GAME #20: Pepperdine (8-13, 2-6 WCC) @ San Diego (4-18, 1-8 WCC) | Thursday, Jan. 30 | San Diego, Calif. | 7 PM | ESPN+ | Radio
 
GAME #21: Pepperdine vs. Portland (7-15, 2-7 WCC) | Saturday, Feb. 1 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | 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 1,214 & 1,215-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 40th season on the call. Joining him on the home broadcast is Joey Vergilis in the color commentary seat.
 
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.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Led by a Stefan Todorovic double-double, the Waves defeated Pacific for the second time this season at a final of 60-44 last Saturday night. Pepperdine had three players in double figures and every available team member was awarded playing time in the 16-point win.
 
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks fourth in the WCC for rebounds per game (35.9), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 6.6 and 6.9 per game. Butka ranks 12th in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly sits at 11th, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.7).
 
CHEF TODOROVIC: Sitting second the WCC in scoring, Stefan Todorovic also ranks 31stin the nation for total points (393). He has also recorded two of the top 10 scoring outputs in the conference with his 33 and 32 points against UC San Diego and Long Beach State respectively. The Serbian sits eighth in the WCC in field goal percentage (.477), fourth in free throw percentage (.870) and sixth in threes per game (2.0).
 
SHARING THE WEALTH: Averaging 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 while playing for Pacific. Currently, he stands sixth in the country for total assists this season (149), sixth for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.1 apg).
 
SERIES VS THE TOREROS: 69-50 overall, 36-18 home, 29-25 away, 5-8 neutral.
 
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO: Pepperdine leads the series all-time over San Diego, splitting the season last year as the Waves won at the Jenny Craig Pavilion and the Toreros took one at Firestone Fieldhouse. USD is last in the WCC in field goal and three-point percentages and gets out rebounded by an average of 2.6 boards per contest. Kjay Bradley leads San Diego in scoring with 14.5 points per game– a stat in which he sits eighth in the WCC. Santiago Trouet is fifth in the conference in rebounding while averaging 7.8 per game.
 
SERIES VS THE PILOTS: 68-42 overall, 37-14 home, 26-26 away, 5-2 neutral.
 
SCOUTING PORTLAND: Portland's two conference wins came over Pacific and San Diego as the former needed overtime to give the Pilots a three-point triumph over the Tigers. Portland is 10th in the WCC in rebounds per game (34.2) and last in rebounding margin (-2.9). Freshman Austin Rapp leads the Pilots in scoring with 14 points per game, good for 12th in the WCC and rebounding with 6.3 per contest at 14th in the conference. Rapp also shoots 36.4% from long range while leading the league at 2.6 threes per game.
 
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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