia : Middlebooks and Howard Lead Way in 91-67 Win Over Lions

The amount of success Pepperdine’s basketball team has the rest of the season could well be traced back to their weekend in Milwaukee.

The Waves, who seemingly could do little right Friday night while losing to South Florida in the opening round of the 25th Milwaukee tournament, turned things around in the consolation game Saturday night against Columbia. The Waves shot well, had balanced scoring and settled on their No. 3 guard as they pummeled the Lions, 91-67.

Marquette beat South Florida, 77-61, in the championship game.

The Waves (4-7), who shot 43% Friday night, shot 58% (39 for 67) against Columbia (4-5).

Junior starting forward Levy Middlebrooks and freshman forward Dexter Howard scored 20 points each to lead five players in double figures.

But perhaps the most pertinent information that cannot be found in the box score was the play of backup guard Jim Harrick, the coach’s son. The 5-foot 10-inch junior scored only two points but ran the offense like nobody else has, and grabbed 5 rebounds and had 6 assists in 18 minutes.

Starting guards Craig Davis, a redshirt freshman, and Ed Allen, a junior college transfer, had good games, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. But Harrick gave the Waves the floor leader they will need when they open West Coast Athletic Conference play Jan. 9 at San Francisco.

“I was pleased with the play of our guards as a threesome for the first time all year,” Coach Harrick said. “I thought they’d come together. All three of ‘em are new to playing.”

Middlebrooks, a junior who was 9 of 13 from the field and had 13 rebounds, had a rebound basket and two free throws during a 14-3 run that turned a tenuous 46-41 lead into a 60-44 advantage with 11:46 left.

Columbia whittled the deficit to 66-58 and had the ball after Eric White committed an offensive foul, his fifth, with 8:05 left. They were still within 69-61 with 6:03 left, but Middlebrooks started an 8-0 run with a dunk as the Waves ran through Columbia’s press and took a 77-61 lead with 4:13 left.

Coach Harrick knew the inside game would be important against the Lions, who started a front line of 6-6 center Doug Woods, 6-3 John Vaske and 6-2 Sean Couch. Those three were no match for 6-7 center Michael Cumberland, 6-7 Middlebrooks and 6-8 White. Pepperdine outrebounded Columbia, 48-30.

“I was pleased with the work of Levy Middlebrooks on the boards in both games,” Harrick said. “Once Levy knew he could dominate the lane. . . . I’d like to see him get 20 rebounds some night. He could have tonight.”

Middlebrooks was the only Pepperdine player named to the five-man all-tournament team.

The Waves have one bit of business left before starting WCAC play. They play host to unbeaten and ranked DePaul Tuesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. That will certainly be a better test than Columbia was.

Columbia sophomore guard Joe Campanella, son of the TV and movie actor and an All-CIF Southern Section selection as a senior at Crespi, scored a career-high 10 points.