EVANSTON, Ill. – The Pepperdine men's basketball team suffered a 68-50 loss to Northwestern on Friday evening, but were led by two true freshmen off the bench in Jaxon Olvera and Taj Au-Duke.
 
BIG WAVES

• Olvera (Houston, Texas/Golden State Prep) had his second double-figure scoring night of the roadtrip, going for 11 points on a 50% shooting night across the board. The freshman also contributed three rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal.
• Au-Duke (Scarborough, Canada/CALI Prep) scored 10 points, of which half came from the free throw line.
• Moe Odum (The Bronx, N.Y./Pacific) came alive in the second half for nine points, two rebounds, five assists, a block and two steals.
• Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC) added eight points while tying two other Waves for a team high in rebounds at seven.

 
KEY STATS

• Neither team impressed on the offensive side of the floor, seeing the Waves shoot only 15% 3FG and NU only 18%.
• The rebounding effort ended evenly on the night, as both teams pulled down 38 boards total.
• The Waves outscored the Wildcats 27-10 from bench points but Northwestern returned the favor in the paint, out-doing Pepperdine 32-20.

 
RECAP
A Coulibaly dunk opened the game for the Waves, but Pepperdine could not find a rhythm otherwise offensively as Northwestern sandwiched every Waves' scoring possession with small scoring runs of its own. The Wildcats' Nick Martinelli fueled the opposition's offense while steering clear of turnovers but causing seven Pepperdine errors and translating them into 11 points throughout the half. Neither team had a great shooting period, but the Wildcats took the ball inside more often that contributed 14 points, helping NU to a 31-19 lead heading into the break.
 
In the second half, the Wildcats warmed up on the shooting end of the floor while the Waves still could not hit. Pepperdine recorded six NU turnovers in the second stanza, converting them for 12 points but Northwestern's inside game remained too much for the Waves to handle, resulting in a 68-50 final in favor of the Wildcats.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves host Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, inviting the Pepperdine community to a Friendsgiving dinner and festivities.
 
STAY CONNECTED
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