Pepperdine Makes Up for Losses : College basketball: Missing their top scorers, the Waves rally from 14 points down for 90-81 victory over Northridge.

Pepperdine was without its top two scorers and Cal State Northridge had just gotten its top scorer back before their nonconference game on Tuesday night at the Matador Gym.

So, of course, Pepperdine won, 90-81.

Go figure college basketball.

The Matadors (1-3), who rallied from a 14-point deficit to win by one on Saturday night against Cal State Fullerton, blew an early 14-point lead on Tuesday.

“I think we just got complacent,” said Northridge forward Eric Gray. “They didn’t quit and we thought we had it in the bag too early.

“They had their two stars out and we had a 13-1 lead and it was like, this is too easy.”

The Waves (3-2) played without their top two scorers, forward Gerald Brown and guard Bryan Hill. Brown had an infected hair follicle in his left armpit drained on Monday. Hill aggravated a shoulder injury in the Waves’ game Saturday against Georgia Southern.

Northridge’s leading scorer, Damion Morbley, did not start because he missed practice on Monday, but he still played 17 minutes and led the Matadors with 18 points. Morbley sat out Saturday’s game because he was late to practice on Friday.

But Morbley’s presence wasn’t enough to deal with Pepperdine’s quickness or 7-foot center Gavin Van Der Putten, who blocked six shots.

Pepperdine forward Will Weir, still playing himself into shape after being out earlier because of a sinus infection, picked up the slack for Brown, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Guard Marques Johnson scored a season-high 32 points, including four-for-nine shooting from three-point range.

The key series was when Pepperdine broke a 70-70 tie with a 7-0 run. The stretch was keyed by two of Northridge’s nine second-half turnovers.

The final points of the run came at the 2:16 mark, when Gray’s pass was intercepted by Weir, who passed to Khary Hervey. Hervey made a layup as Gray fouled him. Hervey made the free throw to give the Waves what was then their biggest lead of the game.

Trenton Cross added a season-high 16 points for the Matadors.