Box Score MALIBU, Calif. – A huge second half from Houston Mallette and an admirable defensive effort led to a 68-62 win for the Pepperdine men's basketball team over UC San Diego in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday.

Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian) led all scorers with 19 points — all of which came in the second half — which helped the Waves (5-7) flip the script in the final 20 minutes. UCSD (5-5) led by as many as 10 points, yet Mallette's big second half and the Waves' defense made up the deficit. 
 
BIG WAVES
·       Houston Mallette led the Waves in scoring with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting — all of which came in the second half.
·       Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) posted another double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 
·       Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/San Gabriel Academy) was a revelation down low, finishing with 12 points. six rebounds, three blocks and an assist in his second game this season.
 
KEY STATS
·       Going into Saturday's game, UCSD averaged 78.0 points per game. Pepperdine held the Tritons way off their average with 62 points on 42.3% shooting.
·       Despite losing the rebounding battle 38-29, Pepperdine won the turnover battle by a 15-7 margin.  
·       The Waves out-played the Tritons in every facet of the game during the second half, shooting 45.5% from the field to UCSD's 38.5%, out-rebounding the opposition 20-17, and forcing seven Triton turnovers to commit just three.
 
RECAP
The Tritons took an early 9-2 lead but a pair of free throws from Ethan Anderson and a short jumper from Ajayi made it a one-possession game at the first media timeout. Yet UCSD got out to a 16-6 lead until four-straight points from Boubacar Coulibaly, a feed to Nils Cooper and an and-one opportunity from Ajayi made it a 16-15 game with 10:07 left. Despite 11 first-half points from Coulibaly, the Tritons would take a slim 28-25 lead into halftime.

Although UCSD's Bryce Pope nailed a three on the first possession of the second half, Mallette came alive with a personal 7-0 run in less than two minutes, capped off with a turnaround jumper that gave the Waves a 32-31 lead with 16 minutes and 47 seconds to go. Although UCSD made a three on the first possession out of the timeout, Mallette remained hot with a midrange jumper to spark a 7-2 run that helped put the Waves up 39-36 in the first six minutes of the second half.

Mallette found Malik Moore for a three on the left wing, then Cooper's dunk and a layup from Ajayi put the Waves up by six with 11 minutes and 55 seconds to go. A corner three from Ajayi pushed it to a 49-42 game in favor of the Waves, then another 6-0 run sparked by Mallette helped the Waves put UCSD at arm's length for good. After Mallette canned another jumper, his lob to Jalen Pitre put the Waves up nine and another jumper from Mallette gave Pepperdine an 11-point lead.

While UCSD tried to speed the Waves up with its full-court press, Pepperdine crashed the offensive glass down the stretch and wisely bled the clock to take control of the game. A Coulibaly offensive board led to Curtis Williams driving baseline for two on the other end, then Pepperdine found an early dagger when the Waves broke UCSD's press to find Ajayi in the corner three for a 64-52 lead. It would be the Waves' largest of the night as they would keep composure for the rest of the way to win 68-62.

NEXT UP
The Waves take their easternmost trip of the regular season with a trip to Louisville on Dec. 17. Live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's basketball team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.