Final Stats

Pepperdine-Gonzaga Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. " Jeremy Major tied his career high with 21 points but a huge early deficit was too much to overcome as the Pepperdine men's basketball team lost its West Coast Conference opener at Gonzaga, 99-73, on Monday night.

The Bulldogs (9-3, 1-0) led 37-9 just after the midway point of the first half and the Waves (7-5, 0-1) got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way as their five-game winning streak came to an end.

Pepperdine entered the contest ranked fifth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense but Gonzaga was unstoppable from deep, going 16-for-26 (61.5%), including eight of 10 in the second half. Eight different Bulldogs made a three.

"They started off fast," Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson said. "Our game plan was to not let Sabonis and Wiltjer go for 60 like they did the other day. Maybe our team focused too much on them. The other guys hadn't been shooting well, but after a couple of guys hit threes, it just became contagious … We didn't adjust quick enough to what they were doing. We allowed too many guys to get comfortable."

Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS), a junior guard, made seven of 11 shots and six of seven free throws, and also had three assists. He previously scored 21 against Fresno State on Nov. 14, 2014. Senior forward Stacy Davis (Laveen, Ariz./Fairfax HS) scored 15 points and moved into 12th place on the Waves' all-time scoring list. Senior forward Jett Raines (Coppell, Texas/Coppell HS) added 10 points.

The Waves shot decently (45.6% overall) and committed a season-low six turnovers but Gonzaga's shooting (55.2% overall) and rebounding edge (38-25) was too much to overcome.

At 37-9, the Bulldogs had made 15 of 18 shots, including 12 straight makes at one point, as well as seven of eight three-pointers. Gonzaga had already put together runs of 11-0 and 12-0.

Major helped get the Waves going from that point forward, as he scored 10 points during a 12-0 Pepperdine run that made the score 37-21 with 5:48 left in the first half. A 5-0 run made it a 13-point game at 43-30 with 1:58 left, but the Bulldogs went into halftime with a 48-32 advantage. Major scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half.

The Waves wouldn't get any closer in the second half as the Bulldogs maintained at least a 20-point lead for most of the half.

Pepperdine did a nice job on the WCC's leading scorer, Kyle Wiltjer, limiting him to nine points. But Domantas Sabonis scored 23 points and Gonzaga's backcourt played well, led by Josh Perkins' 17 points and 5-for-6 three-point shooting.

The Waves close out the Pacific Northwest trip at Portland on Wednesday (Dec. 23) at 6 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN and fans can also listen online via WaveCasts at PepperdineSports.com with Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein on the call.