MALIBU, Calif. - Houston Mallette surpassed the 1,000-career-point milestone on his first field goal attempt of the game and the Pepperdine men's basketball team throttled Idaho State 77-62 on Tuesday night in Firestone.

Michael Ajayi and Jalen Pitre led the Waves (4-5) over the Bengals (3-4) with a third-straight Ajayi double-double and a career-high scoring mark for Pitre.

BIG WAVES

• With a short-corner jumper assisted by Anderson, Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) reached exactly 1,000 career points and finished the game with eight total points on 3-of-4 field goal shooting while adding on four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Mallette is the 45^th Wave to record the milestone.
• Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) delivered his third-straight double-double and sixth over nine games with 25 points and 10 boards. He also accrued five assists, two blocks and four steals on the night.
• With his 16-point effort, Jalen Pitre (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) hit a new career high (previously 10) and was one rebound short of a double-double on nine boards.  

The bucket 🔽@mallettehouston | #WavesUp pic.twitter.com/8DqZsA35zW

— Pepperdine Men's Basketball (@PeppBasketball) November 29, 2023

 
KEY STATS

• The Waves almost tripled the number of assists between the two teams, going for 21 compared to Idaho State's eight.
• Pepperdine outshot the Bengals in field goals and threes with .532 and .417 clips respectively.
• The Waves forced twice as many turnovers as ISU (14-7) and scored 19 points off of Bengal errors.
• Defensively, Pepperdine accrued 10 steals in comparison to Idaho State's three.

 

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RECAP
With some Waves magic, Mallette scored the first bucket of the game on a short-corner jumper to seal his spot in the 1,000-point club. From that point on, the Waves took a bit to get going offensively but a Nils Cooper layup and Ajayi jumper put Pepperdine over the hump midway through. Ajayi hit another jump shot to give the home team its biggest lead of the half at 14, and both teams headed into the locker rooms with a 37-26 score at the break.
 
The Waves extended their lead early on in the second half, where Pitre saw 10 of his 16 points fall through the net. With just over a quarter of the game to play, Pepperdine hit its largest lead of the night at 25 after a Moore-to-Ajayi fastbreak layup. Freshman Curtis Williams scored on a lay-in of his own and followed it with a three-point dagger at the top of the key from an Ajayi steal, and the Waves would coast to the final buzzer from there.  
 
UP NEXT
Pepperdine travels to Boulder, Colorado to take on the Buffs on Sunday afternoon set to begin at 2 p.m. PT.