Nov. 28, 2011
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Pepperdine-UCLA Box Score 
LOS ANGELES - UCLA took out its early-season frustrations on the Pepperdine men's basketball team on Monday night, handing the Waves a 62-39 loss at the Sports Arena.
Pepperdine fell to 3-3 overall, while UCLA, the preseason favorite in the Pac-12 Conference, improved to 2-4.
The Waves got nine points apiece from senior center Corbin Moore (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) and junior guard Joshua Lowery (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS), and eight points and nine rebounds from senior forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS).
"UCLA's size and physicality was a huge difference at both ends," Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson said. "That's the one thing we talked about with our team, matching their physicality to offset their advantage in size, and we didn't do that. They took advantage of it at both ends."
Neither team could find a groove early, as 8 1/2 minutes into the game the Waves had a 7-6 lead after a basket by Darby.
But with the help of 10 first-half Pepperdine turnovers, UCLA then went on a tear. The Bruins scored the next 11 points as part of a larger 22-4 run to the end the first half, giving the Bruins a 28-11 edge at the break.
The Waves' offense picked up in the second half. A nice start that included back-to-back three-pointers by Moore and sophomore guard Nikolas Skouen (Bergen, Norway/Pratt CC) helped cut the deficit to 12, and the Waves would match their first-half point total after just six minutes. Though the Bruins would reassert themselves, things were a bit more even over the course of the second half, with UCLA outscoring Pepperdine just 34-28.
The Waves continued their streak of not having yet been outrebounded, holding a 36-35 edge and a 14-11 advantage in second-chance points.
But UCLA made Pepperdine pay for its 15 turnovers, scoring 21 points off the miscues. The Waves had just two points off the Bruins' seven turnovers.
UCLA shot 43.1% for the game to the Waves' 31.3%. Lazeric Jones led UCLA with 14 points.
Pepperdine returns to action in Firestone Fieldhouse this Saturday (Dec. 3). The men face Hawaii in the second game of a doubleheader at 7 p.m., as the women battle Cal State Northridge at 4 p.m. Fans can watch the games via WaveCasts at www.pepperdinesports.com.
