Pepperdine Faces Washington State in Home Opener Tonight

Pepperdine, 0-1 after losing to Kansas last week in the first round of the preseason Big Apple NIT, will have a tough home opener against Washington State tonight at 8:15 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

The Cougars were an also-ran in the Pacific 10 Conference last season with a 5-13 record but were 13-15 overall, have a 1-0 mark this season after defeating Fresno State at Fresno Saturday, 57-54, and are considered by some as contenders for the Pac-10 title.

Washington State has three key players returning from last season: Joe Wallace, a 6-7 junior forward who led the team in scoring with an average of 18.1 points; Otis Jennings, a 6-9 senior forward who averaged 11.6 points and 5 rebounds, and Keith Morrison, 6-3, a senior guard from Reseda’s Cleveland High School who averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Cougars last season.

Coach Len Stevens also has two 7-footers at center, 7-1 sophomore Todd Anderson, who starts, and backup Ken Mathia, a 7-0, 240-pound junior.

Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said: “It will be a difficult home opener, and I’m anxious to see how we come back after playing an emotional contest against Kansas.”

USC will face Pepperdine in women’s basketball action today at 4 p.m. at the Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine (0-2) is led by a pair of senior forwards--Maureen Formico, who last season averaged 24 points and 19 rebounds a game and Shawn Sturgeon, who averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds.

USC (1-0) is led by Cheryl Miller, who scored 33 points in last Friday’s season opener, and Karon Howell, who scored 17 for the eighth-ranked Trojans.