EUGENE, Oregon – The Pepperdine men's basketball team battled Oregon for 40 minutes on Tuesday night, but the Ducks eventually pulled away for a 68-59 non-conference victory.
 
The Waves (5-9) led for the majority of the first half before the Ducks (7-6) took a 37-33 lead at the break. It was a one-point game with 10 minutes left but Pepperdine couldn't ever regain the lead.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) scored 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He also had three steals and three rebounds.
• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) also had 13 points, along with four rebounds.
• Senior center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves led for a majority of the first half. Graduate transfer forward Keith Fisher III (Los Angeles, Calif./Illinois State) had four early points as the Waves got off to a 9-4 lead after 5 1/2 minutes. Tied at 11, Smith scored five straight points to give the Waves the lead at five again at 16-11 with 11 minutes left. Pepperdine's biggest lead of the half was seven, which came at 25-18 with 6 1/2 minutes left after a close-range basket by Zidek. But Oregon then went on a 12-0 over nearly four minutes, erasing the seven-point deficit and going up five at 30-25. Zidek ended the run with a three-pointer, but the Ducks eventually went into the break with a 37-33 lead.
 
The Waves scored the first four points of the second half to tie it at 37, and did it again at 39 after a Smith jumper. But Oregon scored the next six points, and would keep the lead for the rest of the contest. The Waves made it a one-point game at 49-48 at the midway point of the half after an Ohia Obioha three-point play, but Oregon went on an 8-2 run to take what at the time was its biggest lead of the game at 57-50 with 5 1/2 minutes left. The nine-point final margin ended up being the largest of the game.
 
KEY STATS 

• The Waves had a rough night shooting, finishing at 35.4% (26.3% in the second half). Oregon was at 42.6% for the contest.
• Pepperdine had more offensive rebounds than Oregon, 14 to 12, but the Ducks had a 14-7 edge in second-chance points.
• The Waves had more turnovers, 18 to 15, and the Ducks used that to a 22-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Points in the paint were 44-26 in Oregon's favor.
• Oregon got a game-high 19 points from Will Richardson.

NOTABLE 

• Smith passed Colbey Ross on Pepperdine's all-time steals list. Smith now has 140 and is tied for eighth place with Tezale Archie.
• Pepperdine fell to 1-5 all-time against Oregon and 0-4 in Eugene.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine closes out non-conference play at home on Thursday (Dec. 23) at 1 p.m. against Westmont. The game will be shown online on the WCC Network. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.