Pepperdine Plays Well Enough to Win : Middlebrooks’ 28 Points Help Waves Defeat Texas Arlington

Pepperdine seems to play well against good teams, not so well against others.

It played one of the others, Texas Arlington, Thursday night and still managed to win, 91-80, before 1,837 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Waves, who improved their record to 8-5, started as if they were going to rout the Mavericks. Tom Lewis hit two three-pointers and Craig Davis sank another to spur Pepperdine to a 17-7 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes.

But the Waves got careless and let Texas Arlington back into the game. However, the Mavericks ultimately lost their sixth straight road game and their season record fell to 2-7.

Texas Arlington, outscoring Pepperdine, 11-3, pulled within 20-18 with 12:03 left in the first half.

Three minutes later, Lewis made another three-pointer, giving the Waves a 31-22 lead. But again the Waves couldn’t protect their advantage.

With 10 seconds left in the half, Marty Wilson cast a wild 80-footer that went out of bounds under the Maverick basket. Roderick Ford of Texas Arlington then connected on a 42-footer to bring his team within one point, 40-39, at halftime.

Texas Arlington scored two straight easy baskets to start the second half and took its first lead, 43-40. The Mavericks later went ahead, 52-45, their biggest margin of the game, on a jumper by Mike Beasley, and Pepperdine seemed to be floundering.

But with 8:41 to play and the Waves, trailing, 61-60, Levy Middlebrooks took charge. The senior forward, muscling his way to the basket, made three straight shots, and the Waves led, 66-61. After that, Pepperdine never trailed.

Middlebrooks scored a career-high 28 points. Lewis scored 26 points, making all three of his three-point attempts, and teammate Craig Davis added 24 points, including 6 of 7 shots from three-point range.

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said the crucial baskets by Middlebrooks didn’t surprise him.

“Except for a couple of games, he’s had double-doubles (double figures in points and rebounds) in every game,” Harrick said.

“This is Levy’s team, and don’t ever forget it.”

The Waves may have forgotten in the first half, and Harrick said he was “a little bit embarrassed” by the team’s lapses of attention.

“Sometimes, a young team will do that,” he said, “get up by 12 and quit playing.

“They just got a little bit off the track, but I guarantee you I’ll get them back on track tomorrow.”

Ike Mitchell led the Mavericks with 24 points and Beasley added 19.