Final Stats

Box Score

MALIBU, California " Jeremy Major and Lamond Murray Jr. both scored 21 points and Murray surpassed the 1,000-point career mark, but the short-handed Pepperdine men's basketball team fell to Belmont, 85-77, on Saturday evening in Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Bruins (3-3) hit a barrage of three-pointers early and took a 23-point lead during the first half. The Waves (4-4) battled back and eventually got within six points in the second half.

Murray (Los Angeles, Calif./Bishop Montgomery HS), a senior guard, reached the 1,000-point mark on a jumper late in the first half. He's the 40th player in program history to reach that milestone. Murray has scored at least 20 points in six of the eight games this season.

Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) also had six assists and six rebounds to go with his season-high 21 points. The senior guard was making his 100th career start tonight. Senior forward Chris Reyes (La Verne, Calif./Damien HS/Utah) had 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Belmont made its first six three-point shots, all in the first four minutes, to jump out to a quick 18-5 lead. Belmont's lead grew to 23 points on two occasions, first at 33-10 and again at 36-13 after the Bruins' eighth three-pointer with 8:29 left in the first half.

Reyes had eight points and Major had seven over the final seven minutes of the first half as the Waves trimmed the halftime deficit to 13 at 47-34.

Pepperdine got it back to single-digits at 59-51 on a Murray basket with under 12 minutes to play, and it was a six-point game at 61-55 with 10 1/2 minutes left after another jumper by Murray. Belmont ran the lead back up to 17 at 79-62 with 5 1/2 minutes left, however.

The Waves had another run in them to get the final margin back to single-digits, outscoring the Bruins 11-3 over the final four minutes.

Belmont outshot Pepperdine, 51.6% to 47.8%. After making nine of 18 three-pointers in the first half, the Bruins cooled off to 41.9% for the game (13-for-31). The Waves committed a season-low eight turnovers and forced nine, yet Belmont had a 17-8 edge in points off turnovers.

Several freshmen also contributed for Pepperdine. Knox Hellums (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran HS) added eight points and Elijah Lee (Houston, Texas/HCYA Warriors) had five points and four assists. After missing the first seven games with a knee injury, Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) made his debut and scored four points.

Belmont, which has played in the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last 11 years, was led by 2016 All-American Evan Bradds, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor Barnette made five three-pointers en route to 20 points, while Austin Luke had four three-pointers and 14 points.

The Waves played their first game since losing senior guard Amadi Udenyi (Oakland, Calif./De La Salle HS) for the season to a torn Achilles tendon. Sophomore forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) is also out with a fractured jaw, meaning the Waves are without two projected starters.

Pepperdine now plays its next six games on the road and won't be home again until January 5. Next week, the Waves are at Long Beach State (Wednesday, Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m.) and USC (Sunday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.). Fans can listen to both games via WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com with Al Epstein on the call. The USC game will be shown on the Pac-12 Network.