MALIBU, California – Behind 23 points and nine assists from Colbey Ross, the Pepperdine men's basketball team earned an impressive 91-77 home victory over Santa Clara in West Coast Conference play on Thursday and gained a regular-season sweep of the Broncos.
 
The Waves (13-11, 6-4) and Broncos (18-7, 5-5) entered the game tied for fourth in the WCC but thanks to 50.0% shooting, Pepperdine remained in the top half of the league at night's end. Santa Clara never led in the contest.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had his 12th game of the season scoring 20 or more points. He sank three three-pointers and went 10-for-12 from the free throw line. He had a game-best +22 plus/minus.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
• Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) scored 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
• Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) scored nine points.
• Sophomore center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had eight points and a career-high-tying nine rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) contributed seven points and made a pair of three-pointers.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves outshot the Broncos 50.0% to 45.0%.
• One of the nation's best free throw shooting teams, Pepperdine had a big edge at the line, going 22-for-25 (88.0%) to Santa Clara's 13-for-22 (59.1%).
• Santa Clara was led by Jaden Bediako's 19 points and nine rebounds.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
An early 8-0 run, with six points from Kameron Edwards, gave Pepperdine a 12-4 lead. Back-to-back three-pointers by Kessler Edwards put the Waves ahead by double-digits for the first time at 23-11 with 11 1/2 minutes to go in the half. Santa Clara closed to within two at 30-28, but Ross hit a pair of three-pointers in a 10-0 run to push the lead back up to 12 at 40-28. It was 45-34 at halftime.
 
There was very little drama in the second half, as the Waves kept their lead in double-digits almost the entire time. It was a nine-point game at 53-44, but Pepperdine came back with the next six points, including a four-point play by Chavez. It got down to eight at 63-55, but the Waves scored five straight points. Pepperdine's biggest lead was 18 points at 79-61 with 7 1/2 minutes left after an Altman lay-up.
 
NOTABLES 

• Pepperdine earned its first regular-season sweep of Santa Clara since 2012 and beat the Broncos in Firestone Fieldhouse for the first time since 2016.
• The Waves have now won six of their last eight games.
• Ross upped his career scoring total to 1,572 points. He'll next pass Tom Lewis (1,575) for seventh place on the Waves' all-time list.
• This was the 16th consecutive game that Pepperdine was without at least three injured players. It's also the 21st time in 24 games they've been without multiple players.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine visits Pacific on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m. Fans can watch online via the WCC Network or listen to WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call at PepperdineWaves.com.