SAN DIEGO, California – Lorenzo Romar earned his 400th career head coaching victory,
Colbey Ross scored a career-high 27 points and
Kameron Edwards had a season-high 23 points as the Pepperdine men's basketball team picked up a long-awaited road win, beating San Diego 76-71 on Saturday afternoon.
The Toreros (12-6, 1-2) were 9-0 this season in the Jenny Craig Pavilion entering today. The Waves (9-9, 2-2) were 0-6 in road games this season coming in. This was actually Pepperdine's first road victory in nearly two years since winning here in San Diego in February 2017.
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) scored a career-high 27 points, as he made eight of 13 shots, three of six three-pointers and eight of eight free throws. Twenty of his 27 points came in the second half.
- Junior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored 14 of his 23 points in the first half. He also finished with eight rebounds.
- Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) came off the bench to score 13 points, 10 of them coming in the second half.
KEY STATS
- Shooting percentages were almost equal with USD at 48.1% and the Waves at 48.0%.
- The Waves doubled up the Toreros on three-pointers made (eight to four) and outscored them at the foul line, going 20-for-25 to 15-for-18.
- The Waves forced 15 turnovers, committed 10, and had an 18-12 edge in points off turnovers.
- USD had four players score in double-figures, led by Isaiah Pineiro's 19 points.
PLAY BY PLAY
The first half saw six ties and three lead changes. Ross had the first five points in a 9-0 run that made it 13-8 in the Waves favor. Trailing 24-20, the Waves ended the half on a 10-2 run that featured three-pointers by both Edwards brothers, making it 30-26 in the Waves' favor. The biggest lead of the half by either team was five points.
The Waves went up by eight at 36-28 early in the second half, and it was 47-40 with 12 minutes left after a Ross three-pointer. But the Toreros then went on a 15-4 run over four minutes to reclaim the lead at 55-51.
The advantage went back and forth until the final three-plus minutes. With USD ahead 63-61, Ross made two free throws and a lay-up, then assisted on a
Kessler Edwards three-pointer, putting Pepperdine up 68-63 with under two minutes to play. With four more free throws, Ross extended the run to 11-1 and made it 72-64 with under a minute to go.
Until a three-pointer in the final seconds, the Toreros had only had one field goal in the final eight minutes, and none in the final 4 1/2 minutes. The Waves made their final 11 free throws attempts and went 14-for-15 in the final five minutes.
NOTABLES
- The Waves had lost their final two road games of 2016-17, all 14 road games last year and the first six road games of the season.
- Pepperdine has led at halftime in all four WCC games.
- The Waves have now won at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in five of the last six years.
- The Waves were coming off a pair of three-point losses in WCC games to San Francisco and Santa Clara.
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Lorenzo Romar said: "Maybe I shouldn't have joked about it but down the stretch, two or three minutes left, I said, 'One thing's for sure guys, we've had a lot of practice in these situations, but now we've got to take the next step.' Our guys did a great job moving the basketball. USD had their way with us for a spell in the second half but we regrouped and began to guard. Basically we told the guys let's just finish the game, we've been here before."
UP NEXT
Pepperdine returns home for a game on Thursday (Jan. 17) against BYU at 8 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse. It will be televised by ESPNU and it can also be heard on WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.
