Box Score SAN DIEGO – Zion Bethea scored 20 first-half points off the bench and the Pepperdine men's basketball team defeated San Diego 98-90 Thursday night in Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Waves now stand 3-6 in West Coast Conference play and return to Malibu to take on Portland Saturday evening.
BIG WAVES
- Zion Bethea (South Orange, N.J./Hofstra/St. Francis Brooklyn/Delaware) shot 8-of-11 from the field and 6-of-9 from long range to finish with 26 points, seven boards and a steal.
- Stefan Todorovic (Belgrade, Serbia/SMU/USF) earned 25 points while going 14-of-15 from the free throw line, tacking on eight rebounds and an assist.
- Moe Odum (The Bronx, N.Y./Pacific) scored 18 points, pulled down three rebounds and gathered nine assists and two steals.
KEY STATS
- Both teams shot nearly lights out in the first half and Pepperdine finished at 49 to 46% field goal advantage while besting the Toreros from long range as well, going 43 to 32%.
- The Waves outrebounded USD 37-29 and outscored San Diego from inside the paint at 30-28.
- Pepperdine finished with more turnovers than USD (12-11) but benefitted more off of Torero turnovers, earning 18 points to USD's 17.
RECAP
Todorovic got the Waves on the board first with a step-back jumper facilitated by an Odum steal and the teams went back and forth to open the game. Fouls and turnovers broke up the play of game until Todorovic began an 8-0 Pepperdine run that included a personal five-point sprint from
Zion Bethea who connected on an inbounds bump before nailing a three from the wing to force USD into a timeout. Coulibaly received a pass from Odum for an inbounds dunk before Bethea struck a three from the same spot on the floor to put the Waves up 13 midway through the stanza. In fact, both teams combined for 15 first-half threes while trading long-range shots for the better half of three minutes, leading Pepperdine into the locker rooms with a 15-point advantage.
San Diego opened the second half with a jumper before
Dovydas Butka completed a three-point play near the rim. Odum pushed the ball up the court for two-straight fast break layups, staving off Tony Duckett of the Toreros but Santiago Trouet would bring USD within 10 points of Pepperdine before the first media timeout of the half. Both teams went a little dry for a stretch, but San Diego continued its three-point barrage, cutting the Pepperdine lead to six with just under 10 minutes to play. The Waves would go on a six-minute field goal drought but kept their lead on free throws until an Odum floater and Bethea's sixth three-pointer of the night. With five minutes left in the game, the Waves would not score another field goal but free throws proved to be enough to keep Pepperdine away from San Diego and eke out the 98-90 win.
UP NEXT
The Waves return home to invite Portland to Malibu for a Saturday 7 p.m. tip-off.
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