Ferch Gives Pepperdine a Lift, 93-73 : Reserve Guard Helps Waves to Easy Win Over San Diego

SAN DIEGO —  Some times the best coaching moves are the ones that are never made.

Pepperdine basketball Coach Tom Asbury might agree, after his hands-off coaching enabled Shann Ferch to give the lackluster Waves the needed spark against the University of San Diego Saturday at San Diego’s Sports Center.

Pepperdine, trailing at halftime and still appearing shellshocked from Friday’s 77-49 loss to St. Mary’s at Moraga, Calif., rallied early in the second half to defeat USD, 93-73.

With the victory, Pepperdine (16-9, 8-2) kept pace with St. Mary’s atop the West Coast Athletic Conference standings. With Portland defeating San Francisco, 87-84, in overtime, San Diego (6-16, 1-9) is alone in last place in the conference.

Playing before 2,250 fans, San Diego took a 39-37 lead with 17:30 remaining.

After the Waves’ Tom Lewis made a three-point play, Asbury was ready to pull Ferch, a reserve guard, because the 6-foot-1 transfer from Montana State was not playing satisfactory defense.

But, without a break in the action, Ferch stayed in. On the next three Pepperdine possessions, Ferch made three-point shots to give the Waves a 49-42 lead with 14:50 left.

Pepperdine never lost its lead as the Waves made 22 of 25 free throws in the second half and 30 of 36 overall.

“The only thing I can say,” Ferch said, “is that I was really tired. I didn’t feel like sparking. I didn’t feel like shooting.

“The first one I was not real confident with. The second one I thought was a brick. The third one I knew was going down.”

Ferch, who scored only two points in the first half, had confidence after his three baskets. He went on to make six of six free throws and finished with 17 points.

“Those were big threes,” Asbury said. “I was just getting ready to take him out . . .

“He’s a really good open three-point shooter. He can really get on a roll.”

After Ferch’s shots, Pepperdine built a commanding lead with scoring streaks of five, five, six and 10 points. For the first 15:00 of the second half, San Diego scored on successive possessions only once.

“They were pretty seasoned and they did a good job of taking control,” San Diego Coach Hank Egan said.

In the first half, Pepperdine took a 7-0 lead, but San Diego rallied to tie the score, 9-9. Pepperdine went on a 7-0 run, but then San Diego outscored the Waves, 10-1.

Late in the half, two Wayman Strickland three-point baskets gave San Diego leads of 28-25 and 35-31. Craig Davis’ 18-foot jumper at the buzzer gave San Diego a 35-33 lead.

San Diego junior forward Craig Cottrell led all scorers with 25 points, but he fouled out with 3:16 left. Senior guard Danny Means added 21 points.

Davis led the Waves with 22 points. Lewis added 20, Dexter Howard 16 and Casey Crawford 11.