LOS ANGELES, California – The 175th edition of the Pepperdine-Loyola Marymount men's basketball rivalry was another classic, as the Waves rallied from a 17-point deficit to send the game to overtime, then nearly overcame an eight-point deficit in OT, but the Lions eventually escaped with an 85-80 West Coast Conference victory.
 
The Waves (6-14, 0-5) had a terrific start, going up by 12 after four minutes, but the Lions (9-7, 2-2) eventually took as much as a 17-point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game. A 25-7 run put Pepperdine in front by one with four minutes left, and a basket by the Waves' Kendall Munson with 0.7 seconds left sent the game to overtime. LMU scored the first eight points of the extra period, but Houston Mallette scored nine straight points to give the Waves a one-point lead with a minute left before the Lions scored the final six points of the game.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) scored a career-high 28 points, with 20 of them coming in the second half. He made 11 of 15 shots and also had four assists and three rebounds.
• Freshman guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) matched his season high of 16 points and also had eight assists and six rebounds. He made four of six three-pointers.
• Freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) scored 14 points and had four assists.
• Sophomore forward Kendall Munson (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) had four points and team highs of eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Pepperdine hit its first four shots and the score was 12-2 before the Waves' first miss. Mallette and Mitchell combined for 10 points and five assists in the first four minutes as Pepperdine went ahead by 12 at 14-2. It was still a 10-point lead at 16-6 after a Zidek jumper with 14:51 left.
 
The two teams' fortunes reversed from there, however. Pepperdine went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without a field goal and missed nine consecutive shots. The Lions turned it into a 17-2 run to go from a 16-6 deficit to a 23-18 lead. After a lay-up by freshman center Carson Basham (Phoenix, Ariz./AZ Compass Prep), the Lions ran off another eight straight points to take their biggest lead of the half of 11 points at 31-20. It was 36-26 at the break.
 
LMU grew the lead to 54-37 with 12 minutes left. Lewis then jump-started the Waves' comeback with six straight points, and Zidek had 11 points in what turned into a 25-7 run over 7 1/2 minutes. A Zidek basket gave Pepperdine the lead back at 62-61 with just over four minutes to go.
 
The lead went back and forth over the final minutes. LMU's Eli Scott put LMU ahead by two with 29 seconds left. Mitchell fed Munson for a game-tying lay-up with 0.7 seconds left, sending the game to overtime tied at 71.
 
LMU scored eight points in the first two minutes of overtime, but Mallette responded with two three-pointers, and then three free throws after he was fouled while shooting from distance. That put Pepperdine ahead 80-79 with a minute to go. LMU scored down low on its next possession, however, and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line while the Waves missed their final five shots.
 
KEY STATS 

• LMU had a slim 47.0% to 45.3% edge in shooting.
• The Waves made more three-pointers (nine to seven) but the Lions made more free throws (16 to 13).
• The Lions had a 39-33 rebounding edge, including 15-11 on offensive boards.
• Loyola Marymount got 31 points and 10 rebounds from Scott, and 22 points from Joe Quintana.

NOTABLE 

• This was the second straight meeting in Gersten Pavilion to go into overtime (the Waves won the last one in 2020).
• Since winning that game in 2000, the Waves have now lost six consecutive overtime contests.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine hosts San Francisco on Saturday (Jan. 22) at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Bally Sports SoCal and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.