MALIBU, California – Maxwell Lewis scored a career-high 29 points, Houston Mallette added 22, and the Pepperdine men's basketball team recorded its most points in a season opener in more than 40 years with a 106-67 thrashing of Rice on Monday night.
 
The Waves (1-0) shot 62.9% from the field and made 15 of their 30 three-pointers against the Owls (0-1).
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore forward Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) made 12 of 15 shots, and five of seven three-pointers, en route to his 29 points. His previous career best was 27 last season against Westmont. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
• Sophomore guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) made eight of 14 shots and sank four three-pointers for his 22 points. He extended his streaks to 27 consecutive games with a three-pointer, and eight straight with multiple threes. He also had five rebounds and five assists.
• Freshman forward Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic HS) made his college debut and finished with 16 points, a team-high seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Sophomore guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) posted 14 points, eight assists and three steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
 
There were 10 lead changes during a fairly close first half. Rice matched its largest lead of the game at five at 22-17, but Lewis had five points in a 9-0 run to help Pepperdine to a 26-22 lead. A few lead changes later and Rice had a 30-28 advantage (its last of the game), but the Waves came back with an 8-0 run to make it 36-30. The teams traded points the rest of the half, though a Mallette three-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Waves their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes at 46-38.
 
Lewis had five points during an 8-0 run early in the second half, putting Pepperdine into double-digits for good with a 56-40 lead. Pepperdine's lead surpassed 20 at 70-49 with less than 14 minutes left on a layup by sophomore forward Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC), and 30 at 86-55 with less than nine minutes to go after Mallette scored five straight points. The 39-point final score was the biggest margin of the night.
 
KEY STATS

• Rice was held to 38.9% shooting.
• The Owls got to the free throw line more, but went just 9-for-22, compared to the Waves' 3-for-4.
• Pepperdine had a 41-31 rebounding edge.
• Turnovers were close to even (Rice committed 14 to Pepperdine's 13) but the Waves had a 26-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Rice was led by Quincy Olivari's 15 points.

NOTABLE

• This was Pepperdine's most points in a season opener since 1980-81 and a 118-90 victory over Hastings College.
• This was the Waves' most points in any game since a 107-82 win over Cal Lutheran in the 2017-18 season, and the first time Pepperdine hit the century mark since the 2018-19 season.
• Pepperdine won its 12th consecutive home opener and improved to 41-9 in home openers in Firestone Fieldhouse.
• Porter was one of five Waves to make his debut. The others were Coulibaly (six points, four rebounds), Malik Moore (five points, three rebounds), Jalen Pitre (two points, two rebounds) and Paul Jordan.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine's second game of the season is at Cal State Fullerton on Friday (Nov. 11) at 7 p.m. There will be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com, and Cal State Fullerton will stream the game on ESPN+.