MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (3-2) picked up a 90-79 victory over New Orleans (2-2) Tuesday night from Firestone Fieldhouse.

Javon Cooley led the Waves with a career-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Danilo Dozic put up 21 points. Dozic accounted for four of Pepperdine's seven makes from three-point range.

The Waves shot 25-for-28 from the free throw line in the contest, with Cooley knocking down all 12 of his looks from the charity stripe including four in the final minute to ice the game.

Styles Phipps recorded his second straight double-double with 14 points and 11 assists and Luka Vudragovic added 10 points off the bench for the Waves.

"We were really pleased with our offensive execution," noted head coach Ed Schilling. "Our guys were very unselfish as seen with our dishing out 23 assists. Additionally, we only had six turnovers which is terrific."

The Privateers jumped out to an early 7-3 lead after converting their first three field goals of the game, with the Waves answering with a 9-0 run and never relinquishing the lead back to the road side. Cooley got the scoring started for the Waves and had nine of the first 14 for Pepperdine with an early three and and then fast break layup which forced a New Orleans timeout at the 12:34 mark of the first half with a 12-8 deficit. 

The Waves pushed the lead to double digits at 19-9 with Vudragovic accounting for five straight points upon entering the game. The Waves maintained the lead throughout the first half, with Dozic catching fire from deep and hitting three triples in the final seven minutes of the half.

Pepperdine held New Orleans to 11-for-28 shooting in the half, while forcing nine turnovers and turning the ball over just twice themselves. Both Cooley (11) and Dozic (10) reached double figures by the break as the Waves held a 45-37 advantage.

New Orleans made multiple comeback attempts throughout the second half, with the Waves constantly finding an answer whenever the lead was cut to within five. A Coleton Benson three for the Privateers made it 52-48 with 15:19 to play, which was answered by Dozic and Stosic pushing the lead back to eight.

With the lead cut to four again at the 11:02 mark, the Waves responded with a 6-0 spurt fueled by Yonatan Levy with back-to-back baskets and a layup from Phipps to make it 64-54.

New Orleans continued to hang around, cutting the lead down to two with another Benson triple with 4:53 to play. Pepperdine's offense continued to execute down the stretch, with Cooley making back-to-back mid-range jumpers before Phipps knocked down a key deuce to keep the lead at three with 2:36 remaining.

Holding a 77-74 lead, Dozic connected on his fourth triple of the night to bring the lead back to six with under two minutes to play. The Waves got back-to-back key stops on defense on the ensuing New Orleans' possessions, as the Privateers were forced to foul down by six with 53 seconds remaining.

Cooley hit four straight free throws to make it a three-score game upon being fouled, as Phipps, Dozic and Levy each helped ice the game with a pair of free throws in the final minute. The trio of Phipps, Cooley and Dozic each played the entire second half to propel the Waves to the 90-79 victory.

Game Notes

• Javon Cooley had a career-high 23 points with seven rebounds.
• Cooley added three assists and two steals while not having a turnover in 35 minutes of action.
• Danilo Dozic posted his second 20-plus point effort of the season with 21 points.
• Dozic hit on four of seven looks from three-point range to pace the Waves from deep.
• Styles Phipps recorded 14 points and 11 assists to go along with five rebounds.
• It marks the second consecutive double-double for Phipps, with the first coming with points and rebounds.
• Dozic's four three-pointers and Phipps' 11 assists each marked single-game highs from any Wave this season.
• Yonatan Levy registered eight points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Luka Vudragovic tallied 10 points off the bench while knocking down a pair of triples.
• Pavle Stosic put up six points, six rebounds and two blocks off the bench.
• It marked Stosic's second game with multiple blocks this season.
• Stefan Cicic added four points and two boards.
• The Waves assisted on 23 of 29 field goals.
• Pepperdine's 25 free throws made were a season-high and marked the fourth time in the past five seasons with 25 or more free throws made in a single game.
• The Waves held the Privateers to 40.3-percent shooting for the game.
• Pepperdine had just six turnovers for the game compared to 17 for New Orleans.

The Waves will continue their homestand Friday, playing host to Stephen F. Austin with gametime set for 6 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.

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