PEPPERDINE AT #4 GONZAGA
Date: Saturday, January 8, 2022
Site: McCarthey Athletic Center (Spokane, Washington)
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: ROOT Sports NW+ / WCC Network
Audio: WaveCasts
Series: Gonzaga leads 61-31
Last Meeting: Bulldogs 97, Waves 75 (1/30/2021 in Malibu)

PEPPERDINE WAVES
2021-22 Record: 6-9
    WCC Record: 0-0
    Away Record: 0-5
Head Coach: Lorenzo Romar
Website: www.PepperdineWaves.com
Twitter: @PeppBasketball

GONZAGA BULLDOGS
2021-22 Record: 11-2
    WCC Record: 0-0
    Home Record: 8-0
Head Coach: Mark Few
Website: www.GoZags.com
Twitter: @ZagMBB

WAVEPOINTS
• The Pepperdine men's basketball team finally begins West Coast Conference play after a delay. The Waves get their start on Saturday at #4 Gonzaga.
• Pepperdine ended up with 15 days off between its last non-conference game and the WCC opener. Now, the Waves are slated to play seven games in 13 days.
• The Waves' planned January 1 contest at Pacific is now on January 17, while the home San Diego game has been moved from January 6 to January 10.
• For the health and safety of the community and in alignment with Pepperdine University's decision to conduct classes remotely through next Wednesday, Monday's home game against San Diego will be closed to the general public. 
• The Waves' newcomers have scored 50.9% of the points so far this season. Four different players have scored 20 or more points in a game this season, and three of them are newcomers.
• One of them was Maxwell Lewis, who scored 27 points (the most by any Wave this season) against Westmont the last time Pepperdine was in action on December 23. That effort put him at #7 on the Waves' single-game scoring list by a freshman.
• Jan Zidek has taken over the team scoring lead and ranks 16th in the WCC at 12.4 points per game. He's scored in double-figures in six straight.
• The two freshmen in the starting lineup, Houston Mallette and Mike Mitchell Jr., both earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors during non-conference play. Mitchell ranks second in the WCC in assists (4.9) while Mallette is second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg, 18th in the WCC) and ranks fifth in the conference in three-pointers (2.2).
• Pepperdine is second in the WCC with 11.1 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Last season, the Waves won the 2021 College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

WAVECASTS — Saturday's game 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 37th season, will be behind the microphone. This will be his 1,111th consecutive men's basketball broadcast for the Waves.

WATCH — The game will be televised on KHQ-TV, ROOT Sports Northwest+ and NBC Sports California. In all other regions, including Southern California, the game can be watched online through the WCC Network. Greg Heister and Richard Fox are the announcers.

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY — 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 10 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 26 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.