MALIBU, Calif. – Despite a career high 18 points from Carson Basham and three players in double figures, the Pepperdine men's basketball team was held off by San Diego on Thursday night, 87-78. 

It was the fourth time Pepperdine (7-15, 0-8 WCC) finished with less turnovers than its opponent but fell. The Waves had only 11 mistakes compared to the Toreros' (10-12, 3-5 WCC) 18.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Arch Bishop Mitty HS) led the Waves with 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting and dished out seven assists.
• Sophomore Carson Basham (Phoenix, Ariz./AZ Compass Prep) pulled down seven boards and accrued three assists and two blocks in addition to his career high 18 points.
• Sophomore Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, N.V./AZ Compass Prep) scored 15 points, shooting 50% from the field, as well as earning seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Out of the gates, the Waves had trouble deciphering San Diego's zone defense spurring on a Toreros' 16-0, but Pepperdine came alive at the midway point after a Mitchell Jr. three and a pair of Lewis and Jalen Pitre (Long Beach, Calif./Woodstock Academy) alley-oops courtesy of Mitchell and Malik Moore (Ventura, Calif./Heritage Christian HS). USD disrupted the Waves' run, causing good-guy turnovers and drawing fouls to put the Toreros back up seven. From the two-minute mark on, the two teams traded free throws and headed into the locker room with a score of 37-32 in favor of San Diego.

After some back-and-forth early in the second, the Waves took the lead on a Lewis three to go up 60-58 with 10:14 left in the contest and a Basham and-one helped keep them there for the next two minutes. That was all Pepperdine could muster, however, after several Waves turnovers and lapses on defense as San Diego went back up by nine for a 86-78 Toreros-favored final. 

KEY STATS

• The Waves had one of their better free throw-shooting nights, going 93% from the charity stripe.
• Pepperdine scored more bench points as well as points off San Diego turnovers by a margin of 17-14 on both accounts.
• The Waves also shared the ball more than USD at 19-9. 

UP NEXT
The Waves will again split home and away next week, heading to Stockton Thursday to battle Pacific and then inviting Portland to Malibu on Saturday.