SAN FRANCISCO, California – Houston Mallette had his fourth 20-point game of the season but the Pepperdine men's basketball team dropped Thursday night's West Coast Conference game at San Francisco, 105-61.
 
Four freshmen were in the starting lineup for the Waves, who fell to 7-19, 1-10. The Dons improved to 20-6, 7-4.
 
BIG WAVES

• Freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) finished with 23 points, one shy of his career high. He made eight of 12 shots, a pair of three-pointers and five of six free throws. He sank a three-pointer for the 20th consecutive game, the fifth-longest streak in program history.
• Freshman guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) had nine points and three assists.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves made their first shot of the night on a Mallette jumper, but missed their next five shots and committed three turnovers before scoring again, and the Dons went up 14-2 after a little more than four minutes. The Waves' longest run of the half was five points on a dunk by sophomore forward Kendall Munson (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) and a three-point play by Mallette. USF scored the final eight points of the half to go up 60-27 at the break.
 
Mallette scored 10 consecutive points for the Waves early in the second half and outscored the Dons 10-4 by himself during that stretch. But the Dons would end up adding to their halftime lead and went on to the win.
 
KEY STATS 

• The Waves were outshot 49.3% to 40.0%.
• USF made 14 three-pointers, a season high by a Pepperdine opponent. The Waves made five.
• The Dons had a 27-12 advantage in points off turnovers, forcing 20 and committing just 10.
• Seventeen offensive rebounds helped USF to a 21-4 edge in second-chance points.
• San Francisco put four players into double-figures, led by Khalil Shabazz's 24 points and Gabe Stefanini's 21 points.

NOTABLE 

• Pepperdine started four freshmen for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Maxwell Lewis made his first career start.
• After starting each of the first 25 games of the season, Jade' Smith missed tonight's contest due to an injury. Jan Zidek was banged up in the first half and did not return to the game after halftime.
• Darryl Polk Jr. appeared in his 100th career game.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine hosts BYU on Saturday (Feb. 12) at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network 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.