PCH Cup Round Two on the Docket for Men's Basketball

MALIBU - The Pepperdine men's basketball team travels down to LMU on Saturday to take on the Lions in this season's second installment of the PCH Cup.

GAME #25: Pepperdine (9-16, 2-8 WCC) at LMU (10-13, 3-6, WCC) | Saturday, Feb. 10 | Los Angeles, Calif. | Gersten Pavilion | 6 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT - The Waves stayed competitive against San Francisco on Thursday night in a bout that saw six lead changes but the Dons ran away with an 80-74 win. Pepperdine matched USF in rebounds (33 each) and turnovers (nine each) but the Dons controlled the paint to eke out the six-point win.

AJAYI ON THE DOUBLE - Michael Ajayi recorded his 12th double-double last Saturday which entered the junior into the Pepperdine single-season double-double leaderboard tied for ninth with Marcos Leite (1974-75), Ray Ellis (1977-78), Orlando Phillips (1981-82) and Geoff Lear (1989-90). Ajayi would need one more double-double to tie Leite (1975-76), Phillips (1982-83) and Levy Middlebrooks (1986-87) at sixth, while two more would put him tied for third with Dana 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 15.2 points and 6.2 boards per contest.

MALLETTE MADNESS - The Waves' leader on and off the court, Houston Mallette sits second on the Pepperdine season box score in scoring, pouring in 16 points per game. The junior is also third in the WCC in the same category behind teammate Michael Ajayi and is second in three-pointers per game with 2.4. Mallette has totaled 1,239 points in his three years in Malibu.

ON THE LIONS - LMU enters Saturday's contest on a three-game slide, most recently falling to San Diego at home. The Lions were down by a wide margin at the half in that game, but came back in the end and only lost by two to the Toreros.

The Waves were plagued by shooting woes in their last outing against the Lions as they chopped away at a 19-point LMU lead but eventually fell 68-61 in Firestone. Pepperdine was led by Jevon Porter who recorded his first double-double of the season on 24 points and 12 boards, while five Lions scored in double-figures. Both teams ended the game shooting 36% from the field but LMU fared better from long-range going for 38% compared to Pepperdine's 25%. The Lions also hit 92% of their free-throws in contrast to the Waves' 59%. The Waves won the rebounding battle (37-36) and the turnover margin, causing 10 LMU turnovers for 10 Pepperdine points. Pepperdine also prevailed in the paint, going for 26 points to LMU's 14, as well as bench points, seeing 18 Waves' reserve points in contrast to the Lion's five.

UP NEXT – Next week, the Waves head to Moraga, Calif. to battle Saint Mary's on Thursday before returning to Malibu Saturday to play Portland in Pepperdine's penultimate home contest.

PCH Cup Round Two on the Docket for Men's Basketball

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Players Mentioned

Michael Ajayi

Houston Mallette

Jevon Porter

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