Men's Hoops Drops Road Contest at UCSB

Friday, December 3

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

2-8,0-0WCC

UC Santa Barbara

4-2,0-0Big West

Team	1	2	F
Pepperdine	41	33	74
UC Santa Barbara	41	45	86

Jan Zidek

Photo by: Morgan Davenport

12/3/2021 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: by Athletic Communications

SANTA BARBARA, California – Another tough second-half stretch was costly for the Pepperdine men's basketball team, as UC Santa Barbara earned an 86-74 home win on Friday night.

The Waves (2-8) went toe-to-toe with the Big West Conference favorites and held a two-point lead early in the second half, but then the Gauchos (4-2) scored 12 straight points to go up by double-figures, and Pepperdine couldn't catch up.

BIG WAVES

Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) scored a team-high 20 points, his second time this season hitting that mark. He also had seven rebounds.
Senior center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had 15 points, one shy of his career high, and added eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) had nine points, making three three-pointers, along with five assists.
Senior guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) made his season debut and provided a nice spark with nine points and four assists.

PLAY BY PLAY

A hugely entertaining first half ended in a 41-41 tie when Mitchell hit a fallaway three-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer. The half featured nine lead changes and six ties. The Waves got out to a 12-6 lead when Polk made a steal at midcourt and went in for a lay-up, capping off a 9-2 run. UCSB's biggest lead of the half was also six points at 32-26, but the Waves scored the next six points to tie it at 32. Back-to-back three-pointers by freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) gave Pepperdine its last lead of the half at 38-37.

A Zidek basket gave Pepperdine its final lead of the game early in the second half at 48-46. But over nearly three minutes, the Waves went scoreless and the Gauchos scored 12 straight points to go up by double-figures at 58-48 with 14:54 left. The Waves would get no closer than six the rest of the way, while the Gauchos' biggest lead would be 13.

KEY STATS

The Gauchos outshot the Waves, 53.1% to 43.3%.
UCSB had a huge edge at the free throw line, going 27-for-35 to Pepperdine's 8-for-11.
The Gauchos also had advantages in points off turnovers (19-15), bench points (36-27) and points in the paint (36-32).
Pepperdine grabbed a season-high 14 offensive rebounds.
UCSB put five players into double-figures, led by Calvin Wishart, who scored all 23 of his points in the first half.

NOTABLE

Jade' Smith had two steals, and he now needs just three more to get into Pepperdine's all-time top 10.
UCSB has now won the last six meetings in the series.
The Waves ended a stretch that saw them play five of their last six away from Firestone Fieldhouse.

UP NEXT

Pepperdine plays four of its final five non-conference games at home, beginning with Monday's contest (Dec. 6) against San Jose State at 7 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.