Final Stats

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tennessee " Playing without two starters again, the Pepperdine men's basketball team lost at Belmont, 79-62, on Saturday afternoon in the Curb Event Center.

Belmont (7-5) entered the game as one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams and improved its season totals by going 16-for-35 (45.7%). The Waves (3-8) were 2-for-15 (13.3%) from distance.

BIG WAVES

• Freshman guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had a team-high 14 points and made seven of 11 shots.
• Junior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) scored 13 off the bench in his second game of the season.
• Sophomore forward Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) recorded nine points.

KEY STATS

• Field goal percentages were near equal with Belmont at 53.6% and Pepperdine at 53.3%.
• More than half of Belmont's shots (35 of 56) and makes (16 of 30) were three-pointers. The 16 made threes were the most this season by a Pepperdine opponent. The Bruins made nine in the first half and seven in the second.
• The Bruins had advantages of 18-14 in points off turnovers and 11-2 in second-chance points.
• Belmont had four players in double-figures, led by Amanze Egekeze with 21 points. He made five three-pointers.

PLAY BY PLAY

The Waves scored first, but the Bruins' first two three-pointers of the game put them ahead to stay. Belmont took its first double-digit lead at 33-22 on its ninth three-pointer of the half, and eventually went into the break with a 37-26 lead.

The Waves got the game back into single-digits at 46-37 with 15 1/2 minutes left, but that's as close as Pepperdine would get in the second half. The Bruins went up by 25 before the Waves scored the final eight points of the game.

NOTABLES

• Kameron Edwards, the Waves' leading scorer and rebounder, missed his second straight game due to a concussion. Matthew Atewe (back) didn't play for the fourth straight game.
• The Waves' total number of player-games missed due to injury is up to 28 this season. Pepperdine hasn't had its expected starting lineup available for a single game this season, and the Waves have been without two starters in six of the 11 games.
• This was Pepperdine's second game ever against Belmont, and the first meeting in Nashville.

UP NEXT

Pepperdine closes out non-conference play at Weber State on Tuesday (Dec. 19) at 6 p.m. PT. Fans can listen to an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call.