Tale of Two Halves Dooms Waves Against Zags

Thursday, January 18

Malibu, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

9-11,2-3WCC

Gonzaga

12-5,3-1WCC

Team	1	2	F
Gonzaga	40	46	86
Pepperdine	40	21	61

Photo by: Morgan Davenport

1/18/2024 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU – The Pepperdine men's basketball team fell to Gonzaga in a tale of two shooting halves Thursday night in an 86-61 final.

The Waves (9-11, 2-3 WCC) were led by Jevon Porter with 16 points as Gonzaga (12-5, 3-1 WCC) found success in in the paint in Graham Ike with 24.

BIG WAVES

Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic) added four rebounds and two steals in addition to his 16-point outing.
Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) contributed nine points and four boards on the night.
Nils Cooper (Los Angeles, Calif./Crossroads HS) added seven points, four boards and a steal.
Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC) put in seven points and three boards as well as a block and a steal before he reached the foul limit in the second half.

KEY STATS

The Waves went from 46.9% field goal and 50% 3FG shooting marks in the first half of play to just 29.2% FG and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the second.
Pepperdine was outrebounded 42-26.
Gonzaga ruled the paint, seeing 42 points from that range compared to the Waves' 22.

RECAP
The Waves and Zags started the game neck-and-neck with the two squads trading buckets and Gonzaga would go up by as much as nine before Pepperdine would start slugging away. An Anderson and-one would ignite the bench followed by a Porter jumper and a Mallette three to put the Waves within striking range. Another Mallette three- this time on a fastbreak in a quick decision by the junior to back the ball out of the key and toss it up- propelled Pepperdine into a two-point lead before Gonzaga struck on a jumper to head into the locker rooms tied at 40-all.

In a night-and-day flip, the second half opened up on two Zags buckets until Anderson drove to the basket for a layup in contact. The Waves had no answer for the Bulldogs' big men, however, as Ike and Watson traded off scoring and Gonzaga would streak on an 8-0 run which eventually led to a 25-point advantage for the Bulldogs and an 86-61 final.

UP NEXT
Pepperdine stays home to take on PCH Cup rival LMU on Saturday evening, set for a 7 p.m. start.