MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (3-7) fell by a score of 65-56 at home against Vermont (6-5) Saturday afternoon from Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Waves held a two-point halftime lead at 28-26 as both teams struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes, with the Catamounts finding their shooting stroke in the second half at 14-for-27.

Javon Cooley led the Waves with 15 points off the bench to go along with six rebounds and a pair of steals. Aaron Clark logged 12 points for Pepperdine while Styles Phipps had a game-high 11 rebounds and team-high four assists to go with eight points.

"We had a lead at halftime and played solid defense for the first 20 minutes," noted head coach Ed Schilling following the game. "However, we didn't sustain it in the second half. We struggled to make shots and our offensive rhythm is off. We have a week before our next game and need to improve individually and as a team."

Pepperdine jumped out to a 7-0 lead with Danilo Dozic nailing a three on the first possession of the game, with a Clark layup giving the Waves the seven-point advantage at the 17:17 mark. Vermont was held without a field goal for the opening 3:49 of the game, as each team hit just three shots from the field in the first ten minutes of the game.

A Luka Vudragovic layup was answered by a David Simon dunk on the other end as the teams drew even at 9-9 with ten minutes gone in the game. Both offenses struggled in the early stages, each below 40-percent from the field and under 25-percent from three in the first half.

Pepperdine held a slim lead through the remainder of the half, with a Clark triple and Phipps layup seeing a 16-11 advantage with 6:42 to play in the half. Clark added an and-one which was converted to give the Waves a 24-19 lead.

Going ahead 28-24, Vermont notched the final bucket of the half which saw Pepperdine take a two-point lead into halftime. Clark paced the Waves with eight first half points as Pepperdine was 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

The beginning of the second half saw more shooting struggles early on, as the Catamounts were held scoreless through the opening four-plus minutes as Stosic and Phipps added buckets to give Pepperdine a six-point lead at 32-26. 

Vermont then found its stroke from deep, hitting three straight from downtown to take a 35-32 lead with 14:51 to play. The hot three-point shooting would continue for the Catamounts, as six of their first seven field goals in the half came from three-point land. A Simon triple gave Vermont its largest lead at 46-39 with 9:55 to go in the contest.

Cooley heated up for the Waves, as the graduate student had all four field goals for the Waves from the 14:13 to 1:41 mark in the half, hitting three from distance along with a mid-range jumper. The Waves' cold shooting allowed Vermont to take a double-digit lead with four minutes to play as Sean Blake notched back-to-back layups and the road side led 56-45 at the final media timeout.

A Clark layup with 1:42 left brought the lead down to seven, but Blake answered with a pivotal layup with under a minute to play which brought the lead back to nine. The Catamounts hit all four of their free throws down the stretch while all three of Pepperdine's misses from the line in the game came in the final three minutes. 

Vermont shot 14-for-27 in the second half with a 6-for-13 mark from deep, prevailing 65-56 to earn the road victory.

GAME NOTES

• Javon Cooley led the Waves with 15 points off the bench to go with six rebounds.
• Cooley matched a season-high with three triples, the lone Wave to connect on multiple looks from distance.
• Aaron Clark posted 12 points with a pair of assists.
• Styles Phipps recorded 11 rebounds and four assists to go with eight points.
• The 11 board is a new career-high for Phipps and marked his second game rebounding in double figures this season.
• Danilo Dozic registered nine points and three boards.
• Yonatan Levy drew his fourth start of the season and logged five points, four rebounds and two steals.
• The rebounding margin was even at 32, with the Waves grabbing eight offensive boards compared to seven for Vermont.
• The Waves went 17-for-20 from the free throw line.
• The 16 field goals made marked a new season-low for Pepperdine.

The Waves return to action Saturday (Dec. 13) at Cal State Bakersfield with opening tip set for 6:30 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
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.