GETTING TO CAMPUS: Please note that at this time, access to campus is limited to Kanan Road and Pacific Coast Highway north of campus. The John Tyler Drive entrance gate is the only open access point to Pepperdine. Malibu Canyon and PCH south of campus remain closed. Please check all viable routes before departing for Pepperdine.

PARKING: Parking is limited in the Firestone Fieldhouse lot as SoCal Gas operates their incident command center. Additional parking can be found on the street or at the lot between Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool and Eddy D. Field Baseball Stadium. The university will be running shuttles periodically before and after the game.
 
FIRE RELIEF: To assist those affected by the LA County fires, please visit this link for a list of ways to donate including the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, the Malibu Urgent Care Center and more. Pepperdine is incredibly grateful to the firefighters and first responders who have kept thousands safe during these events.
 
GAME DONATIONS: Fans are encouraged to bring chapsticks/lip balm, preservative free eye drops, throat lozenges or hard candies and sunscreen to the game for donations to Malibu Urgent Care who supplies these items to those affected by the fires.
 
FIRST RESPONDER TICKETS: Entry is free for any first responders and their families attending the game by either filling out the form linked here or showing relevant identification at entry to the game.

GAME #18: PEPP vs USF | Thursday, Jan. 16 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | TICKETS | ESPN+
 
GAME #19: PEPP vs Saint Mary's | Saturday, Jan. 18 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | TICKETS | ESPN+
 
COVERAGE: All home and conference contests will be available to stream via ESPN+ for the second-straight season. Head to ESPN.com/Watch to catch the Waves. Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,210 and 1,211-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 40th season on the call. Joining him is Joey Vergilis in the color commentary seat.
 
LAST TIME OUT: A week has passed since Pepperdine last saw competition, as three Waves scored in double-figures and the team enjoyed a 17-point win over Pacific two Saturdays ago. The result was the first road win of the 2024-25 season and first win in West Coast Conference play for the Waves.
 
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks second in the WCC for defensive rebounds per game (27.1), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 7.0 and 7.2 per game and have totaled 365 of the team's 628 defensive boards. Butka ranks 12th in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly sits at eighth, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.8).
 
CHEF TODOROVIC: Sitting second the WCC in scoring, Stefan Todorovic also ranks T-21st in the nation for his 19.5 points per contest. He has also recorded two of the top six scoring outputs in the conference with his 33 and 32 points against UC San Diego and Long Beach State respectively. The Serbian sits fifth in the WCC in field goal percentage (.493), second in free throw percentage (.893) and second in threes per game (2.4).
 
SHARING THE WEALTH: Averaging almost eight 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 while playing for Pacific. Currently, he stands fifth in the country for total assists this season (125), sixth for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.5 apg).
 
SERIES VS THE DONS: 54-88 overall, 26-37 home, 21-47 away, 7-4 neutral.
 
SCOUTING USF: After going 10-3 in nonconference play, the Dons began their WCC competition on a three-game win streak over LMU, Santa Clara and Pacific before their first league loss at Washington State. Most recently, USF fell in an unusually lopsided 77-54 loss at Santa Clara. USF's Malik Thomas recently dethroned Stef Todorovic as the conference's leading scorer, but not by much as the Don averages 20.3 points compared to Todorovic's 19.5. Thomas has also won the WCC Player of the Week award four times this season for his efforts.
 
SERIES VS THE GAELS: 73-80 overall, 38-32 home, 30-40 away, 5-8 neutral.
 
SCOUTING SAINT MARY'S: Pepperdine met up with Saint Mary's in Moraga earlier this month, resulting in a 71-41 loss for the Waves. Luke Barrett led the Gaels with 16 points as Mikey Lewis contributed 14. The SMC defense halted any Pepperdine offensive production as the Waves went 31.5% from the field and 12.5% from beyond the arc. Veteran guard Augustas Marciulionis is ninth in the conference in scoring with his 14.4 points per game, but it is Lewis who has made an early case for WCC Freshman of the Year after earning the weekly award three times already this season.
 
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: Revered Wave Doug Christie is currently the interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings. 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.
 
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.
 
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