MALIBU, California – Houston Mallette scored 24 points as the Pepperdine men's basketball team put together a strong performance over the final 28 minutes to defeat Alabama State, 79-62, on Saturday in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
The Waves (4-8) fell behind by 10 midway through the first half, but with Mallette scoring 20 of the team's first 26 points, Pepperdine came back to lead by two at halftime before coasting to victory over the Hornets (1-9) by its largest margin of the season.
 
BIG WAVES

• Freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) had the highest scoring output by any Wave this season. He finished with 20 first-half points. He made eight of 12 shots, along with five three-pointers.
• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half. He made three three-pointers.
• Graduate transfer forward Keith Fisher III (Los Angeles, Calif./Illinois State) pulled down 10 rebounds, all in the first half.
• Senior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) had 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.
• Freshman forward Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) contributed 10 points.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Mallette had six early points as the Waves led 8-5. However, Pepperdine then went scoreless for five minutes, and Alabama State went on an 11-0 run to go ahead 16-8. It was a 10-point Hornet lead at 22-12 with nine minutes left in the half. But then it was all Mallette for a stretch, as he scored Pepperdine's next 14 points over 4 1/2 minutes. His fourth of four three-pointers in that run tied the game at 26 with 3:47 left. He was fouled on the play, and although he missed the free throw, Fisher had an offensive rebound and putback as the Waves regained the lead. Pepperdine went up five at 31-26 and 33-28 before settling for a 36-34 halftime lead.
 
Zidek opened the second half with a pair of three-pointers to push Pepperdine's lead to eight. The Hornets closed the gap to two points on a couple of occasions, but Lewis later hit a three-pointer and a jumper to give Pepperdine its first 10-point lead at 59-49 with a little more than eight minutes to go. At 59-51, Smith had six points in a 10-0 run that saw Pepperdine take its biggest lead of the game of 18 points at 69-51 with 4:40 left. The Waves outscored the Hornets 43-28 in the second half.
 
KEY STATS 

• Pepperdine shot 52.7% overall, the Waves' second-best performance of the season.
• The Waves held Alabama State to 36.9% shooting, the second straight game resulting in an opponent season low.
• Pepperdine made 10 three-pointers, the second time this season in double-figures.
• Pepperdine had a season-high eight blocked shots, with four by Victor Ohia Obioha and three by Kendall Munson.
• Alabama State was led by Kenny Strawbridge's 16 points and 11 rebounds.

NOTABLE 

• After four steals today, Smith now has 136 in his career, moving him into 10th place all-time on Pepperdine's career list.
• The Waves are now 2-0 all-time against Alabama State.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine hosts Southeast Missouri next Saturday (Dec. 18) at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed online on the WCC Network. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.