Streaky Pepperdine Gets Past Tennessee Chattanooga, 96-82

Pepperdine, playing tough but streaky defense and scoring in spurts, defeated Tennessee Chattanooga, 96-82, in a nonconference game Tuesday night before 1,721 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Waves forced spates of Tennessee Chattanooga turnovers and did much of their scoring after Moccasin mistakes.

But they did so inconsistently and had trouble shaking the visitors, despite leading by as many as 13 points in the first half and 22 in the second half.

Tom Lewis scored 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting to lead four other Pepperdine players who scored in double figures. Dexter Howard made nine of 10 shots from the field and finished with 21 points, Doug Christie had 15 points and eight assists, Geoff Lear had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and Craig Davis 14 points.

Pepperdine guard Shann Ferch had a game-high 13 assists and seven points.

Derrick Kirce of Tennessee Chattanooga (4-1) scored a game-high 26 points.

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said that his team’s hot-and-cold spells “drive me nuts.”

“What we need to do is sustain our defense and play hard and intelligently because it generates our offense,” Asbury said.

Pepperdine is 2-2.