MALIBU - The Pepperdine men's basketball team returns to Malibu for a Saturday date with San Diego, set for a 5 p.m. start.
 
GAME #23: Pepperdine (9-13, 2-5 WCC) vs San Diego (11-10, 1-5 WCC) | Saturday, Jan. 27 | Malibu, Calif. | 5 p.m.
 
COVERAGE - In a partnership between the WCC and ESPN, all WCC-sponsored sports will be streamed on the ESPN+ app or by heading to ESPN.com/Watch. Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,182-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 39th season on the call. Joining him this season is veteran Waves hoops staffer John Impelman, who begins his broadcast career in the color commentary seat.
 
LAST TIME OUT - The Waves opened up their contest Thursday night on a 15-0 run, not allowing a Bronco basket for almost seven minutes but Santa Clara overcame Pepperdine's early lead for a 94-71 final. Michael Ajayi led the team with 22 points and eight rebounds, followed by Jevon Porter with 13 points and six boards. Houston Mallette returned to the double-figure-scoring column with 13 points as well, tacking on five rebounds and three steals.
 
AJAYI ON THE DOUBLE - Michael Ajayi recorded his 11th double-double at San Diego on January 13th and is sixth in the nation for that stat through his first NCAA Division I season. With one more, he would enter the Pepperdine single-season double-double leaderboard where Marcos Leite (1974-75), Ray Ellis (1977-78), Orlando Phillips (1981-82) and Geoff Lear (1989-90) remain tied at ninth all-time with 12 double-doubles apiece. Ajayi is also seventh in the country in total rebounds with 207 so far.
 
PORTER POWER – Sophomore Jevon Porter comes off of a stellar debut season where he started all 31 games for the Waves. Porter shocked the league in double-doubles as well, becoming the only freshman to accrue one and ending the season with eight total. Now since his return from injury, the sophomore has averaged 13.7 points and 5.7 boards per contest.
 
MALLETTE MADNESS - The Waves' leader on and off the court, Houston Mallette sits second on the Pepperdine season box score in scoring, pouring in 15.7 points per game. The junior is also third in the WCC in the same category behind teammate Michael Ajayi and is fourth in three-pointers per game with 2.4. Mallette has totaled 1,185 points in his three years in Malibu.
 
WAVES VS WCC - Michael Ajayi currently ranks in the top five of four different categories in the conference: First in scoring (17.4 PPG), second in rebounding (9.4 RPG) and sixth in field goal percentage (.470) and minutes (33.5 MPG). Houston Mallette also ranks in the top 10 for the following WCC categories: Third in scoring (15.7 PPG) and fourth in threes per game (2.4) as well as sixth in free-throw percentage (.803) and eighth in field goal percentage (.410). As a team, the Waves shoot 34.9% from beyond the arc which is good for fifth in the conference and pulls down an average of 11 offensive boards for fourth in the league.
 
ON THE TOREROS - Last time against San Diego, the Waves ignited a 17-0 run with six minutes left in regulation to erase a 15-point deficit as Pepperdine won its first road contest since 2021 by a score of 83-77. Michael Ajayi recorded his 11th double-double on 24 points and 12 boards and Houston Mallette put in 23 points on 6-of-15 field goal and 50% three-point shooting.
 
As a team, San Diego ranks third in the conference in three-point percentage, shooting an average of 35.3% from long range per game. In fact, the Toreros were led by guard P.J. Hayes with 33 points in their last outing at Portland, including a program-record nine threes, in route to their defeat of the Pilots.
 
Wayne McKinney III leads USD in scoring with 14.6 points per game, a stat in which he is ranked ninth in the WCC, while averaging 1.5 steals per game. Big man Steven Jamerson II tops the rebounding effort for San Diego, pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting a .512 field goal mark.
 
UP NEXT – The Waves head to Portland next week for a Thursday evening face-off against the city's namesake school and then return to Malibu for a bout against San Francisco on Saturday.