McDowell a Boost for Waves Off Bench

Last January, Marc McDowell’s basketball career at Pepperdine hit rock bottom.

Playing at home against eventual West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga, the Waves lost, 77-64. McDowell played only three minutes, all in the first half, and never took a shot. An all-conference honorable-mention selection the season before, McDowell had become almost an afterthought in Coach Lorenzo Romar’s game plan.

Now, McDowell is not only the Waves’ best reserve, he has been their most consistent player through six games. He leads the Waves (5-1) with 12.5 points a game and is second with 5.3 rebounds. And the 6-foot-7 senior will be a key today at 2 p.m. when the Waves play Kansas (4-1) in the first game of the Wooden Classic at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

His statistics are similar to the 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds he averaged as a starter his sophomore season--and substantially better than the 4.4 points and 2.8 rebounds he averaged in 1997-98.

When California transfer Jelani Gardner, UCLA transfer omm’A Givens and redshirt freshman Kelvin Gibbs were made starters last season, McDowell became the odd man out. Not only did he have to get used to being a reserve, he had to spend time at guard after playing forward his sophomore season.

“It was very frustrating,” McDowell said. “Last year was very hard for me at times. I went from playing more than 30 minutes a game [his sophomore season] to 10 minutes a game halfway through [last] season.”

McDowell’s hardest times were the days after the Gonzaga game.

“The first few practices after that was the first time I can remember not wanting to practice,” he said. “It was at a point where I knew something had to change.”

That change was indirectly provided by Givens, who was held out for three games shortly after the Gonzaga loss for fighting with a teammate in practice. With Givens out, McDowell’s minutes increased. Givens returned for five games, as a reserve, before being suspended again for the rest of the season.

Not only did McDowell get more minutes, though still as a reserve, he got revenge against Gonzaga. At Gonzaga on Feb. 19, he made a layup as time expired for a 65-64 victory.

McDowell carried that momentum to prepare for his senior year.

“I worked hard in the off-season,” he said. “I worked on my inside game a lot, and I worked on my jumping ability.”

So far it has paid off. McDowell is the first player off the bench and leads the Pepperdine frontcourt in minutes played. He is no longer playing guard.

“We consider Mark a starter,” Romar said. “His name just doesn’t get called first.”

Assistant coach Ken Ammann agreed.

“You could argue for him to start,” Ammann said. “But he’s such a great lift on the bench for us, he’s a real threat coming in there. That gives our team the best advantage.”

Said Romar: “He’s the ultimate team guy. He’s always been a leader that way.”

McDowell is 24, more than a year-and-a-half older than any teammate. He is also the team’s only married player.

After graduating from Gilbert (Ariz.) High in 1992, McDowell went on a two-year Mormon mission from April 1993 to April 1995, spending two months at Provo, Utah, and 22 in Colombia. He returned to Gilbert and attended Mesa Community College, where he played for the father of Pepperdine assistant coach Randy Bennett.

After choosing Pepperdine over San Diego State and Utah State, McDowell married his girlfriend, Kara, in August 1996, and they moved to Malibu two weeks later.

“She’s taken so much unnecessary pressure off me,” McDowell said. “I don’t worry about dating. I don’t worry about being lonely.

“She’s a great support system.”

After leading the Waves in scoring in three games this season and in rebounding twice, it’s McDowell who’s serving as Pepperdine’s support system.

And nearly a year after his lowest point, McDowell will again face Gonzaga on Jan. 9. This time, it’ll be more than three minutes and no points for McDowell.