MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (1-0) earned an 88-80 victory in its season opener against Life Pacific (2-2) on Monday night from Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Waves had a balanced scoring attack with five in double figures. Aaron Clark led the way with 14 points and four steals while Javon Cooley and Pavle Stosic each added 13 points.

David Mager provided a spark off the bench with 12 points and four boards in 13 minutes to go along with a game-best plus-minus of +24.

Pepperdine shot 53-percent from the field and 40-percent from downtown, connecting on 10 of 25 looks from distance. Clark, Mager, Danilo Dozic and Luke Vudragovic each knocked down a pair of triples in the effort.

"It was a good game for us to learn about ourselves and what adjustments we need to make going forward," said head coach Ed Schilling. "We have almost an entirely new team, so we are a work in progress."

The opening minutes saw a barrage of threes from Life Pacific's Josh Hardeman, who knocked down four straight triples in the opening four minutes to give the Warriors an early 16-6 lead. The Waves offense responded, with Dozic, Cooley and Clark each connecting from distance in the opening ten minutes as Pepperdine quickly cut it down to four following a Cooley layup at the 11:08 mark.

Pepperdine used an 11-0 run midway through the half to take back the lead, led by Mager knocking down a pair of threes as he recorded eight of the 11 points of the run while Dozic made good on his second three as well. Life Pacific continued to battle and put points on the board, but the Waves ended the half on an 11-2 spurt to take a 50-43 lead into halftime.

Mager's 10 points led the Waves in the first half, as Pepperdine was 8-for-14 from deep as a team in the opening 20 minutes. Cooley led the Waves' starters with his nine points and five rebounds.

The Waves' hot shooting from deep continued to start the second half, with Luka Vudragovic knocking down a pair in the opening four minutes as Yonatan Levy got his first points as a Wave. Clark knocked in a pair of free throws before a fast break layup of his gave the Waves their first double-digit lead of the night at 64-54 with 15 minutes remaining.

Pepperdine continued to extend its lead into the midway point of the half, as back-to-back buckets from Stosic brought it to a game-high 18-point lead at 77-59. Stosic led Pepperdine with eight second half points.

The Waves saw out the lead in the closing minutes, with Cooley and Dozic combining for the final eight points for the Waves in the final four minutes. 

For the game, seven Waves recorded at least eight points with eight logging an offensive rebound in a team effort on the glass.

Hardeman and Aydan Hamilton led Life Pacific with 17 points each.

Game Notes

• Aaron Clark had a team-high 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting. 
• Clark added four steals and four rebounds to his career-high point total.
• Styles Phipps recorded nine points and five assists to go along with matching a team-high seven rebounds.
• Javon Cooley logged 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting with five rebounds.
• David Mager added 12 points and four rebounds while knocking down a pair of threes.
• Pavle Stosic led the Waves off the bench with 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Stosic pulled down four offensive boards and knocked down six of 10 looks from the field including a three-pointer.
• Nikola Radovanovic was active in 11 minutes off the bench, totaling four points, three rebounds and three assists with a plus-minus of +16.
• Danilo Dozic posted 11 points and three assists, knocking down two of four looks from downtown.
• Luke Vudragovic was also 2-for-4 from distance, totaling eight points in his collegiate debut.
• Yonatan Levy registered two points, four rebounds and two assists.
• Preston Phillips added two points and two rebounds off the bench in his Pepperdine debut.
• Stefan Cicic and Vladimir Sudar each made their debut in a Waves uniform as well.
• Pepperdine outrebounded the Warriors 44-26.
• The Waves have won four straight season opening games.
• Pepperdine pulled down 19 offensive rebounds.
• It marked the most offensive rebounds since collecting 22 against William & Mary on Dec. 21, 2023.
• The Waves shot over 50-percent from the field for the fifth time in the past three seasons.

Pepperdine will head to No. 12 UCLA next, taking on the Bruins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday from Pauley Pavilion on Big Ten Network.

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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