LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Pepperdine men's basketball team fell to Pacific 84-71 in the opening round of the 2023 West Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday night, seeing its 2022-23 season come to an end.
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) led the Waves with 16 points, seven boards, four assists and a steal.
- Freshman Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic) contributed 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- Senior Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting as well as two rebounds.
- Sophomore Carson Basham (Phoenix, Ariz./AZ Compass Prep) also put in 10 points, five boards, an assist and a block.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pacific's Keylan Boone had the first five points of the game, but a Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) jumper and a Basham and-one brought the Waves back up after just four minutes of play. Pepperdine was a bit mismatched, however, as the Tigers simply could not miss, draining even well-defended shots. The Waves found a spark in Zidek midway through the period as the senior scored a five-point run of his own with a three and a hook shot in the paint. Pacific's three-point shooting proved too much as the teams headed into the locker rooms at 44-31.
The Waves attempted to claw their way out of the halftime deficit but couldn't get within eight points of Pacific. The Tigers kept up their efficient three-point shooting to stiff-arm Pepperdine and Lewis, Porter and Zidek had a better shooting half but couldn't get stops on the defensive end, leading to an 84-71 final.
KEY STATS
- Pepperdine won the rebounding battle at 33-32, and it outscored the Tigers in the paint 34-30.
- The Waves also accrued more assists (16-15), steals (4-3), second chance points (8-6) and fastbreak points (7-5) than Pacific.
- Pepperdine had a better free throw showing as well, going 77% from the line compared to the Tigers' 62%.
The Waves conclude the 2022-23 season at 9-22 overall and 2-14 in WCC play.
