MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine men's basketball team suffered through a cold shooting night and lost at home to San Diego, 72-62, on Monday night in West Coast Conference play.
 
The Waves (6-11, 0-2) shot a season-low 31.9% against the Toreros (8-7, 1-1).
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) had a team-high 15 points along with six rebounds and three assists. He scored 11 points in the second half.
• Graduate transfer forward Keith Fisher III (Los Angeles, Calif./Illinois State) narrowly missed another double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) posted 10 points.
• Freshman center Carson Basham (Phoenix, Ariz./AZ Compass Prep) had the most productive game of his young career with seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
San Diego led 10-3 after five minutes and 17-6 after 6 1/2 minutes. At 22-15, Fisher scored the first four points in a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to one at 22-21. But the Toreros went back up by nine at 34-25 before taking a 34-27 lead at the break.
 
Pepperdine had its best stretch of the game early in the second half. Smith had seven points in a 12-2 run, which was capped off by a Fisher three-pointer to give the Waves their first lead of the game at 39-38 with 15 minutes left. Another Fisher three-pointer gave Pepperdine its only other lead at 42-40. But the Toreros scored the next eight points to regain the lead for good, and not long after went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 60-46 with six minutes left. USD's biggest lead of the night was 15 points at 62-47, and the Waves got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
 
KEY STATS 

• The Waves were outshot 40.7% to 31.9%. Pepperdine was in the 30s in both halves.
• The Toreros outscored the Waves at the free throw line, going 20-for-25 compared to 9-for-10.
• Twelve offensive rebounds helped Pepperdine to a 19-2 edge in second-chance points.
• San Diego had four players score in double-figures led by Marcellus Earlington's 16 points.

NOTABLE 

• Pepperdine had won the previous five straight against San Diego.
• This is the second game in a stretch where the Waves are scheduled to play seven games in 13 days.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine's homestand continues on Thursday (Jan. 13) against Saint Mary's at 8 p.m. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here. The game will be televised locally on Bally Sports SoCal, and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com.