MALIBU, Calif. – Despite being led by 18 points apiece from Mike Mitchell Jr. and Maxwell Lewis, the Pepperdine men's basketball team was foiled by a late Nevada comeback, falling 85-77.

The Waves (5-3) dropped a home contest for the first time this season after leading for most of the game. Nevada went on an 8-0 run in the final eight minutes of play to doom Pepperdine in the end.

Houston Mallette has now made a three in 34-straight contests after breaking the Pepperdine record against Northern Arizona last weekend. Boubacar Coulibaly had a career night in both rebounds (8) and steals (3).
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore forward Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) scored in double figures for seventh time in eight games with 18 points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal.
• Sophomore guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Arch Bishop Mitty HS) also contributed 18 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Sophomore guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Cailf./Pacifica Christian HS) had 15 points and four rebounds.
• Freshman forward Jevon Porter (Columbia, Missouri/Father Tolton Catholic HS) led on the boards with 10 rebounds – his third double-digit rebounding performance of the season. 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine started off hot, sprinting to a 6-0 lead within the first two minutes of play courtesy of the sophomore trifecta of Lewis, Mallette and Mitchell Jr. The Waves stretched the lead to eight twice in the first half, capitalizing off of a fastbreak scoop-and-score dunk from Lewis with 3:47 left in the half. Nevada clawed back, ending the period with the Waves up just two at 39-37.

Pepperdine came out of the locker room with a Mallette three to open up the second half, but traded buckets with the Wolf Pack until Nevada evened the score at 50-all six minutes in. Two consecutive threes by freshman guard Malik Moore (Ventura, Calif./Heritage Christian School) and Mallette got the crowd on their feet, but fouls proved costly as the Wolf Pack went 20-24 from the free throw line which eventually put Nevada up 64-63 for the first time during the game with 8:57 left to play. The Waves went slightly cold from the field through the rest of the contest after threes from Lewis and Porter and Nevada capitalized with an 85-77 finish.
 
KEY STATS
 

• The Waves had 18 second-chance points compared to the Pack's eight, but Nevada won the paint with 36 inside points in contrast to Pepperdine's 20.
• Pepperdine shot 50% from the field in the first half of play, but only shot 29.7% from the field in the second. Nevada had the reverse effect, going 44.1% in the first but 51.9% in the second.
• The Waves finished shooting 50% from beyond the arc, led by Lewis who recorded 4-for-6 from that range.

UP NEXT

Pepperdine will play its penultimate non-conference home game on Saturday, December 10th as UC Santa Barbara comes to Firestone for a 5:00 p.m. start. The game will be streamed live on WCCSports.com with veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein on the mic.