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Box Score

MALIBU, California -- A cold spell early in the second half was the difference as the short-handed Pepperdine men's basketball team fell at home to San Diego, 76-68, on Saturday afternoon in West Coast Conference play.

The Waves (5-11, 1-3) trailed the Toreros (8-8, 1-3) by just one point at 39-38 but Pepperdine then went scoreless for the next 5 1/2 minutes, and San Diego took advantage to the tune of a 10-point run. The Waves never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Senior guard Lamond Murray Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif./Bishop Montgomery HS) led all scorers with 23 points while senior forward Chris Reyes (La Verne, Calif./Damien HS/Utah) added 20.

Senior guard Jeremy Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) would add 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while freshman forward Craig LeCesne (Oxie, Sweden/St. James School) contributed nine points off the bench. But only five Waves in all got on the scoreboard.

San Diego outshot Pepperdine 48.2% to 46.3%. The Toreros made nine three-pointers to the Waves' six and had a 40-27 advantage in rebounding.

The Waves only led for a total of one minute and 18 seconds of the contest. It was 9-6 after a basket by Reyes, and 24-23 with 8:15 left in the first half after a three-point play by Murray. San Diego went into halftime with a 37-36 advantage.

The teams traded baskets to open the second half, with a lay-up by Murray making it 39-38 in San Diego's favor with 19:25 to play. But that would be Pepperdine's last point for nearly 5 1/2 minutes, until a free throw by Major with 13:59 left. During that spell, the Waves missed six shots and made four turnovers.

The 10-0 run gave the Toreros their first double-digit lead of the game at 49-38, and it stayed in double-figures for most of the rest of the way.

San Diego's Tyler Williams matched his previous career high of 16 points by halftime, and he finished with a team-high 20. Four Toreros scored in double-figures, including Juwan Gray, who had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Freshman guard Elijah Lee (Houston, Texas/HCYA Warriors) had another season high in his second career start with seven assists. Freshman forward Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) was the fifth Wave to get on the board with five points.

Pepperdine was again without two expected starters. Senior point guard Amadi Udenyi (Oakland, Calif./De La Salle HS) was lost for the season on November 27 due to a torn Achilles tendon. Sophomore forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) has not returned since suffering a fractured jaw in the preseason.

Next week, Pepperdine visits Pacific on Thursday (Jan. 12) for a 7 p.m. game that will be shown on TheW.tv. The Waves will then return home for a Saturday (Jan. 14) game against Santa Clara at 5 p.m. that will again be the WCC Game of the Week, shown locally on Spectrum SportsNet. Both games will also have audio WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call at PepperdineWaves.com.