MALIBU, California – Colbey Ross had 26 points and nine assists to lead the Pepperdine men's basketball team to a 94-45 victory in its home opener over Saint Katherine on Thursday night.
 
The Waves (2-1) led 53-22 at halftime against the Firebirds, an NAIA school playing this game as an exhibition.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS), a Naismith and Wooden national player of the year candidate, raised his three-game season averages to 24.0 points and 6.7 assists. He made 10 of 16 shots and sank six three-pointers.
• Junior forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
• Grad transfer forward Kene Chukwuka (Stockholm, Sweden/Pitt) recorded the first double-double of his college career with a career-high-tying 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. He also had four assists and three steals.
• Junior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) added 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves outshot the Firebirds 52.2% to 24.1%. Pepperdine made 70.7% of its two-point shots.
• Pepperdine went 15-for-16 from the foul line and improved its season mark at the line to 90.6%.
• The Waves had a 50-30 edge on the boards and a 54-14 advantage in points in the paint.
• Pepperdine had 26 assists on 36 baskets.
• Saint Katherine had 13 different players score but no player had more than six points.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves scored the first 15 points of the game and the Firebirds didn't get on the board until nearly seven minutes had passed. Pepperdine went up by 21 at 27-6 with 8:53 left in the half on a fast-break dunk by redshirt freshman guard Majok Deng (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic HS). It became a 30-point game at 49-18 on an Edwards basket late in the first half.
 
At 58-28 in the second half, the Waves went on a 28-5 run over nine minutes to take their biggest lead of the game, 55 points, at 86-33 with seven minutes to go.
 
NOTABLES 

• Sophomore guard Andre Ball (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills HS) saw his first action since March 2019 and he recorded five points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.
• Junior guard Jay Yoon (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia HS) scored his first career points and he finished with five points and three rebounds.
• Victor Ohia Obioha and Jan Zidek were held out for precautionary reasons with minor injuries.
• Pepperdine won its home opener for the 10th season in a row.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine will play its third game in Viejas Arena in 12 days when the Waves return to San Diego to take on San Diego State on Sunday (Dec. 6) at 1:30 p.m. Last week, Pepperdine played UC Irvine and UCLA in SDSU's multi-team event. Sunday's game will be televised locally in San Diego and streamed elsewhere via GoAztecs.com.