PEPPERDINE VS. BYU — WCC SEMIFINALS
Date: Monday, March 8, 2021
Site: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Time: 9 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Audio: WaveCasts
Series: BYU leads 17-10

#3 PEPPERDINE WAVES
2020-21 Record: 12-11
    WCC Record: 7-6
Head Coach: Lorenzo Romar
Website: www.PepperdineWaves.com
Twitter: @PeppBasketball

#2 BYU COUGARS
2020-21 Record: 19-5
    WCC Record: 10-3
Head Coach: Mark Pope
Website: www.BYUCougars.com
Twitter: @BYUbasketball

WAVEPOINTS
• The third-seeded Pepperdine men's basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament for the 17th time in program history and the fourth time in the last seven years.
• To make the final for the first time since 2002, however, Pepperdine will have to beat second-seeded BYU. The Waves and Cougars split the regular-season series when they met twice in five days in late January. This will be their first-ever meeting at the WCC Tournament.
• Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards both made the All-WCC first team, the first time since 2005 that the Waves put two players on the first team. Pepperdine and Gonzaga were the only schools with multiple players on the first team.
• Ross continues to move up the WCC's all-time stat rankings. He's currently sixth in points (2,183), 18 away from LMU's Terrell Lowery and fifth place. He's second all-time in assists (824), 78 away from USF's Orlando Smart and first place.
• During Saturday's quarterfinal win vs. Santa Clara, Ross had 25 points and 12 assists and passed LMU's Hank Gathers to become the all-time leading scorer in the history of the WCC Tournament (Ross is now at 196 points).
• Ross is one of just three players in the history of Division I men's basketball to accumulate at least 2,100 points, 800 assists and 400 rebounds (with Gary Payton/Oregon State and Chris Thomas/Notre Dame). He's 17 points away from becoming the only player ever to have totals of 2,200/800/400.
• Among active Division I players, Ross ranks first in career assists (824) and free throws made (641), third in points (2,183) and sixth in scoring average (18.0).
• Ross ranks #3 in the nation in assists per game (7.7). He's scored 25 or more in three straight games, the first such run of his career.
• Edwards, coming off a 21-point, 11-rebound effort against Santa Clara, has scored in double-figures in 14 consecutive games. He's seventh all-time in blocked shots at Pepperdine (117).
• Jan Zidek gave the Waves three players with double-doubles on Saturday with his 13-point, 10-rebound performance in his first-ever WCC Tournament game.
• Pepperdine is #4 in the country in three-point defense (26.9%) and #14 in free throw percentage (78.4%).

GAME #24 — Monday (March 8) at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas: #3-seed Pepperdine (12-11, 7-6) vs. #2-seed BYU (19-5, 10-3) at 9 p.m.

GAME #25 — If Pepperdine wins ... Tuesday (March 9) at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas: #3-seed Pepperdine vs. #1-seed Gonzaga (24-0, 15-0) OR #4-seed Saint Mary's (14-8, 4-6) at 6 p.m.

WAVECASTS — All Pepperdine men's and women's WCC Tournament games can be listened to online via WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who is now in his 36th season, will be behind the microphone. This will be his 1,092nd consecutive men's basketball broadcast for the Waves.

WATCH — Saturday night's game will air on ESPN2. Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham are the broadcasters.

PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 18 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.