Waves’ coach won’t be at GU game
A couple of items before we shut it down for the night. Pepperdine coach Tom Asbury won't be on the sideline for Thursday's game against Gonzaga. He'll be with his first grandchild, who was born prematurely Sunday.
Also, Pepperdine's Keion Bell, who scored 37 points in a 91-84 loss to Gonzaga last season at the McCarthey Athletic Center, practiced Wednesday night and is listed as probable for Thursday's game. He's missed the last three games with an ankle injury.
Read on for more on Asbury and the matchup with Pepperdine.
From Pepperdine sports information:
The Waves announced Wednesday night that head coach Tom Asbury will miss Thursday's game at Gonzaga. Associate head coach Mary Wilson will take over in his absence.
While the team traveled from Malibu to Spokane today, Asbury and his wife Carlie are in Phoenix, Arizona, where their daughter Megan gave birth on Sunday to their first grandchild, Caden. The baby boy was born 16 weeks premature while weighing less than two pounds. The baby and mother are doing well under the circumstances.
Asbury may be back on the sidelines for Saturday's game at Portland.
This won't be the first time that Wilson has taken over the reins for Pepperdine. He was elevated to interim head coach for the final 13 games of the 1995-96 season.
And a short GU-Pepperdine preview:
GONZAGA
RECORD: 11-5, 1-0 WCC
COMING UP: Thursday vs. Pepperdine, 6; Saturday vs. Loyola Marymount, 5
OUTLOOK: Pepperdine coach Tom Asbury will miss tonight’s game to be with his first grandchild, who was born prematurely Sunday. Assistant coach Marty Wilson will serve as head coach. The Waves (7-12, 1-1) have 11 juniors/seniors on their roster. Junior guard Keion Bell, whose 37-point explosion last year set a McCarthey Athletic Center scoring record for a GU opponent, has missed the last three games with an ankle injury. He practiced Wednesday night and he’ll probably play tonight. Bell averages 20.7 points, which would lead the WCC but he hasn’t played in 75 percent of Pepperdine’s games. Mychel Thompson, older brother of WSU’s Klay Thompson, averages 12.6 points and 5.7 rebounds.
LMU (8-8, 1-1), picked second in the preseason coaches poll, is led by forward Drew Viney (14.7 points) and guard Vernon Teel (14.6).