ANAHEIM, California – Kessler Edwards scored 21 points for the Pepperdine men's basketball team but UCF pulled away late for a 78-65 victory in the consolation bracket of the Wooden Legacy on Friday evening.
 
The Waves (3-5) and Knights (4-2) were tied at 59 with eight minutes to go but UCF ended the game on a 19-6 run.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored 21 points, one off his career high set a couple of weeks ago at CSUN. He sank three three-pointers and grabbed six rebounds.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) was in and out of the game in the first half after having his nose bloodied. He finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had a rare game scoring in single-digits as he finished with eight points, but he also recorded a season-high 12 assists, one off his career high. This was his second time this season and the 12th in his career with double-digit assists.
• Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) scored 10 points.
• Sophomore guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) had eight points and four steals.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves were outshot 51.8% to 40.4% (60.7% to 48.3% in the second half).
• Pepperdine was held to a season-low five three-pointers on 24 attempts. UCF went 8-for-20.
• The best free throw shooting team in the country, Pepperdine continued its streak of making at least 80% of its foul shots in every game. The Waves were at 14-for-16 (87.5%), while the Knights were 12-for-18 (66.7%).
• UCF got 21 points off the bench from Ceasar DeJesus, one of four Knights in double-figures.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves' hot shooting from Thursday night's contest against Arizona didn't carry over to the first half on Friday, as Pepperdine shot 32.1% in the first half and at one point went nearly eight minutes without a field goal. But the Waves' free throw shooting kept them in the game, as they went 11-for-12 in the half and made eight of them during the field goal drought.
 
UCF led by as many as eight in the first half at 25-17 with six minutes left, but the Waves closed the gap and in the final minute, Polk made a pair of steals and fast-break lay-ups to give Pepperdine a 32-31 lead at the break.
 
The Waves had a great start to the second half, scoring the first seven points to take their biggest lead at 39-31. It unfortunately didn't last, as at 43-39, UCF went on a 14-0 run to retake the lead and go up 53-43 with 13 minutes left.
 
But for the second straight night, the Waves rallied back from a double-digit second-half deficit. A Kessler Edwards three-pointer capped off a 9-0 run, tying the game at 57 with 8 1/2 minutes to go.
 
With UCF up 62-61, the Waves went cold once again at an inopportune time and didn't score for five minutes, while the Knights went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 72-61 with 1:41 left. UCF hit all six of its free throws down the stretch as the Waves tried to extend the game.
 
NOTABLES 

• This was the first-ever meeting between Pepperdine and UCF.
• With his 12 assists tonight, Ross raised his career total to 481. He's second all-time at Pepperdine and is now just 13 behind Jeremy Major's school record of 494.

UP NEXT
 
After a day off, Pepperdine's final Wooden Legacy game will be for seventh place against Providence on Sunday (Dec. 1) at 3 p.m. on ESPNU. Fans can also listen to WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call at PepperdineWaves.com.