Outmanned Pepperdine Is Out of It in San Diego

Pepperdine found itself in a difficult position for its West Coast Conference basketball opener Thursday night.

The Waves were out of town, outmanned and out of sync.

In the end, they were also out of luck as San Diego used superior depth and a big first half to score an 81-70 victory before 1,432 at the Sports Center.

Pepperdine (7-6), playing its 10th road game, had only eight players available and used only seven until the final minute of play.

Forward Wil Weir, a key reserve, missed his second consecutive game and is out indefinitely because of chronic asthma and sinus problems.

The disparity in depth showed in the box score, as San Diego (7-5, 2-0 in conference play) got 39 points from its bench compared to only six for the Waves.

“It’s going to be tough,” Pepperdine Coach Tony Fuller said of his team’s lack of reserves. “We just have to play hard.”

San Diego shot 63.6% (14 of 22) in the first half, when it took a 40-24 lead with the help of 11 Wave turnovers.

Pepperdine got as close as seven points in the second half. San Diego made 13 of 16 free throws--but no field goals--in the final six minutes.

“I thought we settled down offensively in the second half, but they continued to hit big shots,” Fuller said.

The Waves shot 50% for the game, but guard Marques Johnson, returning to the lineup after missing a game to attend his grandmother’s funeral, made only three of 15 shots and failed on all seven of his three-point attempts.

“Marques was out of sync,” Fuller said. “But we never quit. All you want your team to do is play hard.”

Pepperdine guard Gerald Brown scored 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting.

The Waves fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second half, but rallied behind Brown and forward Bryan Hill (13 points, seven rebounds), pulling to within 69-62 on two free throws by Hill with 2 minutes 36 seconds left.

The Waves’ pressing defense contributed to the comeback.

“I’m very pleased with the win, but I didn’t think we played that well with a lead,” said San Diego Coach Brad Holland, whose team won its third in a row. “I wasn’t happy with the way we attacked their defense in the final 10 minutes.”

Forwards Ryan Williams and Nosa Obasohan each scored 12 points for the balanced Toreros, who used a 10-man rotation despite missing three players because of injuries.