Sunday, November 12
Malibu, Calif.
1:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
vs
Lafayette
Photo by: Alexander Li
Waves Return Home for Back-to-Back Contests
11/11/2023 12:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's basketball squad begins a three-game home stand on Sunday afternoon where they will take on Lafayette College out of Pennsylvania at 1 p.m.
After a quick turnaround, the Waves will entice LIU in Malibu on Monday evening set for a 7 p.m. tip-off before having a week to recoup then inviting UNLV to the Fieldhouse for a Friday evening primetime matchup.
CURRENTLY – Houston Mallette leads the Waves in scoring through the first two contests, going for an average of 20.5 and a 54.5% field goal shooting mark. Michael Ajayi is currently recording a double-double with 13 points and 10.5 boards, as Malik Moore supplies 15.5 points and five assists. As a team, Pepperdine has collected a field goal percentage of 49.1 and a 34.4% from beyond the arc.
LAST TIME OUT - The Waves suffered a heartbreaker in Davis on Thursday, seeing a 19-point lead erased with an Aggie layup at the final buzzer for a score of 79-78. Ajayi shined in just his second outing in a Pepperdine uniform, recording a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards on .538 field goal shooting.
ROMAR – Head coach Lorenzo Romar is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach. This year will also be his sixth this time around in Malibu and his ninth overall with the Waves. Known around the country for his recruiting prowess, Romar has coached 27 current and former NBA players, including Pepperdine standouts Kessler Edwards (Sacramento Kings) and Maxwell Lewis (Los Angeles Lakers).
CONFERENCE CALL – Junior Houston Mallette and sophomore Jevon Porter were named to the West Coast Conference Preseason squad, announced in early October. The last time Pepperdine put two names on the preseason team was the 2020-21 season, in which the Waves' all-time leading scorer Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards achieved the feat. The honor is also the second-straight such award for Mallette after he became the lone Wave on the preseason team last year.
ROSTER NOTES – Returning letter-winners for the Waves this season include Mallette, Porter, Jalen Pitre, Malik Moore, Boubacar Coulibaly and Aladji Gassama. They are joined by four true freshmen- Martin Gumwel, John Squire, Curtis Williams and Nils Cooper- and two transfers- Michael Ajayi and Ethan Anderson. The Waves hold the third-most returning minutes in the WCC at 54.7%.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A…. – Junior guard Houston Mallette is on track to hit the 1,000-point mark this season, as he begins the 2023-24 season with 866 career points. For those following along at home, Mallette (should he keep his scoring record on the same pace as his last two outputs) will hit the milestone midway through the season. In his sophomore campaign, the Alameda-native was the second-leading scorer for the Waves at 13 points per game and dropped double figures 20 times. He also started all but one of the season's 31 contests (averaging a team-high 34.1 minutes) while making a three-pointer in 37 consecutive games - a program record.
After a quick turnaround, the Waves will entice LIU in Malibu on Monday evening set for a 7 p.m. tip-off before having a week to recoup then inviting UNLV to the Fieldhouse for a Friday evening primetime matchup.
CURRENTLY – Houston Mallette leads the Waves in scoring through the first two contests, going for an average of 20.5 and a 54.5% field goal shooting mark. Michael Ajayi is currently recording a double-double with 13 points and 10.5 boards, as Malik Moore supplies 15.5 points and five assists. As a team, Pepperdine has collected a field goal percentage of 49.1 and a 34.4% from beyond the arc.
LAST TIME OUT - The Waves suffered a heartbreaker in Davis on Thursday, seeing a 19-point lead erased with an Aggie layup at the final buzzer for a score of 79-78. Ajayi shined in just his second outing in a Pepperdine uniform, recording a double-double with 18 points and 14 boards on .538 field goal shooting.
ROMAR – Head coach Lorenzo Romar is in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach. This year will also be his sixth this time around in Malibu and his ninth overall with the Waves. Known around the country for his recruiting prowess, Romar has coached 27 current and former NBA players, including Pepperdine standouts Kessler Edwards (Sacramento Kings) and Maxwell Lewis (Los Angeles Lakers).
CONFERENCE CALL – Junior Houston Mallette and sophomore Jevon Porter were named to the West Coast Conference Preseason squad, announced in early October. The last time Pepperdine put two names on the preseason team was the 2020-21 season, in which the Waves' all-time leading scorer Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards achieved the feat. The honor is also the second-straight such award for Mallette after he became the lone Wave on the preseason team last year.
ROSTER NOTES – Returning letter-winners for the Waves this season include Mallette, Porter, Jalen Pitre, Malik Moore, Boubacar Coulibaly and Aladji Gassama. They are joined by four true freshmen- Martin Gumwel, John Squire, Curtis Williams and Nils Cooper- and two transfers- Michael Ajayi and Ethan Anderson. The Waves hold the third-most returning minutes in the WCC at 54.7%.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A…. – Junior guard Houston Mallette is on track to hit the 1,000-point mark this season, as he begins the 2023-24 season with 866 career points. For those following along at home, Mallette (should he keep his scoring record on the same pace as his last two outputs) will hit the milestone midway through the season. In his sophomore campaign, the Alameda-native was the second-leading scorer for the Waves at 13 points per game and dropped double figures 20 times. He also started all but one of the season's 31 contests (averaging a team-high 34.1 minutes) while making a three-pointer in 37 consecutive games - a program record.
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