MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (5-8) will open its West Coast Conference (WCC) slate Sunday, playing host to No. 7 Gonzaga (12-1) from Firestone Fieldhouse at 5 p.m.

Al Epstein and Victoria Dennis will have the call on ESPN+, with live stats for the contest available here.

Limited tickets remain available for the final matchup between the two programs at Firestone Fieldhouse, available for purchase here.

The Waves welcome the Bulldogs for the final time as a member of the West Coast Conference, as the Bulldogs are set to join the PAC-12 Conference in the 2026-27 campaign.

LAST TIME OUT

• Pepperdine defeated Rice by a score of 84-62 at home on Saturday, Dec. 20.
• Aaron Clark led the Waves with 25 points on 4-for-6 shooting from distance.
• The Waves shot a season-high 54.2% from distance in the effort, connecting a season-best 13 times from beyond the arc.
• Javon Cooley logged 15 points with four rebounds, hitting a season-high four three-pointers out  of five attempts.
• It marked the final non-conference game of the season for the Waves, who enter WCC play with a 5-8 overall mark.

GAME NOTES

• Pepperdine currently ranks 14th in the country in free throw percentage at .784.
• The mark ranks second in the WCC, as the Waves have converted 192 of 245 attempts from the charity stripe this season.
• The Waves have shot over 70-percent from the line in eight of the past nine games, knocking down 17-of-20 against Vermont and 23-for-26 at Cal State Fullerton.
• The Waves are one of two teams in the West Coast Conference to have four players averaging 11.5 points per game or more (Aaron Clark, Javon Cooley, Styles Phipps, Danilo Dozic).
• The Waves are the only team in the WCC to have more than two players average over 30 minutes per game, with four (Phipps, Dozic, Clark, Cooley). 
• The team is coming off its most efficient offensive outing of the season, shooting 54.2% from the field against Rice.
• The Waves have no shot over 45% from the field in three straight efforts.
• The Waves currently rank fourth in the WCC with 12 offensive rebounds per game.
• Styles Phipps ranks 6th in the conference with 6.4 rebounds per game, as the Pepperdine point guard has corralled 25 offensive rebounds through 13 games this campaign.
• Phipps is one of three players in the country averaging over 12 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists per game (Christian Bliss, Delaware / Quion Williams, Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
• Phipps is currently third in the WCC in assists per game at 5.4.
• 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 is the Waves second leading scorer at 13.9 points per game while being second on the squad with 5.2 rebounds per game.
• Cooley has averaged 16.3 points per game over his last three efforts, shooting 18-for-26 from the field over that span and 8-for-13 from three-point range.
• Cooley is one five players in the WCC to rank top-20 in scoring and rebounding in the conference.
• Cooley ranks fourth in the WCC and 17th in the nation in free throw percentage (.923), and had a streak of 44 consecutive made free throws snapped at Long Beach State.
• Aaron Clark ranks 11th in the West Coast Conference with 14.5 points per game.
• Clark has posted 25 points in two of the past three games, with his 25 against Cal State Bakersfield coming on 10-for-15 shooting including 3-for-4 from three-point range, adding a career-high five steals.
• It marked one of eight games this season in the NCAA in which a player recorded 25 points, five steals and three assists.
• Danilo Dozic has posted a pair of 20-point efforts this season and is tied with Clark for second on the team in three-pointers made with 19.
• Yonatan Levy has posted eight points in each of the past two games and has recorded six-plus rebounds in three straight efforts.
• Levy has knocked down a three-pointer in four straight games (5-for-8) after hitting one in the first nine games of the season.
• Pavle Stosic has drawn seven straight starts in the frontcourt and has posted 3.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game this season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Gonzaga holds a 69-31 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Bulldogs enter the contest with a 49-game winning streak against the Waves.
• The Waves most recent victory in the series came on Jan. 18, 2002 in Malibu by a score of 88-79.
• The Waves hold a 17-28 overall record at Firestone Fieldhouse in the series, as the Bulldogs have won 22 straight in Malibu.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

• Gonzaga enters play with a 12-1 overall record entering conference play.
• The Bulldogs are ranked No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
• Gonzaga has earned ranked victories over No. 23 Creighton, No. 8 Alabama, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 25 UCLA this season. Their lone loss of the season came at the hands of No. 2 Michigan.
• Braden Huff and Graham Ike were each Preseason All-WCC selections. 
• The duo ranks first (Huff, 19.1) and fifth (Ike, 17.0) in scoring in the West Coast Conference this season.

The Waves return Tuesday night to play host to Saint Mary's, with opening tip set for 6 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse 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
For more information on ticket packages and to purchase tickets for upcoming home events, visit here.

FOLLOW
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