HARRICK'S HAPPY HOMECOMING FORMER PEPPERDINE COACH WATCHES GEORGIA WIN EASILY GEORGIA 91, PEPPERDINE 74.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

MALIBU - They had a reception Monday honoring former Waves and UCLA coach Jim Harrick, an elegant little affair overlooking a moonlit Pacific Ocean a couple of hours before Harrick and his Georgia Bulldogs took the floor against Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse, the cozy little arena Harrick called home for nine years.

There were handshakes and hugs and more than a few stories about the good-old days and Harrick, ever the schmoozer with that West Virginia twang, gushed throughout.

It was all a setup.

While Harrick was yukking it up with all of his old friends, his gang of Georgia bandits were planning a holdup, and before you could say Peter Dalis, they snuck into Firestone Fieldhouse and robbed the joint, escaping with all the jewelry, the money and a 91-74 victory over the struggling Waves, who dropped their third in a row to fall below .500 (4-5) for the first time under new coach Paul Westphal.

Oh, by the way, thanks for the memories, Pepperdine.

``It felt very comfortable to be back, this is a great, great place, there's no pressure,'' Harrick said. ``People like you here, I've never been any place where people like you.''

He sure has a funny way of thanking them.

Georgia (9-1) took control in a second-half flurry, scoring the first 11 points to move ahead 55-42. The lead eventually grew to 75-61 with 10 minutes remaining, and though Pepperdine made some runs, the Waves never seriously threatened.

Jarvis Hayes had 25 points, Tony Cole had 21 and Rashad Wright had 19 for the Bulldogs. Jimmy Miggins had 17 points and Terrance Johnson had 13 for the Waves.

``Right now, we're not doing the little things we need to do,'' Miggins said. ``We have to go into practice and work harder and figure out what we need to do to get this turned back around.''

This was the second time Harrick returned to Malibu since leaving UCLA in 1996. He brought Rhode Island and Lamar Odom here in 1998-99, falling to the Waves 61-57.

The Waves, of course, had more important issues then dealing with a former coach coming home. They fell hard in their past two games, losing big to Santa Barbara and Oregon on the road.

Their demise in the two losses was selnflicted, done in by poor shooting (37 of 124 from the field, 9 of 46 on 3-pointers) and bad rebounding.

Pepperdine was counting on the return to Malibu to cure the shooting woes, although the difficulties on the boards is a problem not likely to go away anytime soon. The fact is, Pepperdine is badly outmanned up front, starting a rail-thin 6-foot-6 power forward (Miggins) and an equally slim 6-11 Cedric Suitt at center.

``Teams are killing us on the glass and then they're shooting incredibly well,'' Westphal said. ``We're playing hard, but we just need to get better in a couple of key areas.''

The Waves are getting outrebounded by an alarming 11 boards per game, and that margin climbs even higher when they're not shooting well.

The rebounding didn't figure to be too bad against Georgia, an athletic but relatively small team, with only 6-8, 235-pound Steve Thomas offering a mismatch. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs outrebounded the Waves 23-12 in the first half, including 15 offensive boards, many of which they converted into second-chance baskets to take a 45-42 halftime lead.

``I've never seen anything like that before,'' Westphal said. ``They had 15 offensive rebounds and we had six defensive.''

Georgia went on to outrebound the Waves 41-29.

The shooting was much improved through the first half. Pepperdine hit 11 of its first 19 shots to take a 26-24 lead, and finished shooting 16 of 31 (51 percent). Miggins had 13 points and Lewis had six.

For the game, the Waves shot 43 percent, including 5 of 21 on 3-pointers. Georgia shot 50 percent.

``They've got a very nice team, and they'll beat you if you let them,''Harrick said.

Not on this homecoming.

For Pepperdine, the objective is to fight through the frustration and get things straightened out before West Coast Conference play starts next month.

``You take the hit and move on,'' Westphal said. ``You keep your head up and continue to work hard.''

EXPERTS' consensus: WITZ'S PICKS

Daily News Staff Writer Billy Witz is an Associated Press top-25 voter this season. Here's how he voted this week:

1. Duke

2. Kansas

3. Maryland

4. Florida

5. Arizona

6. Kentucky

7. Missouri

8. Marquette

9. Illinois

10. Oklahoma St

11. Virginia

12. Boston College

13. Gonzaga

14. Stanford

15. St. Joseph's

16. Cincinnati

17. Wake Forest

18. Ball St.

19. Southern Illinois

20. Iowa

21. Butler

22. Notre Dame

23. Michigan St.

24. Georgia

25. Miami

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Former Pepperdine and current Georgia coach Jim Harrick returned to Pepperdine on Monday a winner.

(2) Pepperdine center Cedric Suitt slams home two of his eight points Monday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) EXPERTS' consensus: WITZ'S PICKS (see text)

(2) AP TOP 25