GAME #14: Pepperdine at Santa Clara | Saturday, Dec. 28 | Santa Clara, Calif. | 4 PM | ESPN+
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Waves held UC Davis to its lowest scoring output of the season last week as a balanced scoring and defending attack led the Waves to an 85-46 win. Pepperdine had five players score in double-figures to head into the break. Dovydas Butka accrued an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double while going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and dishing out three assists.

UP NEXT: The Waves return to Malibu to host the #14 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Monday, Dec. 30 set for a 7 p.m. tip-off. A limited number of tickets remain available for purchase, starting at $35. Head to pepperdinewaves.com/tickets to reserve your spot!
 
SERIES VS THE BRONCOS: 64-85, 39-29 at home, 33-16 Malibu 22-49 in Santa Clara, 3-7 neutral. Saturday's contest against Santa Clara will be the only time the two teams square up in the regular season due to the conference's unbalanced scheduling.
 
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA: Currently #76 in the NCAA NET rankings, SCU finished its tough nonconference slate at 8-5 with wins over TCU, McNeese State and Bradley who all reside within the top 100 of the NET. The Broncos retained most of their roster from 2023-24, most notably Adama-Alpha Bal who currently leads the team in scoring and Jake Ensminger as the team's leading rebounder. SCU finished fourth in the conference last season, behind only Saint Mary's, Gonzaga and San Francisco.
 
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks 32nd in the NCAA for defensive rebounds per game (28.2), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 7.5 and 7.0 per game and have totaled 134 of the team's 367 defensive boards. Butka ranks seventh in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly closely follows at 11th, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.8).
 
SHARING THE WEALTH: Averaging almost seven assists per game, junior Moe Odum could pass his way into the Pepperdine top 10 for cumulative assists in a season if he continues on the same pace. Last season, Odum finished third in the WCC for assists per game (4.6) while playing for Pacific. Currently, he stands sixth in the country for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.4 apg).
 
CHEF TODOROVIC: Leading the Waves and the WCC in scoring, Stefan Todorovic also ranks 29th in the nation for his 19.3 points per contest. He has also recorded two of the top three scoring outputs in the conference with his 33 and 32 points against UC San Diego and Long Beach State respectively. The Serbian sits sixth in the WCC in field goal percentage (.497), fourth in free throw percentage (.881) and sixth in threes per game (2.2).
 
FRESH FACES: Head coach Ed Schilling announced the additions of guards Mike Saunders Jr. and Kyle Braun this week. The pair are both graduate students, as Saunders comes from McNeese State and Braun by the way of Marshall. Saunders will join the Pepperdine squad after averaging six points and 16.9 minutes per game playing for 2024 NCAA Tournament team McNeese State. The guard also shot 51.5% from the field and 38.1% from long range for the Cowboys. Braun played two seasons at Marshall and graduated this fall with a bachelor's degree in business administration while minoring in economics and German. During his freshman year, Braun averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds.
 
SCHILLING & COMPANY: Beginning his first campaign as the Waves' head coach, Ed Schilling has gathered a cabinet of assistant coaches with several decades of coaching experience at all levels of the sport, ranging from Power 5 schools to success at the NAIA, junior college and high school levels.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The 2024-25 roster features 12 new faces and just two returners in Boubacar Coulibaly and David Mager. Seven of the 12 transferred in to Pepperdine while four are true freshmen. The roster is also significantly older than in years past, seeing three graduate students and five upperclassmen.
 
PRO WAVES: Maxwell Lewis was the 40th pick in the 2023 Draft and earned big minutes in the NBA Summer League. Kessler Edwards began his professional career with the Brooklyn Nets who drafted him at 44th in 2021 but has since been traded to the Sacramento Kings and now resides on the Dallas Mavericks roster. Pepperdine's record-holder for scoring and assists Colbey Ross currently plays for Pallacanestro Trieste– one of the top teams in Italy.
 
GROUP EXPERIENCES
Interested in bringing your group out to a Pepperdine Athletics event? Unique experiences available include anthem buddies, national anthem performances, fan tunnels, halftime performances and more. Those interested in purchasing group tickets can fill out this form or reach out to the ticket office via e-mail wavestix@pepperdine.edu or phone (866) WAVE-TIX.
 
JR. WAVES
Pepperdine Athletics is proud to announce the Jr. Waves program geared toward children in sixth grade or under. Jr. Waves receive an exclusive t-shirt, membership card and lanyard that grants free admission to women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's volleyball, baseball and water polo. Be sure to sign up quickly as this season's membership runs from August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025.
 
CATCH THE WAVES
Season tickets for Pepperdine men's and women's basketball are currently on sale at PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets with single-game purchases to become available October 25. Season ticket prices begin at $99 and fans have the opportunity to purchase a pass for priority parking near Firestone Fieldhouse for $200.
 
PEPPERDINE BASKETBALL: This is the 86th season of Pepperdine men's basketball, and the 51st year that the Waves have called Firestone Fieldhouse home. The Waves has been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times (last in 2002) and has won 12 West Coast Conference regular-season titles (last in 2002) and three WCC Tournament crowns (last in 1994). The Waves won the College Basketball Invitational in 2021.
 
UP NEXT: The Waves return to Malibu to host the #14 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Monday, Dec. 30 set for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine hoops by following the team on X and Instagram and find more about Waves Athletics via @PepperdineWaves on all platforms.