BOULDER, Colo. – Sunday afternoon's contest was another rendition of a tale of two halves for the Pepperdine men's basketball team, but the Waves fell 91-66 in the CU Events Center.
 
The Waves (4-6) adjusted at halftime and allowed less Colorado (6-2) points in the paint but could not overcome the first half deficit.
 
BIG WAVES

• Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian) once again led the Waves in scoring with 15 points and contributed three assists, two steals, two rebounds and a block to wrap up the night.
• Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) followed suit with 13 points and six rebounds as well as two assists and two steals.
• Nils Cooper (Los Angeles, Calif./Crossroads HS) pulled together 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.
• Jalen Pitre (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) delivered eight points on 3-for-5 field goal shooting and two threes while pulling down six rebounds, an assist and a block.

 
KEY STATS

• The Waves shot a night-and-day difference between halves again, seeing only 29.7% of their field goals go through the net in the first period and a 48.1% success rate in the second.
• Both teams finished with an equal number of turnovers at 13, and Pepperdine took the advantage of scoring more points off of Colorado's errors with 17 to the Buffs' 16
• While the Buffs owned the game rebounding battle, the Waves came away with more offensive boards at 11-8.

 
RECAP
Pepperdine held its own until midway through the first half when a slew of Waves turnovers handed the Buffs an 8-0 run. Cooper broke the streak with a Malik-Moore-assisted three, but Pepperdine kept getting beat in transition and couldn't stop the Colorado scoring inside, as they finished the first half with 30 of their 52 coming from the paint.
 
The Waves adjusted in the second half, only allowing 18 points in the paint largely due to the help defense and keeping the Buffs to 39 total points. Pitre's two three-pointers came in that half, and Cooper ignited a spark midway through after blocking Colorado's six-foot-eleven center's shot, gathered the defensive board, then followed it with two-straight offensive rebounds and a putback on the consecutive offensive play. Freshman Curtis Williams (Beaumont, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored the last bucket of the game on a three to finish the game at a 91-66 final.
 
NEXT UP
The Waves return to Malibu for two home games next week, taking on CSU Fullerton on Wednesday and UC San Diego on Saturday in Firestone Fieldhouse.