Final Stats

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, California -- One of the best defensive efforts of the season lifted the Pepperdine men's basketball team into a three-game winning streak and to its first true road win with a 65-60 victory at San Diego on Saturday evening.

The Waves (9-17, 5-9) matched their season low for points by an opponent and held the Toreros (11-15, 4-10) to 37.7% shooting.

Pepperdine, which shot an even 50.0% for the contest, had a great first half in taking a 40-27 lead, then had to hold on during a more sluggish second half.

Senior guard Lamond Murray Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif./Bishop Montgomery HS), the WCC's top scorer, led all players with 17 points. Senior guard Jeremy Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) and freshman forward Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) both contributed 10 points.

With five assists tonight, Major became the first Wave in program history to record 100+ assists in all four of his seasons.

"We didn't buckle in the second half," Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson said. "They made their run. But we switched up defenses, got stops when we needed them and got rebounds when we needed them. What they run is very difficult to guard. The key was to be solid and to mix up our defenses, and it slowed them up to where they couldn't get comfortable."

The Toreros came out firing early, making four early three-pointers en route to a 17-13 lead at the 11:21 mark. But the Waves went on a big run from there, reeling off 14 consecutive points to go up 27-17. Major and Murray each scored five points as the Waves held the Toreros without a point for more than six minutes.

An 8-0 run followed not long after (making the overall run 22-3), pushing Pepperdine's lead to 35-20, its biggest advantage of the game. The Waves went into the break 40-27 after shooting 66.7% from the field in the first half.

The second half was a struggle for both sides, particularly at the start for the Waves. San Diego closed the gap to three points at 45-42 and if not for a couple of three-pointers by senior guard Jonathan Allen (Nashville, Tenn./Ravenwood HS), Pepperdine would have had very little offense for the first nine minutes.

It was just a four-point game at 51-47 with five minutes left when Taylor scored to make it six, and Major hit a three-pointer to beat the shot clock with 3:33 left to make it a nine-point lead at 56-47. The Waves got the lead up to 12 at 60-48 with two minutes left after a pair of buckets by Taylor.

The Toreros closed the gap in the final two minutes by fouling for profit, but the Waves made just enough free throws down the stretch to earn the victory.

The Waves shot 33.3% from the field in the second half. The Toreros shot about 37% in both halves. Both teams left points at the free-throw line, where Pepperdine went 10-for-22 and USD was 13-for-22. Both teams made seven three-pointers, but the Waves did it on 15 attempts while the Toreros took 21.

Senior forward Chris Reyes (La Verne, Calif./Damien HS/Utah) had eight points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. In addition to his six points, Allen pulled down a team-high and career-high seven rebounds. Freshman guard Elijah Lee (Houston, Texas/HCYA Warriors) had seven points and three assists.

The Toreros also had three players score in double-figures, led by Brett Bailey's 15 points.

Pepperdine's senior class, which improved to 4-0 in home games against BYU with a 99-83 victory on Thursday night, will also end their careers with a 4-0 record in road games at San Diego.

Because of various ailments, Pepperdine had only eight scholarship players while dressing 11. Senior point guard Amadi Udenyi (Achilles tendon), sophomore forward Kameron Edwards (jaw) -- both expected starters -- and freshman guard Kaijae Yee-Stephens (ankle) all remain out. Freshman forward Craig LeCesne was held out due to an illness.

The Waves are in the midst of three consecutive games on the road. They'll be at Santa Clara on Thursday (Feb. 16, 7 p.m., TheW.tv) and Loyola Marymount on Saturday (Feb. 18, 3 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet). There will also be audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.