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Pepperdine University Athletics

Victor Ohia Obioha at UC Riverside
Roger Horne
Victor Ohia Obioha
71
Pepperdine PEP 5-4
75
Winner UC Riverside UCR 3-7
Pepperdine PEP
5-4
71
Final
75
UC Riverside UCR
3-7
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Pepperdine PEP 35 36 71
UC Riverside UCR 33 42 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | by Athletic Communications

Men's Hoops Falls at UC Riverside

RIVERSIDE, California – The Pepperdine men's basketball team lost at UC Riverside 75-71 in non-conference play on Thursday evening.
 
The Waves (5-4) took a 64-63 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left, but the Highlanders (3-7) pulled away for the win. It was a close game throughout, with 11 lead changes and both schools taking a maximum lead of seven points.
 
BIG WAVES
  • Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had team highs of 19 points (14 in the first half) and six assists. He made four three-pointers.
  • Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored 14 points.
  • Senior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) sank three three-pointers and scored 13 points.
  • Senior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Kinston HS/Miami Dade JC) scored 10 points.
KEY STATS
  • UC Riverside shot 50% or better in both halves and finished at 52.7% for the game. The Waves were in the 40s in both halves and shot 45.5%.
  • Pepperdine made 11 three-pointers to UCR's eight, and 10 free throws to the Highlanders' nine.
  • The Waves were outrebounded 31-22.
  • UCR got 22 points from Dikymbe Martin and 20 from Menno Dijkstra.
PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves led for 18 of the 20 first-half minutes. Pepperdine led by as many as seven points on multiple occasions, the first one coming at 18-11 after a Cooper Jr. three-pointer. The last time was at 31-24 after a Ross four-point play. But UCR came right back with a 7-0 run to tie the game, and only a late basket by Dunn sent Pepperdine into the break with a 35-33 lead.
 
The Waves scored the first five points of the second half to go back in front by seven at 40-33. But UCR would rally to take its first lead since 3-2 at 45-44 with 13 minutes left. The Highlander lead would grow to seven at 56-49 with under nine minutes to play.
 
Freshman guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) and Ross then both hit three-pointers to start an 8-0 run that put Pepperdine back in front 57-56 with a little more than six minutes to go. The Waves' last lead came at 64-63 with 3:29 left after a Ross lay-up, but Pepperdine would then go 2 1/2 minutes without scoring.
 
UCR scored the next four points to take the lead for good. The Waves had to foul late, but the Highlanders went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final minute.
 
NOTABLES
  • Junior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) who came into the game as the Waves' second-leading scorer, missed his fifth game in a row and his sixth of the season due to injury.
  • Sophomore guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS), who left Monday's CSUN game with a first-half injury, was back in the starting lineup tonight.
  • The all-time series is now 6-2 in Pepperdine's favor. UCR's only previous win was in December 1977.
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine finishes up a stretch of four games in eight days this Saturday (Dec. 8) when the Waves host Jackson State at 7 p.m. Al Epstein will have the call for WaveCasts on TheW.tv.
 
 
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