Skip To Main Content

Pepperdine University Athletics

Eric Cooper Jr. at USF
Roger Horne
Eric Cooper Jr.
77
Pepperdine PEP 12-14, 5-7 WCC
89
Winner San Francisco USF 19-6, 7-4 WCC
Pepperdine PEP
12-14, 5-7 WCC
77
Final
89
San Francisco USF
19-6, 7-4 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Pepperdine PEP 44 33 77
San Francisco USF 36 53 89

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

USF's Second-Half Rally Sinks Short-Handed Waves

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Despite playing without two starters, the Pepperdine men's basketball team gave San Francisco all it could handle for a while, but the Dons' three-point barrage was too much as USF rallied for an 89-77 West Coast Conference victory on Thursday night.
 
Pepperdine (12-14, 5-7) took a 44-36 lead at the half and went up by 12 early in the second half, but the Dons (19-6, 7-4) hit 14 three-pointers on the night and had a big 23-2 run down the stretch to keep hold of a spot in the top three in the WCC.
 
BIG WAVES
  • Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had team highs of 21 points and nine assists. He just missed out on becoming only the second Wave ever to record 10 assists in three consecutive games.
  • Senior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) sank five three-pointers and scored 19 points, his most in a league game this season.
  • Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
  • Senior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Kinston HS/Miami Dade JC) also had his best game in WCC play this season with 12 points, all on four three-pointers.
KEY STATS
  • The Waves used only seven players.
  • The Waves shot 57.1% in the first half but just 40.7% in the second, and finished at 49.1% overall.
  • The Dons went from 50.0% in the first half to 56.7% in the second, good for 53.4% overall.
  • USF's 14 three-pointers (on 26 attempts, 53.8%) was a season high by a Pepperdine opponent. The Waves entered the game first in the WCC in three-point defense in league games.
  • The Waves also fared well from deep, shooting 11-for-25 (44.0%).
  • San Francisco got a career-high 29 points from Jordan Ratinho. He went 7-for-9 on three-pointers.
PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves got off to a great start, as Cooper Jr. had eight points in the first four minutes and Pepperdine jumped out to a 12-6 lead. But USF's Ratinho then scored eight straight points by himself, giving the Dons the lead at 14-12. Pepperdine rebounded with a 9-0 run, the first four points on dunks by freshman center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS), making it 21-14.
 
USF went on a tear from distance (and hit eight three-pointers in the first half, five by Ratinho) and the last two threes made it 36-32 in the Dons' favor with a little less than four minutes to go in the half. But the Waves responded by scoring the final 12 points before the break, the first five by Edwards, making it 44-36 Pepperdine at halftime.
 
A Cooper three-pointer to start the second half made it a double-digit lead at 47-36, and threes by Edwards and Dunn made it 53-41 with 17 minutes to go. The Waves still had a 10-point lead at 65-55 with 11 minutes left after another Cooper three, and it was 69-62 with eight minutes left.
 
But the Dons scored the next 10 points to regain the lead, and while Ross made two free throws to end that streak, USF went on to score another 13 consecutive points, putting the Dons ahead 85-71 with a minute left. The Waves went more than seven minutes with a field goal.
 
NOTABLES
  • Junior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) injured his left foot at the end of Saturday's San Diego game. He is out indefinitely.
  • Sophomore guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) was a passenger in an automobile accident this past weekend. He was held out tonight, but it is hoped that he will be back in the lineup on Saturday.
  • Freshman guard Andre Ball (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills HS) made his first career start.
  • This was the 17th time in 26 games that the Waves were in a five-point game or less in the final five minutes.
  • Ross moved up to eighth place on Pepperdine all-time assist list and he now has 371. He also moved up to fourth on the single-season assist list with 192, and tied for second on the free throw made list with 180.
  • Cooper now has 69 three-pointers, moving him into eighth on Pepperdine's single-season list.
  • The Waves have only won in one of their last 10 trips to San Francisco.
UP NEXT
 
The Waves continue this Northern California road trip on Saturday (Feb. 16) at Saint Mary's at 8 p.m. Fans can listen to audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com, and it will be televised by Spectrum SportsNet.
 
Print Friendly Version