MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (3-3) will head to Palm Desert, California, next to take part in the Acrisure Series from Acrisure Arena. The Waves will take on Fresno State (5-2) Wednesday at 4 p.m. on CBS Sports Network for their lone game in the desert.
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Ed Cohen and Dan Dickau will have the call on CBS Sports Network as the Waves and Bulldogs will play the third of five games total on the day.
The game marks the lone neutral site regular season contest of the season for the Waves.
LAST TIME OUT
- Pepperdine fell by a score of 63-60 at home against Stephen F. Austin Friday night.
- Aaron Clark had a career-high 30 points for the Waves, accounting for half of Pepperdine's point total in the game.
- Clark shot 9-for-12 from the field including 5-for-6 from distance.
- Danilo Dozic added 11 points and four rebounds for the Waves.
- The Waves shot 13-for-14 from the free throw line and held their opponent to under 40-percent shooting from the field for the first time this season.
GAME NOTES
- Pepperdine ranks fourth in the WCC in scoring at 82.5 points per game.
- Pepperdine is one of two teams in the WCC with three players averaging over 13 points per game (Clark, Dozic, Cooley).
- The Waves have gone 38-for-42 from the free-throw line across the past two games and have three games this season at over an 89-percent clip.
- The Waves currently rank 23rd in the country in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 15.3 through the first six games this season.
- Five Waves are currently averaging at least 1.5 offensive boards per game this season in Stefan Cicic, Yonatan Levy, Javon Cooley, Pavle Stosic and Styles Phipps.
- Aaron Clark has paced the Waves' scoring this season with 16.3 points per game.
- Clark posted a career-high 30 points last time out on 9-for-12 shooting.
- It marked one of seven games this season in which a player scored 30 points on 12 or fewer field goal attempts.
- Of the seven, Clark had the fewest number of free throws (7) and free throw attempts (8).
- He is one of three players in the WCC to be averaging at least 16 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 2.5 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game.
- Clark currently ranks third in the WCC with 11 steals this season.
- Phipps is the only player in the country averaging over 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and 1.5 steals per game.
- Phipps is the WCC leader in assists per game at 6.2.
- Phipps has been consistent with at least nine points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal in every game this season.
- Javon Cooley has been the Waves' leading rebounder this season at 6.3 boards per game while being third on the team with 13.3 points per game.
- Cooley is one four players in the WCC to rank top-20 in scoring and top-10 in rebounding in the conference.
- Danilo Dozic currently ranks 16th in the WCC in scoring at 13.8 points per game.
SERIES HISTORY
- Fresno State leads the all-time series 16-15.
- The most recent meeting was also the lone neutral site meeting in the contest, played at the Pavilion at JSerra as part of the SoCall Challenge in November 2021.
- The Bulldogs took the contest 70-63 and have won four of the past five meetings dating back to the 2009-10 season.
- The series dates back to the 1947-48 season as the two sides met 18 times between then and the 1956-57 season.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- The Bulldogs were selected 11th in the Preseason Mountain West Poll.
- The team is led by a pair of 15-plus point per game scorers at over a 50-percent shooting clip in Jake Heldbreder and Zaon Collins.
- Heldbreder has paced the team with 19 points per game while Collins had posted 15.3 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and 5.4 assists per game.
- The teams played a pair of common opponents this past, with Fresno State taking down both New Orleans (85-76) and Stephen F. Austin (80-78).
The Waves will remain on the road to take on Cal State Fullerton Saturday, with opening tip set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
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.
TICKETS
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