He’s Short in Stature, but Long on Ability : * Colleges: Sophomore David Lopez has become Pepperdine’s starting point guard and one of the West Coast Conference’s leading three-point shooters.

In December 1990, David Lopez drove eight hours from his home in Glendale, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, to see his son Damin play for the Pepperdine basketball team in Malibu. After the game, he drove home.

David, who coached Damin at Glendale’s Apollo High, could undertake an even longer trip this season if the Waves earn a berth to the NCAA tournament. Especially now that Damin, a sophomore, has become the starting point guard.

“My father helped me a lot when I was growing up,” Damin said. “He was my coach for nine or 10 years. He helped me a lot with my jump shot.”

The 5-foot-8, 153-pound Damin has become one of the best long-range shooters in the West Coast Conference. He is leading the WCC in three-point shooting accuracy at 48.1% and is fourth in free-throw accuracy at 84.8%.

His adroit ballhandling and court leadership also have helped the Waves extend their conference winning streak to 25 games dating to last season.

Pepperdine, which won the regular season and tournament conference championships last season, is nearing the record of 31 consecutive WCC victories set by the University of San Francisco from 1954-57.

USF won NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, led by Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, and finished third in 1957 after Russell and Jones had completed their college careers.

Damin, who has moved ahead of senior Rick Welch, will be counted on to guide the Waves through the second half of league play.

“He has played well, shot the ball with confidence and has played as good on defense,” Coach Tom Asbury said.

Welch, who is Lopez’s roommate on trips, shot a team-best 46% from three-point range last season, but has made only 37% of his three-point attempts this season. He is not happy about being on the sidelines, but realizes that Lopez is having a better season.

“It’s tough to sit on the bench, especially after starting every game last season,” Welch said. “But Damin beat me out for the job.

“Damin is shooting well from the perimeter and doing a good job of running the team. I am waiting for my chance to help the team. The season still has a long way to go, and we have a number of important games remaining on the schedule.”

Lopez is equally philosophical. “Rick is a great guy,” he said. “I think both of us understand that whatever happens on the floor, we don’t carry off the floor.

“We just encourage each other. When I’m on the bench and he pulls up for a three, I’m already standing with my arms up (the signal for a three-point basket). We try to help each other so neither makes mistakes.”

In addition to Pepperdine, Lopez was recruited by Arizona State, Boise State, Marquette, the University of San Diego, Texas El Paso, UC Irvine, Utah and Yale after being named the Arizona player of the year by the Phoenix Gazette and co-player of the year by the Arizona Republic in 1989.

Lopez, who said his dad wouldn’t let him play football as a youth “because it would mess up my knees,” earned a starting job as a sophomore. Because his dad was the coach, there were charges of favoritism.

“Some people said to me, ‘You’re just playing because you’re dad is the coach,’ ” said Lopez, who said that when final varsity cuts were made, they were left to the assistants.

But as a senior in 1988-89, Lopez led Apollo to the state 3-A Division championship game, scoring 40 or more points five times, including a career-high 48. He also shot 51% from the field, including 47% from three-point range, and made 84% of his free throws. He made a career-best 10 three-point baskets in one game.

Lopez’s college career started slowly. In the 1989-90 season, he played in only four games before he broke a bone in his left hand in practice and was granted a medical redshirt. He took only six shots from the field and did not score.

Last season, as Welch’s backup, he averaged 3.8 points and shot 41% from the field, including 36.2% on three-point attempts. He made 84.8% of his free throws.

This season he is averaging 8.3 points and nearly three steals.

Asbury thinks that opponents are mistaken when they attempt to score on the smaller Lopez inside.

“Damin has built-in limitations, but he doesn’t get exploited like you might anticipate,” Asbury said.

“People will try to post him up, but he’s pretty competitive and smart. And he’s had to compensate for his size since day one. A lot of times other teams get away from their main offensive philosophy (by posting up). That can be disruptive to a team’s offensive flow.”

Opponents sometimes double-team Lopez with taller players in trapping defenses, but that too can be unwise, Asbury said. “He can get out of those (trapping defenses). He’s pretty clever; he doesn’t get trapped as much as you might think.”

Lopez said that the “main thing (in avoiding traps) is keeping your vision of the whole floor. Usually, you can see a trap coming and get rid of the ball before it happens.”

Lopez said opponents are gunning to end Pepperdine’s win streak.

“You pretty much have a target on your chest,” he said. “But we have to try and go out and play as hard as we can. We want the other team to beat us--and not beat ourselves.”

Luckily for Lopez, he is a small target.