MALIBU, California – Colbey Ross became Pepperdine men's basketball's all-time assist leader, Kessler Edwards scored a career-high 30 points and the Waves rolled past Central Arkansas, 92-79, on Saturday night.
 
The Waves (5-6) cleared 90 points for the third time this season and sent the Bears (1-9) to their eighth straight loss.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. His third assist of the night gave him 495 for his career, passing Jeremy Major's career total of 494 set from 2014-17. Ross, who has more career assists than any junior in the country with an even 500, set the record in 49 fewer games.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) set a new career high for the second game in a row while posting his third consecutive double-double. His 30 points came on 11-for-17 shooting along with three three-pointers and five free throws. He grabbed 12 rebounds for the second straight game. It was his fifth double-double of the season. He scored 23 points the last time out against Idaho State.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) missed the two games with a broken nose but he returned to the starting lineup and collected 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
• Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) scored 11 points.
• Sophomore guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) had seven points, four assists and two steals.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves outshot the Bears 44.8% to 39.4%, a season low by a Pepperdine opponent.
• The Waves came into the game with the best free throw percentage in the country at 85.5% and continued to help themselves by going 24-for-27 (88.9%) at the line.
• Nearly half of UCA's shots were three-pointers, where the Bears went 11-for-32. The Waves went 8-for-24 from deep, but also enjoyed a 38-28 edge on points in the paint.
• Central Arkansas was led by Eddy Kayouloud's 18 points, one of four Bears in double-figures.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves scored the first six points in the game and never trailed. They went up 13-3 after five minutes after a dunk and three-pointer by Kessler Edwards.
 
Ross' record-breaking assist came with 8:42 left in the first half when he fed freshman forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) on a fast-break lay-up.
 
The Waves' biggest first-half lead was 14 points, first at 36-22 with four minutes left after a three-pointer by freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) and again at 38-24. Pepperdine went into halftime with a 42-34 lead.
 
Central Arkansas closed the gap to three points a few times early in the second half. At 51-47, Ross converted a four-point play, jump-starting an 8-2 run that got the lead back up to 10 at 59-49.
 
At 70-59, Kameron and Kessler Edwards combined for the next 14 Pepperdine points (eight by Kameron) as the Waves pushed the advantage to 84-65 with 4 1/2 minutes left. A lay-up by Chavez gave the Waves their first 20-point lead at 86-65, and Pepperdine took its biggest lead at 90-67 on a ferocious Kessler Edwards dunk with less than three minutes remaining.
 
NOTABLES 

• This was only the second meeting between the Waves and Bears and the first in 73 years, with Pepperdine previously winning in the first round of the 1946 NAIB Championships.
• Pepperdine has made 80% or better of its free throws in 10 of 11 games.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves' four-game homestand continues on Tuesday (Dec. 17) against Portland State at 7 p.m. The game can be seen online via WaveCasts on the WCC Network with Al Epstein on the call.