MALIBU, California – Kessler Edwards scored a career-high 23 points and the Pepperdine men's basketball team had a strong second half in defeating Idaho State, 77-65, on Friday night.
 
The Waves (4-6) trailed 34-33 at halftime but outscored the Bengals (3-4) 44-31 over the final 20 minutes.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had his fourth double-double of the season, and his second in a row. In addition to his 23 points on 11-for-17 shooting, he pulled down 12 rebounds. His previous high was 22 points at CSUN last month.
• Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) reached double-figures for the first time in his career with 11 points. He also had season highs of three rebounds, three steals, two assists and 22 minutes played. He had a game-best +16 plus-minus.
• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) was held to eight points but he also had eight assists, putting him just two shy of the school's career record.
• Sophomore center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had season highs of eight points and six rebounds before fouling out.

KEY STATS 

• After shooting 40.0% in the first half, the Waves were at 53.3% in the second and finished at 46.2%.
• The Bengals went from 56.5% in the first to 30.0% in the second for 41.5% overall.
• The WCC's best three-point shooting team last year and still one of the best thus far this season, the Waves went an uncharacteristic 1-for-17 from behind the arc. Idaho State was 6-for-20.
• Pepperdine did continue its performance as one of the nation's best free throw shooting teams, making 16 of 17 (94.1%).
• Pepperdine grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and enjoyed a 19-4 edge in second-chance points.
• Idaho State was led by Tarik Cool's 21 points.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Idaho State jumped out to an 11-5 lead early, but an 8-0 Pepperdine run – the last six scored by Edwards – gave the Waves their only lead of the first half at 13-11. Idaho State built its largest lead of the game at eight points at 32-24, but the Waves would later score the final six points of the first half, including an Edwards follow dunk at the buzzer, cutting the deficit to 34-33.
 
The Waves took the lead back with the first basket of the second half, and other than a couple of ties in the next two minutes, Pepperdine wouldn't trail again. At 47-45, the Waves went on a 12-2 run to push the lead to 59-47 with nine minutes to go. Back-to-back lay-ups by Ohia Obioha gave Pepperdine its largest lead of 17 points at 73-56 with 3 1/2 minutes left.
 
NOTABLES 

• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) missed his second straight game after suffering a broken nose against UCF on November 29.
• With his eight assists today, Ross raised his career total to 492. He's second all-time at Pepperdine and is now just two behind Jeremy Major's school record of 494.
• Freshman forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) made his first career start.

UP NEXT
 
After a week off for final exams, the Waves' four-game homestand continues a week from Saturday (Dec. 14) against Central Arkansas at 5 p.m. The game can be seen online via WaveCasts on the WCC Network with Al Epstein on the call.