Pepperdine Races Past Southwest Texas, 87-70

Pepperdine, fast-breaking after nearly every miss by Southwest Texas State, raced to an 87-70 win Saturday night before a crowd of 2,789 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

And Southwest Texas missed a lot. The Bobcats, who fell to 4-8, shot just 27% in the first half (7 of 26) and 37.5% (24 of 64) for the game.

Pepperdine, which raised its record to 11-6, outshot and completely outplayed the Bobcats.

The Waves shot 66% from the field (21 of 32) in the first half and cooled off to 57.1% overall (36 of 63) after Coach Jim Harrick began substituting early in the second half.

Pepperdine took a 2-0 lead and never trailed, pulling ahead, 49-22, at the half. The last time Southwest Texas was in the game was when Sterling Forbes drove the lane and hit a short jumper to make it 10-9 with 14:07 remaining in the first period.

The Waves led by as many as 33 points in the second half, and Harrick began clearing his bench.

Levy Middlebrooks, who made 7 of 8 field goal attempts, and Dwayne Polee, who was 8 for 12, each scored 18 points to lead the Waves. Freshman Middlebrooks also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

Pepperdine’s Anthony Frederick added 17 points on 7 of 7 shots and blocked three shots by the Bobcats.