USD Helps Pepperdine Get Going

The nice thing about the college basketball season, according to Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury, is that are plenty of opportunities for redemption.

The Waves began rolling that way Thursday night with an 88-78 victory over the University of San Diego in front of 1,734 at the USD Sports Center.

Pepperdine, which finished a disappointing 6-7 in preconference games, won its third consecutive West Coast Conference opener. It also won for the first time in five tries this season on an opponent’s court.

“That’s the thing,” Asbury said. “You can have a slow beginning, and there’s always conference play. After that, there’s the conference tournament. There’s always plenty of time to redeem yourself.”

USD, which had won three in a row but had the same 6-7 record going in, lost its first WCC game after defeating Santa Clara, 96-71, in its opener.

Pepperdine took a 21-point lead in the first half and withstood a USD charge in the second.

With six minutes 28 seconds left, Pepperdine had a 79-62 lead. USD cut that to 81-73 with 2:29 left, but Pepperdine made five of six free throws down the stretch.

Sixth man Dexter Howard had a game-high 22 points and career-high 16 rebounds. Geoff Lear added 16 points, and Craig Davis, who made three of three three-pointers in the first half, had 14.

Five Toreros scored in double figures, including three--John Jerome, Wayman Strickland and Kelvin Woods--with 13 points. Centers Jerome and Dondi Bell and forward Woods all fouled out in the second half.

Certainly that was a factor, but the biggest was Pepperdine’s rebounding dominance.

The Waves had a 49-23 advantage in the game but more amazing were the first-half totals: 29 for Pepperdine, seven for USD. Howard, with nine, outrebounded the Toreros in the half.

“That’s a problem we’ve had,” Asbury said. “And we spent a week of preparation on that. If those stats are accurate . . . “

He didn’t need to finish. It was clearly the difference.

“We got killed off the boards,” USD Coach Hank Egan said.

With a hot shooting hand and nearly complete control inside, Pepperdine took a 53-34 halftime lead.

The Waves shot 59.4% in the first 20 minutes and had an 11-2 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Pepperdine took its biggest lead of the half, 21 points, with a minute left. Shann Ferch hit a 15-foot jumper 20 seconds after Doug Christie tipped in Lewis’ shot. Earlier, Pepperdine had a run of nine in a row, capped by a fast-break slam by Christie and a three-pointer by Ferch.

In the second, USD had a seven-point run on a Jerome three-point play, a Bell two-hand slam and a Gylan Dottin layup that closed Pepperdine’s lead to 81-69. After two Pepperdine free throws, Craig Cottrell had a fast-break slam and a layup to cut the deficit to eight.