Pepperdine Has No Trouble With Northern Arizona, 96-61

Pepperdine’s basketball team toyed with Northern Arizona Thursday night, routing the visitors, 96-61, before 1,218 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Forwards Tom Lewis and Dexter Howard each scored 24 points, and reserve guard Shann Ferch added 17 to give Tom Asbury his first win as Pepperdine’s coach. He was Jim Harrick’s assistant for nine years.

The Waves shot 67% (20 of 30) in the first half and led at halftime, 57-32. When Asbury cleared his bench in the second half, Pepperdine’s shooting cooled to 40% (12 of 30). By then it didn’t matter.

Asbury, whose Waves improved to 1-2, admitted that the game was not pretty but said he was impressed by his players.

“Everybody we put in played hard, played well,” he said, “And our defense created a lot of good things.”

He saw some bad things as well. Pepperdine guard Craig Davis, a fine 3-point shooter, finished with a single 3-pointer and just 3 points after he reinjured an ankle that was sprained earlier this year.

Asbury said Davis “has yet to play well because he has yet to be healthy.”

“Our goal tonight was to play 40 minutes of intense basketball, and for the most part, we did a pretty good job of it,” Asbury said.

Northern Arizona, which fell to 0-2, had three players score in double figures. Freshman Steve Williams had 14 points, Willie Jordan 12 and Steve Lizzul 10.

With the victory, Pepperdine won its ninth consecutive home opener.

The Waves will play Saturday night at Nevada Reno (2-0), and Asbury expects a tough fight from the Wolf Pack.

“They’re tough,” he said. “They beat Washington (by a 92-90 score at Seattle Wednesday night).”