MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's basketball team is set to embark on its last road trip of the regular season, seeing rematches at Pacific and San Francisco this week.
 
GAME #29: Pepperdine (11-17, 4-9 WCC) at Pacific (6-22, 0-13 WCC) | Stockton, Calif. | Wednesday, Feb. 21 | 7 p.m.
 
COVERAGE - In a partnership between the WCC and ESPN, all WCC-sponsored sports will be streamed on the ESPN+ app or by heading to ESPN.com/Watch. Listen live on the audio-only WaveCast as Pepperdine Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,188-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 39th season on the call.
 
LAST TIME OUT - Riding the coattails of phenomenal shooting performances across the board, the Waves crushed Portland last Saturday night at a final score of 91-70. Pepperdine hit 15-total threes to mark the most all year by the squad and shared the ball at a stellar rate, recording 21 assists for another season-high. With the win, the Waves have made their case for a sixth or seventh seed in the West Coast Conference tournament which would put Pepperdine's first game on Friday, March 8 in the tournament's second round.
 
AJAYI ON THE DOUBLE - Michael Ajayi recorded his 13th double-double against LMU on February 10 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 15 points and 5.7 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 15.3 points per game. The junior is also fourth in the WCC in the same category and in three-pointers per game with 2.2. Mallette has totaled 1,268 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 games and immediately providing a spark. 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, scoring eight points in consecutive offensive plays capitalized by a steal and breakaway dunk. Since then, Stansberry has averaged a .520 clip from field goal range and 42.1% from beyond the arc.
 
WAVES VS WCC - Michael Ajayi currently ranks in the top five of four different categories in the conference: First in scoring (17.3 PPG), second in rebounding (9.3 RPG) and fourth in field goal percentage (.464) and fourth in minutes (34.2 MPG). Houston Mallette also ranks in the top 10 for the following WCC categories: Fourth in scoring (15.3 PPG) and fourth in threes per game (2.2) as well as fifth in free-throw percentage (.816) and seventh in field goal percentage (.429). As a team, the Waves shoot 36.1% from beyond the arc which is good for second in the conference and pull down an average of 10.1 offensive boards for fourth in the league.
 
ON THE TIGERS - Pacific has struggled through conference play this season sitting 0-13 as their last win came over NAIA member Cal Maritime back on December 30. Pepperdine invited the Tigers to Malibu in both teams' third WCC of the year, seeing the Waves take a 93-78 win. Pepperdine outrebounded UOP 34-29, recorded six blocks and shot 56.7% from the field as Jevon Porter led all scorers with 26 points on a .647 field goal clip and went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Tigers are guard Donovan Williams and wing Judson Martindale putting in 9.7 points per game apiece. Forward Cam Denson leads Pacific on the glass, collecting 4.7 boards per game.
 
UP NEXT – The Waves will road trip over to San Francisco for a Saturday matchup with the Dons.