Pepperdine University
Hawai'i
Waves Show Poise in 73-67 Win Over Hawai'i
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2011
MALIBU, Calif. - Senior center Corbin Moore scored a career-high 17 points and sank six free throws on one crucial second-half sequence to help lead the Pepperdine men's basketball team to a 73-67 win over Hawai'i in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
The Waves (4-3) led throughout the second half, and were up by six at 57-51 with a little more than five minutes to play. Moore (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled by Hawaii's Vander Joaquim. Joaquim then shoved two Pepperdine players and was given a double-technical and ejected from the contest.
Moore was given the opportunity to shoot six free throws, and he sank five of them. He was then fouled again on the offensive end, and made one more free throw to double Pepperdine's lead to 63-51 with 4:40 to play.
Hawaii would close the gap to four points at 65-61 with less than two minutes to go, but junior guard Caleb Willis (Stockbridge, Ga./Stockbridge HS) drained a three-pointer on the next possession to help clinch the victory.
"The first thing I told our team was how proud I was of them," Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson said. "We could have gotten rattled early when we were down 15-7. But we continued to stay together. We talk about sharing the ball. The thing I'm most proud of, we had eight assists on 10 baskets in the first half, and then we did it again in the second half. We have to play that way."
Senior forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS) scored a season-high 16 points for the Waves. Sophomore guard Nikolas Skouen (Bergen, Norway/Pratt CC) had 12 points and junior guard Joshua Lowery (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) had 10.
Though the Waves were outrebounded for the first time this season (33-32) and were outshot 45.8% to 38.5%, the Waves made up for it with a season-low nine turnovers, a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 27-for-35 showing from the free throw line.
All four Pepperdine victories this season have been decided between six and nine points. Wilson credits his team's poise down the stretch.
"We've made the right plays at the right times," he said. "We've made smart plays when we've needed them. We had a couple of guys get down tonight when they missed lay-ups. I told Taylor he was going to make it when it counted, and he did. We stay with it, and guys make great plays."
Hawaii got off to a very strong start, going up 15-7 eight minutes into the contest. Shaquille Stokes scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, including 11 of the Rainbow Warriors' first 15.
Outside of a 5-4 lead, Pepperdine wouldn't go in front again until Skouen hit three-pointers at the start and end of an 8-0 run, which put the Waves ahead 27-24 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half. A jumper right before the halftime buzzer by freshman forward Ramon Eaton (Sacramento, Calif./Sheldon HS) sent the teams into halftime tied 31-31.
Hawai'i Coach Gib Arnold, a former Pepperdine assistant coach, brought the Rainbow Warriors into Firestone Fieldhouse for the first time ever. Hawai'i had won the previous four matchups, and the last Pepperdine victory came in January 1963 at home.
Pepperdine next visits Northern Arizona this Wednesday (Dec. 7) at 5:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. MT. Fans can listen to Al Epstein's broadcast via WaveCasts at www.pepperdinesports.com and join in on an interactive live blog/chat. The game will also be shown locally on Prime Ticket.
