STOCKTON, California – The Pepperdine men's basketball team had one of its best first halves of the season, but despite 26 points and 10 rebounds from Maxwell Lewis, the Waves couldn't hold off Pacific in an 81-76 West Coast Conference defeat on Thursday night.
 
Pepperdine (6-18, 0-9) led by as many as 16 in the first half and was up 44-29 at halftime, but Pacific (7-14, 2-5) began the second half on a 17-0 run.
 
BIG WAVES

• Freshman forward Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) recorded the first double-double of his career. It was his second time scoring 20+ points, and his first time in WCC play. The 10 rebounds were a season high and he was one point away from his season-high for scoring. Lewis made eight of 15 shots and made half of his eight three-pointers.
• Freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) contributed 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
• Senior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) had 12 points, six rebounds and two steals.
• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) came back after missing the previous two games due to injury and scored 10 points, all in the first half.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Pepperdine couldn't have asked for a better start, with all five starters scoring a little more than three minutes in. The Waves made five of their first six shots and jumped out to a 12-0 lead. Pacific, meanwhile, missed its first 10 shots and didn't score until nearly five minutes had passed. Later, Lewis made a steal, finished a lay-up and was fouled, then converted a free throw to give Pepperdine a 24-11 lead. Late in the half, he did the exact same thing to push the lead to 37-22. The Waves took their biggest lead of the half at 16 points after a Zidek three-pointer made it 40-24. It was 44-29 at the break.
 
The start of the second half was almost a reverse image of the first. This time, Pacific scored the first 17 points while Pepperdine missed its first nine shots and didn't score for more than 6 1/2 minutes. The Tigers gained their first lead at 46-44, but Lewis ended the drought with yet another three-point play to put Pepperdine ahead 47-46 with 13:15 left.
 
Lewis helped keep the Waves in the game, and his three-pointer tied the game at 56 with 10 minutes to go. But the Tigers then went on a 10-2 run and Pepperdine never caught up again. The Waves would get no closer than three at 69-66 after a Smith three-point play with 4:17 left. Pacific outscored the Waves 52-32 after the break.
 
KEY STATS 

• Pepperdine shot 56.7% from the field in the first half and 37.9% in the second to finish at 47.5%.
• Pacific's splits by half were 30.6% and 65.2%, good for 44.1% overall.
• The Tigers went 23-for-36 from the free throw line to the Waves' 10-for-15.
• Despite Pacific having a 12-7 edge in offensive rebounds (and 39-32 overall in boards), the Waves outscored the Tigers 11-4 in second-chance points.
• The Waves made 16 turnovers to the Tigers' 10, and Pacific had a 19-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Pacific put four players into double-figures, led by Jeremiah Bailey's 24 points and Nick Blake's 20 points.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine faces Pacific again on Saturday (Feb. 5) in Malibu at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed online via WaveCasts on the WCC Network. Ticket information and COVID-19 entry policies for Firestone Fieldhouse can be found here.