MALIBU – Boubacar Coulibaly delivered a perfect 10-for-10 from the field for a new career high and four Waves notched double-figures in scoring to lead the Pepperdine men's basketball team to an 86-76 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday afternoon.
Throughout the game, first responders who have fought the Franklin Fire were recognized and celebrated on the court. Members of the Pepperdine Fire Department, CalFire, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Fire Department and Pepperdine Department of Public Safety were given standing ovations in thanks for their service to the Malibu community.
BIG WAVES
- Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC) earned a career-high 22 points– eight of which came in the form of dunks– on his spotless shooting night. Coulibaly also grabbed four rebounds and recorded three assists and two blocks.
- Moe Odum (The Bronx, N.Y./Pacific) contributed 20 points and was flawless from beyond the arc at 3-for-3 while dishing out eight assists, pulling down four rebounds and gathering three steals.
- Stefan Todorovic (Belgrade, Serbia/SMU/USF) tacked on 19 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
- Jaxon Olvera (Houston, Texas/Golden State Prep) scored 10 points and gathered four rebounds.
KEY STATS
- Pepperdine outshot NAU 54% to 42% from the field, and similarly from beyond the arc at 54% to 43%.
- The Waves caused more Lumberjack hiccups, forcing 12 turnovers to Pepperdine's seven while converting NAU mistakes to 13 points.
- NAU won the rebounding battle 37-33 but the Waves outscored the opposition in the paint 44-30.
RECAP
Pepperdine started things off with a Coulibaly alley-oop from
Dovydas Butka and the Waves traded baskets with the Lumberjacks early. Odum and Todorovic carried the Waves until the under-16 media timeout, when
Danilo Dozic hit a three to spread the wealth. NAU's Tre McLaughlin converted on six of his 10 three-point attempts in the first half, however, leading to a slim 44-42 Pepperdine lead heading into the locker rooms.
Just like the first, Coulibaly received an assist from Todorovic for a second half-opening dunk. The Lumberjacks would quietly take a one-point lead early in the stanza, but it would be the last time NAU saw an advantage. With under 10 to go, Pepperdine went on an 8-0 run to help keep NAU at bay and the Lumberjacks' press left Coulibaly open near the Waves basket to feed the big man for his career-high, leading to an 86-76 final score.
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