MALIBU - In the finale of a Waves hoops doubleheader, the Pepperdine men's basketball team is set to take on Santa Clara Saturday at 7 p.m. in its 2024 Firestone Fieldhouse opener.
 
GAME #17: Pepperdine (7-9, 0-1 WCC) vs Santa Clara (10-6, 1-0 WCC) | Saturday, Jan. 6 | 7 p.m.
 
COVERAGE - In a partnership between the WCC and ESPN, all WCC-sponsored sports at Pepperdine will be streamed on the ESPN+ app or by heading to ESPN.com/Watch. Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,176-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.
 
PROMOS – The first 50 students through the doors who are participating in New Student Orientation will receive a free Willie the Wave t-shirt.
 
LAST TIME OUT - Shots would not fall for the Waves and Pepperdine struggled keeping #24 Gonzaga out of the paint, consequently falling 86-60 on Thursday evening in both teams' WCC opening contests. Michael Ajayi accrued his ninth overall double-double with 14 points and 14 boards and Houston Mallette led the Waves in scoring with 15 points. In his fourth game back from injury, Jevon Porter contributed six points, three boards and tied his career high in steals with five.
 
AJAYI ON THE DOUBLE - Junior college transfer Michael Ajayi enters conference play leading the WCC in scoring with 17.1 points per contest and sits second in rebounds with 9.8 per game. Ajayi is also ranked third in the nation for double-doubles with nine total, only two shy of the top spot. Should the junior keep at his current pace, he would enter the Pepperdine single-season double-double leaderboard where Marcos Leite (1974-74), Ray Ellis (1977-78), Orlando Phillips (1982-82) and Geoff Lear (1929-90) remain tied at ninth all-time with 12 double-doubles apiece.
 
COOL-LIBALY - After missing the last half of the 2022-23 season and the first 10 games of this one due to injury, redshirt-junior forward Boubacar Coulibaly has made an immediate impact upon his return. Over the past six games, the Bamako, Mali-native has averaged 8.8 points, seven boards and has helped the Waves immensely around the rim on the defensive end, averaging 2.7 blocks per game.
 
MALLETTE MADNESS - The Waves' leader on and off the court, Houston Mallette sits second on the Pepperdine season box score in scoring, pouring in 16.6 points per game. The junior is also second in the WCC in the same category behind only teammate Michael Ajayi. Nationally, Mallette is tied at 44th on the total points scored list with 265 total this season after hitting the 1,000-career-point mark back in November. He has totaled 1,105 points in his three years in Malibu.
 
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 four games ago, the sophomore has averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 boards and 1.3 assists per contest.
 
ON THE BRONCOS - Currently one of three WCC teams with a 10-6 overall record, Santa Clara produced a nonconference schedule that saw wins over three Pac-12 teams including Stanford, Oregon and future WCC member Washington State, but fell in an uncharacteristic result at Bay rival Cal. The Broncos finished the month of December on a 2-5 record.
 
Adama-Al Bal leads the scoring effort for Santa Clara, pouring in 15.2 points per contest and is followed closely by Carlos Marshall Jr. with 14.3. Marshall Jr. also racks in the boards for the Broncos, gathering 5.7 rebounds per contest. Seven-foot center Christoph Tilly contributes 8.6 points and 4.3 boards while putting together a 55.2% field goal shooting clip. 
 
In SCU's conference opener, the Broncos met LMU in Los Angeles and took care of the Lions in a 68-57 triumph. They were led by Bal with 21 points, followed by Marshall Jr. with 13 and two more players with 10 points each. Marshall and six-foot guard Benton Knapper led the rebounding effort with seven boards each as SCU won the rebounding battle 42-36 while also holding the Lions to .298 field goal and .182 three-point shooting marks.
 
UP NEXT – The Waves will stay home next Thursday to take on Pacific at 7 p.m. before heading to San Diego on Saturday, also set for a 7 p.m. tip.