MORAGA, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's basketball team heads to Moraga, Calif. this week to take on the 18th-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels on Thursday evening in the first meeting between the two programs this season.
 
GAME #27: Pepperdine (10-16, 3-8 WCC) at #18 Saint Mary's (20-6, 11-0 WCC) | Thursday, Feb. 15 | Moraga, Calif. | 8 p.m.
 
COVERAGE - Thursday's matchup will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network, which can be found on traditional cable networks as well as streaming services and online at CBSSports.com/Watch/CBS-Sports-Network. Listen live on the audio-only WaveCast as
Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,186-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 39th season on the call.
 
LAST TIME OUT -  Five Waves scored in double-figures and Pepperdine led LMU the entire second half to defeat the Lions 72-63 last Saturday evening. The Waves were electrified midway through the second half by redshirt-freshman Cord Stansberry, who went on a run of his own to help stiff-arm any LMU comeback attempt. Michael Ajayi recorded his 13th double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
 
AJAYI ON THE DOUBLE - Michael Ajayi recorded his 13th double-double last Saturday which moved the junior up the Pepperdine single-season double-double leaderboard to tie Marcos Leite (1975-76), Orlando Phillips (1982-83) and Levy Middlebrooks (1986-87) at sixth. With another such performance, he would tie Dana Jones (1992-93) at fifth place with 14 total and two more double-double instances would put Ajayi tied for third with Jones (1993-94) and Stacy Davis (2015-16).
 
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 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and earned a season-high 26 points against Pacific on January 11 as well as his first double-double of the year against LMU on January 20 with 24 points and 12 boards.
 
MALLETTE MADNESS - The Waves' leader on and off the court, Houston Mallette sits second on the Pepperdine season box score in scoring, pouring in 15.8 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 2.3. Mallette has totaled 1,252 points in his three years in Malibu.
 
SPARKPLUG STANSBERRY – Redshirt-freshman Cord Stansberry has earned a reputation as the team's energy supplier after entering both games last week and immediately spurring on Waves runs. Against USF, Stansberry hit two dagger threes in the first half to keep Pepperdine close with the Dons while the guard took matters into his own hands against LMU Saturday, scoring eight points in consecutive offensive plays capitalized by a steal and breakaway dunk.
 
WAVES VS WCC - Michael Ajayi currently ranks in the top five of four different categories in the conference: First in scoring (17.2 PPG), second in rebounding (9.5 RPG) and fourth in field goal percentage (.464) and fourth in minutes (34.1 MPG). Houston Mallette also ranks in the top 10 for the following WCC categories: Third in scoring (15.8 PPG) and fourth in threes per game (2.3) as well as fourth in free-throw percentage (.830) and seventh in field goal percentage (.427). As a team, the Waves shoot 34.9% from beyond the arc which is good for fourth in the conference and pull down an average of 10.6 offensive boards for fourth in the league.
 
ON THE GAELS - Returning to Moraga after hitting the road for its last three games, conference-leader Saint Mary's stands 20-6 overall on the season and a spotless 11-0 in WCC play. Two weeks ago, the Gaels embarked on their roughest road trip yet– playing Gonzaga in Spokane– but emerged victorious in an extremely close contest that came down to the last shot. Before that, Randy Bennett's squad invited Santa Clara to Moraga where the Gaels shrugged off Santa Clara 82-77. Last week, SMC thumped both Pacific and Portland, restricting both teams to under 35% field goal shooting while outrebounding the pair by 15+ boards each game. Guard Aidan Mahaney leads the Gaels in scoring with 14 points per contest but is followed closely by Augustas Marciulonis at 11.9 points. Center Mitchell Saxen rules the boards, collecting an average of 7.5 per game while contributing 10.9 points on 55.3% field goal shooting. Last season, the Waves fell to the Gaels on both occasions, led by Alex Ducas with 16 points, but Pepperdine held Saxen, Mahaney and Marciulionis to just six points apiece. Leading the way for the Waves was Mallette, who put in 15 points and five rebounds.

UP NEXT - Pepperdine returns to Malibu Saturday to entice Portland at 7 p.m. Prior to the contest, Pepperdine will induct Waves great Dwayne Polee into the Hall of Fame.