Final Stats

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, California " With three-fifths of the starting lineup in street clothes, the short-handed Pepperdine men's basketball team suffered an 82-61 PCH Cup loss at rival Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (13-14, 6-10) took sole possession of sixth place in the West Coast Conference over the Waves (9-19, 5-11) with the victory at Gersten Pavilion.

Senior forward Chris Reyes (La Verne, Calif./Damien HS/Utah), a graduate transfer who started the first 27 games of the season, played only seven minutes on Thursday at Santa Clara after aggravating a foot injury in the first half. The Waves' second-leading scorer and top rebounder did not play today and his status is considered day-to-day. Reyes had 21 points and the game-winning basket in Pepperdine's 71-70 home victory over LMU earlier this season.

Along with Amadi Udenyi (Achilles tendon), and Kameron Edwards (jaw), three members of Pepperdine's expected starting lineup at the start of the year did not suit up against the Lions. The Waves had only eight available scholarship players.

Pepperdine led early and trailed just 36-32 at halftime, but struggled to make shots in the second half.

Senior guard Lamond Murray Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif./Bishop Montgomery HS) scored a team-high 18 points and passed Pepperdine legend Doug Christie for 17th place on the Waves' all-time scoring list. Freshman forward Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) scored a career-high 17 points, while senior guard Jeremy Major (Pasadena, Calif./Maranatha HS) added 13 points.

Even with Murray picking up two early fouls and having to go to the bench, the Waves were locked in defensively and gave up only five points in the first nine minutes. At one point Pepperdine harassed LMU into 11 consecutive missed shots and a stretch of nearly six minutes without a point. A 10-0 run, with five points by Major, put the Waves ahead 14-5.

LMU got it going from there, however, hitting five three-pointers in a three-minute span as part of an 18-0 run, giving the Lions a 23-14 lead with 7:25 to go. Pepperdine closed the gap a bit down the stretch, and LMU led 36-32 at halftime.

The Waves got it down to a one-point game at 36-35 after a basket by Taylor. But that would be the Waves' final field goal for 9 1/2 minutes, and although the Waves were able to get to the free throw line, the Lions had gone ahead 56-41. Major finally ended the drought, which included nine straight missed shots, with 9:38 left. But LMU continued to score and eventually led by as many as 26 late.

Two days after the Waves gave up a WCC-record-tying 22 three-pointers at Santa Clara, LMU went 16-for-28 from distance (57.1%). The Lions' Steven Haney had seven of them and a game-high 25 points.

Pepperdine shot 36.5% for the game, which included a 7-for-25 showing (28.0%) in the second half. The Lions were at 52.7% overall and made 61.5% of their second-half shots.

Freshman guard Elijah Lee (Houston, Texas/HCYA Warriors) contributed seven points, a team- and season-high seven rebounds and three assists.

Pepperdine was denied in its first opportunity to record its 100th victory over LMU. The Waves lead the all-time series 99-67 and this was only the Lions' second victory in the last 10 meetings.

The Waves wrap up the regular season at home next weekend. Pepperdine hosts #22 Saint Mary's on Thursday (Feb. 23, 7 p.m., TheW.tv) and San Francisco on Saturday (Feb. 25, 1 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet). There will also be audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.