MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (4-7) will play its final road non-conference game Thursday at Long Beach State (2-9, 0-2 Big West) from the Long Beach State Financial Credit Union Pyramid at 7 p.m.
Streaming can be found on
ESPN+ with live stats available
here.
The Waves will look to win back-to-back games for the first time this season following a road win at CSU Bakersfield over the weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
- Pepperdine defeated Cal State Bakersfield on the road by a score of 70-62 this past Saturday.
- Aaron Clark led the Waves with 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting while collecting a career-high five steals.
- Javon Cooley posted 17 points including 14 in the second half, knocking down three three-pointers after the break.
- The Waves held the Roadrunners to a 29.8% shooting for the game including just 16.7% from distance, both season-lows from a Pepperdine opponent.
GAME NOTES
- Pepperdine currently ranks 17th in the country in free throw percentage at .781.
- The Waves currently rank third in the WCC with 12.8 offensive rebounds per game.
- Styles Phipps is one of three players in the country averaging over 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and five assists per game (Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State / Quion Williams, Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
- He is currently third in the WCC in assists per game at 5.3.
- Phipps is the only player in the WCC to have both a points/rebounds double-double and points/assists double-double this season.
- Javon Cooley ranks second on the team in both points and rebounds at 13.2 points per game with 5.4 boards per contest.
- Cooley ranks third in the WCC and 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (.957) and has hit 44 consecutive free throws.
- Cooley is one six players in the WCC to rank top-20 in scoring and rebounding in the conference.
- Redshirt sophomore Aaron Clark has paced the Waves' scoring this season with 14.3 points per game which ranks 10th in the West Coast Conference.
- Clark logged 25 points against Cal State Bakersfield on 10-for-15 shooting including 3-for-4 from three-point range which featured a career-best five steals in the effort.
- It marked one of seven games this season in the NCAA in which a player recorded 25 points, five steals and three assists.
- Clark is the only player in the WCC to be averaging at least 14 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, 3 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game.
- Danilo Dozic has posted a pair of 20-point efforts this season and ranks second on the team with 14 three-pointers made.
- Dozic currently ranks 25th in the WCC in scoring at 11.6 points per game.
- Pavle Stosic has drawn five straight starts in the frontcourt and has posted 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game this season.
- Yonatan Levy posted eight rebounds last time out against Cal State Bakersfield and has knocked down a triple in back-to-back games for the Waves as a starter in the frontcourt.
- The Waves are one of two teams in the West Coast Conference to have four players averaging 11 points per game or more (Clark, Cooley, Dozic, Phipps).
SERIES HISTORY
- The Waves hold a 17-12 record against the Beach in the all-time series.
- Pepperdine has a 7-6 record in true road games in the series.
- The Beach have won seven of the past nine meetings dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
- Long Beach State picked up a 79-76 victory this past season in Malibu.
- The Waves most recent trip to Long Beach was a narrow 67-66 defeat in 2018.
SCOUTING THE BEACH
- Long Beach State enters with a 2-9 overall record this season, with its victories coming against Nobel and WCC opponent San Diego.
- The Beach were selected to finish 8th in the preseason Big West Poll.
- The team enters on a three-game losing streak, with a pair of losses coming in overtime to San Jose State and UC Santa Barbara.
- Long Beach is led by freshman Gavin Sykes who ranks sixth in the Big West averaging 17.1 points per game.
- Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic has paced with the team with 6.3 boards per game while logging 13.8 points per contest.
The Waves close out the non-conference slate at home against Rice on Saturday with tip-off 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.
TICKETS
For more information on ticket packages and to purchase tickets for upcoming home events, visit here.
FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's basketball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMBB.