
Colbey Ross
Photo by: Martin A. Folb
Ross' Buzzer-Beating Three-Pointer Gives Waves 72-69 Win
2/13/2020 11:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, California – Colbey Ross added another indelible moment to his brilliant career, sinking a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer, as the Pepperdine men's basketball team pulled off another comeback victory with a 72-69 West Coast Conference win over San Diego on Thursday night.
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The Waves (14-12, 7-5) trailed by as many as 12 in the second half. They never had a second-half lead against the Toreros (9-18, 2-10) until Ross' buzzer-beating three-pointer from the top of the key, which followed a USD three-point miss at the other end.
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BIG WAVES
KEY STATSÂ
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The Waves led early, but not by more than four points. And their final lead until the very end of the game came at 16-15 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. USD scored the next eight points to make it 23-16, and later on the Toreros scored the final four points of the half to go into the break with a 43-33 lead. USD shot 55.6% from the field in the first half.
Neither team got off to a great start offensively early in the second half, but San Diego was able to take its biggest lead of 12 points at 52-40 with 14 1/2 minutes left after a pair of Hartfield three-pointers.
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Led by Ross, the Waves began to chip away. At 57-48, he sank a three-pointer, hit a short jumper and then fed Altman for a dunk to cut the deficit to two at 57-55 with nine minutes left.
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The Waves would get the deficit down to one at 60-59 and 63-62, and eventually tied the game at 65 on an Altman three-pointer. The teams traded baskets, but San Diego would go up 69-67 with 2:01 left on a Hartfield lay-up. That would be USD's final points.
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Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) made a free throw with 1:42 left to make it 69-68, and Kameron Edwards tied it with a free throw with 33 seconds left. The Toreros missed their final four shots of the game, including a three-point attempt with six seconds left.
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Junior guard Keith Smith (Seattle, Wash./Rainier Beach HS/Oregon) got the defensive rebound and quickly got the ball to Ross, who hurried up the floor and pulled up at the three-point line at the top of the arc. The ball was in the air as time expired and gave Pepperdine the win.
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NOTABLESÂ
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Pepperdine hosts #2 Gonzaga on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. The game is sold out, but the first 500 Pepperdine students with their IDs will be admitted.
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The Waves (14-12, 7-5) trailed by as many as 12 in the second half. They never had a second-half lead against the Toreros (9-18, 2-10) until Ross' buzzer-beating three-pointer from the top of the key, which followed a USD three-point miss at the other end.
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BIG WAVES
- Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) scored 17 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. He was 8-for-12 shooting and 3-for-5 on three-pointers. He also had eight assists and three steals. It was his third straight game scoring 20 or more points and his 14th time this season reaching that plateau.
- Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 14 points and eight rebounds.
- Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) set a career high for the second straight game with 14 points. He also had a career-high nine rebounds as well as two steals.
- Sophomore center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had eight points and six rebounds.
CDOT CALLED GAME.
— Pepperdine Men's Basketball (@PeppBasketball) February 14, 2020
Its cool tho, keep sleeping on him.
⌚@cdot_ross ⌚@SportsCenter #SCTop10 @WCChoops pic.twitter.com/TKfo5jPwWe
KEY STATSÂ
- The Waves outshot the Toreros 50.0% to 43.1%. In the second half, it was 51.6% to 32.3% in Pepperdine's favor.
- USD's edge came from the three-point line, where the Toreros went 10-for-27 to the Waves' 4-for-15.
- The Waves forced 18 turnovers but committed 16.
- San Diego got a game-high 26 points from Braun Hartfield.
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The Waves led early, but not by more than four points. And their final lead until the very end of the game came at 16-15 with 13 minutes to go in the first half. USD scored the next eight points to make it 23-16, and later on the Toreros scored the final four points of the half to go into the break with a 43-33 lead. USD shot 55.6% from the field in the first half.
Neither team got off to a great start offensively early in the second half, but San Diego was able to take its biggest lead of 12 points at 52-40 with 14 1/2 minutes left after a pair of Hartfield three-pointers.
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Led by Ross, the Waves began to chip away. At 57-48, he sank a three-pointer, hit a short jumper and then fed Altman for a dunk to cut the deficit to two at 57-55 with nine minutes left.
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The Waves would get the deficit down to one at 60-59 and 63-62, and eventually tied the game at 65 on an Altman three-pointer. The teams traded baskets, but San Diego would go up 69-67 with 2:01 left on a Hartfield lay-up. That would be USD's final points.
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Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) made a free throw with 1:42 left to make it 69-68, and Kameron Edwards tied it with a free throw with 33 seconds left. The Toreros missed their final four shots of the game, including a three-point attempt with six seconds left.
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Junior guard Keith Smith (Seattle, Wash./Rainier Beach HS/Oregon) got the defensive rebound and quickly got the ball to Ross, who hurried up the floor and pulled up at the three-point line at the top of the arc. The ball was in the air as time expired and gave Pepperdine the win.
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NOTABLESÂ
- On the game-winning three-pointer, Ross raised his career scoring total to 1,621 points and passed Craig Davis (1,619) for sixth place on the Waves' all-time list.
- The Waves swept the regular-season series from San Diego for the second straight year.
- This was the 18th consecutive game that Pepperdine was without at least three injured players. It's also the 23rd time in 26 games they've been without multiple players.
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Pepperdine hosts #2 Gonzaga on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. The game is sold out, but the first 500 Pepperdine students with their IDs will be admitted.
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Team Stats
USD
PEP
FG%
.431
.500
3FG%
.370
.267
FT%
.643
.714
RB
32
34
TO
18
16
STL
7
10































