Final Stats

Box Score

STOCKTON, California " The Pepperdine men's basketball team got off to a dream start plus had 25 points apiece from Eric Cooper Jr. and Colbey Ross but Pacific still pulled off a 92-78 home victory in West Coast Conference play on Thursday evening.

The Waves (3-16, 0-7) hit their first eight shots and scored 21 points in the first five-plus minutes to go up by 13, but the Tigers (10-10, 5-2) eventually went ahead 47-37 at the break. It was still just a four-point game with 4 1/2 minutes left in the contest before Pacific finished with a big run.

BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) established a new career high with his 25 points. He made nine of 16 shots and sank three three-pointers. It was his first time scoring 20 points as a Wave.
• Freshman guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) matched his season high of 25 points and he also had eight assists, one off his best. He made eight of 14 shots and hit two three-pointers. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season.
• Junior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Miami Dade JC) had 13 points, his best output in a WCC game this season.
• Senior center Matthew Atewe (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Washington) grabbed 10 rebounds, his second time in double-figures this season.

KEY STATS

• The Waves shot 46.6% for the game to the Tigers' 60.0%. Pepperdine had slight edges in three-pointers (seven to five) and free throws made (17-for-24 to 15-for-19).
• Turnovers were close (12 for the Waves, 11 for the Tigers) but Pacific had a 21-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Pacific had four players in double-figures, led by Roberto Gallinat's 24 points and Jahlil Tripp's 21 points.

PLAY BY PLAY

Pepperdine could do no wrong in the first five-plus minutes, as the Waves made their first eight shots and jumped out to a 21-8 lead after a Ross three-point play with 14:47 left. Unfortunately, though, Pepperdine cooled off from there, making only five of 20 shots the rest of the half.

And after its slow start, Pacific took off, shooting 61% for the half (19-for-31), and going from 13 points down to ahead at 31-30, and eventually up 10 at the break at 47-37.

The Tigers went up by 14 at 60-46, but the Waves kept chipping away at the lead, getting it down to five points at 66-61 with eight minutes left after a Dunn basket. A Cooper Jr. three-pointer made it 74-70 with 4:35 to go, but the Tigers then scored 16 of the next 20 points to put the game away.

NOTABLES

• After missing the previous nine games with a concussion, Kameron Edwards played for the first time since December 5. The Waves' leading scorer and rebounder hadn't practiced much over the last month but contributed six points and three rebounds.
• Nolan Taylor (shoulder) and Jade' Smith (concussion) were out for their fourth and third game in a row, respectively.
• The Waves' total number of player-games missed due to injury or illness is up to 48 this season.

UP NEXT

The Waves continue their trip at San Francisco on Saturday (Jan. 20). The game is at 7 p.m. and it will be shown on TheW.tv and will have an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein.