LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot shooting night for the LMU Lions, falling 84-70 on Saturday night.

The Waves (7-16, 0-9 WCC) shot over 90% from the free throw line for the second game in a row, going 18-19 on the night compared to LMU's (16-7, 6-3 WCC) 58%. 
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, N.V./AZ Compass Prep) led the Waves with 21 points, seven boards and an assist.
• Sophomore Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Arch Bishop Mitty HS) finished with 13 points, four assists and two steals.
• Sophomore Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) accrued 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting as well as two rebounds, three assists and a block.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Mitchell Jr. opened the Waves up with a three after LMU jumped out to a 5-0 lead early on, but the Lions hit three-straight triples to go up nine in the next eight minutes. From there, Pepperdine would be able to get in the lane but the Lions' three point barrage continued as they finished the first half going 60% from beyond the arc on 9-of-15 shooting compared to the Waves nine threes taken. Mitchell Jr. drained a floater with two seconds on the clock, putting the score at 48-40 in favor of LMU heading into the break.

Pepperdine scored the first five points of the second half, holding LMU scoreless for three minutes and cutting the deficit to three. After a three-point play by Lewis, LMU grew the lead to 10 at 60-50 with the help of a pair of forced turnovers. After Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) hit a triple to close the gap to 67-59, LMU countered with a basket to hold a 69-59 lead at the under-eight media timeout. Pepperdine was not able to keep it within eight the rest of the way as LMU salted away the last eight minutes to close out the win.

KEY STATS

• It was the fifth game overall and second game in a row that Pepperdine finished with less mistakes than its opponent and lost (10-16).
• The two teams finished even on points scored in the paint with 24 apiece from inside.
• LMU outshot the Waves 49% to 38%, as well as 57% to 30% from beyond the arc.

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.