MALIBU – Bolstered by its best shooting performance of the season, the Pepperdine men's basketball team took care of Pacific 93-78 on Thursday night.
 
The Waves (8-10, 1-2 WCC) earned their first conference win, avenging their three losses to Pacific last season while the Tigers (6-12) fell to 0-3 in WCC play.


 
BIG WAVES

• Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic) scored a season-high 26 points on 11-of-17 field goal and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc while contributing three boards and two blocked shots.
• Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) poured in 21 points on a .588 field goal clip while also leading the crew in rebounds with seven. The junior dished out three assists and accrued two steals and two blocks on the night.
• Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) contributed 19 points and three assists.

 
KEY STATS

• The Waves came out hot from the start of the game and finished on 56.7% field goal and 52.4% three-point marks for their highest shooting percentages of 2023-24 and the most points scored yet this year.
• Pepperdine committed only seven turnovers to Pacific's 12 and scored more off of the Tigers' mistakes at a count of 17-7.
• The Waves won the rebounding battle 34 to 29, keeping Pacific's offensive boards under wraps at nine.

 

RECAP
Pepperdine scored the first four points of the contest but Pacific came out hot from long range, specifically from the right corner. Nick Blake put in eight points in three minutes of play and the Waves came alive from beyond the arc later in the half, seeing Mallette, Ajayi and Porter combine for 21 points from that range in the first period. Back-to-back Mallette threes and an Ajayi dunk put Pepperdine up 46-36 heading into the break.
 
In the second half, the Waves allowed a Pacific three in the opening minute but didn't look back from there as a Boubacar Coulibaly post move and another Mallette dagger three stretched their lead. Ajayi and the Tigers had a battle of their own, where Ajayi converted a Pacific turnover into a layup followed by a Tiger three and sandwiched by an Ajayi fastbreak and a jumper on the consecutive play. Ethan Anderson got in on the action, driving the full length of the floor to the basket for a tough lay-in before a Malik Moore three put the Waves up 17 with under eight minutes to play.
 
The Tigers would get within 12 points of the Waves but Porter and Mallette again traded buckets to push the lead to 20 with just over one minute to play. Jalen Pitre delivered an acrobatic layup off of a Curtis Williams steal in the final seconds of the game, good for a 93-78 final in Firestone.  
 
UP NEXT
The Waves travel south to take on San Diego on Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip.