Thompson and USD Top Waves

The University of San Diego, so tough at home, made themselves right at home Friday night at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Of course, Scott Thompson, the Toreros’ 7-0, 260-pound center, seems to be at home wherever he goes. He led his team to a 78-73 victory over the Waves before 1,427 fans.

San Diego Coach Hank Egan said that his big senior was “a force.” And he was right about that.

Thompson scored 26 points and swept the boards for 13 rebounds. He made 11 of 17 shots from the field and was 4 of 5 from the foul line.

San Diego stayed in first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference, improving to 8-1 in the WCAC and 17-4 overall. Pepperdine dropped to 2-6 and 7-14.

The Toreros are 9-0 at the USD Sports Center this year and 21-1 there in the last two seasons.

But San Diego must have thought that Pepperdine had the welcome mat out in Malibu at the beginning of the game.

The Toreros jumped to an 8-0 lead and increased it to 26-10 on a short hook shot by Thompson with 8:41 left in the half. Pepperdine managed to cut the lead to 35-27 by intermission, but San Diego never lost its lead. Thompson hit another hook to open the second half, but Pepperdine’s Craig Davis answered with two quick three-pointers to make it 37-33 for San Diego.

Ed Allen’s 17-foot jumper cut San Diego’s lead to 43-40 with 15:34 remaining in the game. But that was as close as the Waves got in the second half.

Another three-pointer by Davis brought Pepperdine within 74-68 with 1:28 left. But the Waves kept fouling Danny Means, who made six foul shots, all in one-and-one situations in the last two minutes.

Means scored 14 points for the night, including 10-of-10 from the foul line. Teammate Paul Leonard added 15 points.

Davis and teammate Mike Cumberland each scored 16 to lead the Waves. Davis made 4 of 5 three-point shots, and Cumberland was 6 of 9 from the field. Pepperdine’s Dexter Howard had 14 points, also on 6-of-9 shooting.

But Thompson was the story of the game, and Egan said that he “did it at both ends of the floor.

“Every time we needed a basket in the second half, he got us a basket,” Egan said. “Pepperdine played us much more honest all around, which opened it up for Scott more.”

Thompson was asked if he was out to prove something against the Waves, and he answered:

“A little bit. In my four years, we haven’t won here (at Firestone), and we wanted to do it tonight and stay on top of the league.”

“I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo tonight,” he said. “They didn’t fast break on us much at all.”

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick also thought that Thompson dominated the game. “He’s tough. He’s played four years, and he’s 7-0 and 260.”

Levy Middlebrooks, Pepperdine’s leading rebounder, was suffering from a strained Achilles’ tendon and played only 11 minutes and did not score a basket. His absence help open up the middle for Thompson.