Fifth-year Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound five-time NBA All-Star, completed his 12-year career as a 50.4 percent shooter and 82 percent free thrower.

Not bad for somebody who didn’t make his living off the slam dunk.

“I remember when they played H-O-R-S-E games on the NBA Game of the Week. Next to Pistol Pete (Maravich), the best H-O-R-S-E player in the NBA was Paul,” KU coach Bill Self said of his counterpart in tonight’s 6 p.m. nonconference clash at Allen Fieldhouse.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 (Sunflower Broadband Channel 34).

“I was a big fan of his, watching him play for the Celtics and Suns,” Self said.

Westphal, who cashed 50 percent of his shots as a USC guard from 1970 to ’72, recalls banking acrobatic shots in NBA H-O-R-S-E.

“I remember. Everybody else is too young to remember,” Westphal, 55, said with a laugh.

Oddly, the marksman brings a cold-shooting Pepperdine team to Lawrence. The Waves (2-6) have hit just 38.8 percent of their shots and average 63.1 points a game.

“For our team, our biggest weakness is inability to shoot well. We’re shooting horribly,” Westphal said. “We can’t shoot ourselves out of it. Points are way down. I’ve never seen anything like it. We have 23 at halftime sometimes. We don’t want to play that way. We just can’t shoot.”

He was speaking prior to Saturday’s 92-86 home victory over Long Beach State, a game in which the Waves sizzled to 52 percent shooting.

“I tell ’em to make more baskets,” Westphal joked.

It’s a rebuilding year for Westphal, who came to the Malibu, Calif., school from Seattle, where he coached the Sonics for part of three seasons. Pepperdine, of the West Coast Conference, lost standout players Glen McGowan, Yakhouba Diawara and Alex Acker off last year’s 17-14 team.

This year’s Waves have just two seniors and six newcomers, including five freshmen.

KU (4-4) is relying on four contributing freshmen after losing Wayne Simien, Keith Langford, Aaron Miles, Michael Lee and J.R. Giddens off a 23-7 unit.

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“I wouldn’t call it the same, but yes, we are young,” Westphal said.

Pepperdine has been led by freshman Michael Gerrity and senior Tashaan Forehan-Kelly, who average 16.1 and 14.6 ppg. The Waves have been weakened by injuries to freshman forward Willie Galick, who hit for 19 points versus Long Beach State, plus freshman forward Chris Oakes and sophomore center Russell Hicks, who are out.

“I’ve been very impressed,” Westphal said of KU. “They had a couple losses early. They are young. The talent level is very high. They will make some mistakes early in their careers. They are well-positioned for national prominence.”

Pepperdine has tackled an ambitious schedule, opening at home with a 75-56 loss to Connecticut. After losing at Cal State Fullerton then beating UC Irvine at home, Pepperdine lost at Dayton, Wisconsin, Santa Barbara and Colorado State prior to Saturday’s victory.

“It’s hard to get home games for a school in our position,” Westphal said. “It’s the way college basketball works.”

This road game will be special for Jarrad Henry, a 6-11 sophomore from Kansas City, Kan., who averages 6.3 points and 5.5 boards.

“We like to schedule games in the region where kids come from,” Westphal said of Henry, who attended Miege High. “I’m sure his mother is gathering up every ticket she can find. They have a close group of people in their family.

“I think it’s a good experience for our kids to go back and play at Allen Fieldhouse. I hate to turn down a chance to play there any time.”

He’s been in the building twice.

“We played back there when I was in college. Bud Stallworth was on the team. Jo Jo (White) was gone,” said Westphal, referring to a 87-77 USC victory in December 1971.

“I also remember watching a game there. We were in town to play the (Kansas City) Kings. It was that big game — (Wayman) Tisdale against (Danny) Manning (KU’s 82-76 victory in 1985). Larry Brown was coaching, and we came down and watched. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. The place was packed an hour before the game.”

As far as trying to win here tonight … “We have to play a perfect game,” Westphal said. “I’ve not see it yet. We can’t turn it over. We must knock down shots.”

Something he could do, but his team hasn’t quite perfected.