Pepperdine University
Duquesne
Men's Hoops Knocks Off Duquesne at Gulf Coast Showcase
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ESTERO, Fla. -- Behind a 21-point, 15-rebound performance by senior forward Stacy Davis, the Pepperdine men's basketball team knocked off Duquesne, 84-70, in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Monday.
The Waves (2-2) now advance to the semifinals, where they'll play Murray State (3-1) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET.
Davis (Laveen, Ariz./Fairfax HS) tied his career high for rebounds, and already had a season-high 10 of them by halftime. He scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half. Davis set a career high with four three-pointers. It was his 21st career double-double (giving him sole possession of 10th place all-time at Pepperdine) and he moved into a tie for 17th place on the Waves' all-time scoring list.
The Waves also got season highs from both freshman forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) and senior forward Jett Raines (Coppell, Texas/Coppell HS), who scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Edwards was 5-for-6 from the field and Raines added nine rebounds.
It was an impressive win for the Waves, who handed the Dukes (3-1) their first loss. Duquesne was coming off a 26-point win over Penn State.
The Dukes entered the contest making 44.6% of their three-pointers, but the Waves held them to a 0-for-13 effort in the first half as Pepperdine jumped out to a 36-21 lead at halftime.
Duquesne had an early 11-6 lead, but sophomore guard Shawn Olden (Tulsa, Okla/Union HS), who missed the first three games due to an ankle injury, nailed a three-pointer on his very first touch of the season. He later hit another three-pointer to cap an 11-0 run and put the Waves up 17-11 (a lead they would never relinquish).
A 12-2 run that included three-pointers by Davis, Edwards and sophomore guard A.J. Lapray (Salem, Ore./Sprague HS/Oregon) -- Lapray was also making his season debut -- put the Waves up 35-19 late in the first half.
After going up by 15 at halftime, the Waves took their largest lead of 19 points at both 40-21 and 42-23 early in the second half. Duquesne finally got its long-range shooting going after halftime, and six three-pointers helped the Dukes get the game back into single-digits on a couple of occasions.
It was 49-41 with 13 1/2 minutes to play, but Davis hit back-to-back three-pointers and later tacked on a free throw for a personal 7-0 run, pushing the lead back up to 56-41 with 12:11 to play.
The Waves' lead was just seven at 72-65 with 3:08 left after a Dukes three-pointer, but junior guard Jeremy Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) answered with one of his own with 2:26 left and Duquesne didn't threaten again.
The Waves made a total of 14 three-pointers in the first three games of the season (and made 29.8% of their attempts), but went 10-for-20 against the Dukes. Overall, Pepperdine outshot Duquesne 42.4% to 38.8%. The Dukes wound up 6-for-27 (22.2%) from distance.
"I liked our competitiveness, especially defensively," Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson said. "We wanted to eliminate their transition, and we did a solid job with that. We wanted to limit their threes and we did a great job of that. That's what they like to do, they shoot threes."
Pepperdine's next opponent, Murray State, is coming off a 29-win season that included an appearance in the NIT. The Racers defeated Milwaukee, 66-63, in the first round on Monday. For both remaining games at the Gulf Coast Showcase, fans can listen to Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein on WaveCasts at PepperdineSports.com, and all contests will also be live streamed on YouTube.
