Final Stats

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- The Pepperdine men's basketball team put together a fine effort on the road on Saturday night at San Francisco in West Coast Conference play but it wasn't quite enough in an 80-73 Dons win.

The Waves (3-17, 0-8 WCC) closed the gap to within a point or two seven times in the second half, including with under four minutes left, but each time the Dons (11-10, 3-5 WCC) responded.

BIG WAVES

• Sophomore forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS), in his second game back after missing a month due to a concussion, had a team-high 18 points after going 6-for-9 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line.
• Freshman guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) scored in double-figures for the 10th straight game with 15 points, and he also had five rebounds and four assists.
• Senior guard Amadi Udenyi (Oakland, Calif./De La Salle HS) had a season-high nine points to go with five assists.

KEY STATS

• Pepperdine ended up with a slightly better field goal percentage, 44.8% to 44.6%.
• The Waves also shot an excellent percentage from beyond the three-point line (7-for-15, 46.7%) but the Dons made more of them (11-for-31, 35.5%).
• Both teams left their share of points at the free throw line, as the Waves went 14-for-22 (63.6%) and the Dons went 19-for-29 (65.5%).
• In the first meeting, USF had a 42-4 edge in bench points. Tonight, the Waves led 34-24 in that category.
• The Dons had three players score in double-figures, led by Frankie Ferrari's 22 points.

PLAY BY PLAY

The Waves got off to a slow start and trailed 5-0, 13-5 and 18-8. It was also a 10-point game at 22-12 before six straight Pepperdine points. Pepperdine later closed the gap to two at 26-24 after a Kaijae Yee-Stephens three-pointer. But USF pushed the lead back up to nine before going into the break with a 37-30 advantage.

At 40-38 and 40-39, the Waves had multiple chances to tie the game or take the lead, but couldn't convert, and USF's Jamaree Bouyea then went on a tear with three three-pointers in three possessions to make the score 49-41 in the Dons' favor.

Edwards had an impressive stretch, helping the Waves get it back to two points at 49-47 and 52-50. The last two-point deficit came at 62-60 after a Darnell Dunn basket with under four minutes to go. The Dons scored the next four points, though Ross responded with a three-pointer to make it 68-65 with three minutes left.

That would be the Waves' last field goal for 2 1/2 minutes, however, and the Dons hit just enough free throws down the stretch to keep the game out of reach.

NOTABLES

• Nolan Taylor (shoulder) and Jade' Smith (concussion) were out for their fifth and fourth game in a row, respectively. The Waves' total number of player-games missed due to injury or illness is up to 50 this season.
• The Waves and Dons played for the second time in 15 days and USF swept the regular-season series.

UP NEXT

Pepperdine is home for four of the next five games, starting Thursday (Jan. 25) against PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount. The game is at 7 p.m. and it will be televised by Spectrum SportsNet, while there will also be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein.