GAME #28: Pepperdine vs Oregon State | Thursday, Feb. 20 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | ESPN+
 
GAME #29: Pepperdine @ LMU | Saturday, Feb. 22 | Los Angeles, Calif. | 6 PM | ESPN+
 
COVERAGE: All home and conference contests will be available to stream via ESPN+ for the second-straight season. Head to ESPN.com/Watch to catch the Waves. Hall of Famer Al Epstein continues his streak of 1,220 & 1,221-straight men's basketball broadcasts in his 40th season on the call. Joining him on the home broadcast is Joey Vergilis in the color commentary seat.
 
FORE THE MONEY CHALLENGE: During the first half of Thursday's game, five lucky winners will be drawn for the UCU "Fore the Money Challenge," where one of the five will be chosen at random to attempt a full-court put for $25,000! Sign up here.
 
GOODR GIVEAWAY: The first 50 students in the Fieldhouse will receive a free pair of goodr sunglasses!
 
CHAMPS RECOGNITION: At halftime, the Waves women's soccer team will be honored for their 2024 WCC Championship season.
 
FIRE RELIEF: To assist those affected by the LA County fires, please visit this link for a list of ways to donate including the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, the Malibu Urgent Care Center and more. Pepperdine is incredibly grateful to the firefighters and first responders who have kept thousands safe during these events.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Pepperdine split a win with a loss last week, defeating San Diego for the second time this season 88-81 but fell in the rematch with Gonzaga at 107-55 in Spokane.
 
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks fourth in the WCC for rebounds per game (35.9), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 6.4 and 6.9 per game. Butka ranks 13th in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly sits at ninth, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.7).
 
CHEF TODOROVIC: Sitting second the WCC in scoring, Stefan Todorovic has recorded two of the top 10 scoring outputs in the conference with his 33 and 32 points against UC San Diego and Long Beach State respectively. The Serbian sits 10th in the WCC in field goal percentage (.451), third in free throw percentage (.856) and fifth in threes per game (2.1).
 
SHARING THE WEALTH: Averaging over seven assists per game, junior Moe Odum has passed his way into the Pepperdine leaderboard for collective assists in a single season at 194, passing Ricard Brown (78-79, 197 ast) for sixth place all-time. Currently, he stands fourth in the country for total assists this season (194), sixth for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.2 apg).
 
SERIES VS THE BEAVERS: 0-6 overall.
 
NET RANKING: #77, 5th in the WCC.
 
In Corvallis, Pepperdine experienced second half shooting woes after keeping up with the Beavs in the first half as the Waves fell to Oregon State 83-63. Stefan Todorovic again led the Waves with 19 points, seven boards, three assists and a steal. Dovydas Butka followed with 14 points on 50% field goal shooting while gathering three rebounds and a steal. Boubacar Coulibaly recorded six points nine boards and two blocks on the night. Moe Odum scored only five points but tacked on 11 assists– his third double-digit assist outing of the season.
 
SERIES VS THE LIONS: 105-75 overall, 55-26 home, 41-42 away, 9-7 neutral.
 
NET RANKING: #171, 7th in the WCC.
 
During the two team's last meeting just a week prior, The Waves earned a first half lead over the Lions heading into halftime but a cold-shooting second half would bury the Waves at a 69-60 final in Firestone Fieldhouse. Stefan Todorovic led the Waves with 17 points, eight boards, two assists and a steal. Boubacar Coulibaly added a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards to go with a block and two steals. Dovydas Butka tacked on 13 points, seven boards, four assists and a steal.
 
SCHILLING & COMPANY: Beginning his first campaign as the Waves' head coach, Ed Schilling has gathered a cabinet of assistant coaches with several decades of coaching experience at all levels of the sport, ranging from Power 5 schools to success at the NAIA, junior college and high school levels.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The 2024-25 roster features 12 new faces and just two returners in Boubacar Coulibaly and David Mager. Seven of the 12 transferred in to Pepperdine while four are true freshmen. The roster is also significantly older than in years past, seeing three graduate students and five upperclassmen.
 
PRO WAVES: Revered Wave Doug Christie is currently the interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings. Maxwell Lewis was the 40th pick in the 2023 Draft and earned big minutes in the NBA Summer League. Kessler Edwards began his professional career with the Brooklyn Nets who drafted him at 44th in 2021 but has since been traded to the Sacramento Kings and now resides on the Dallas Mavericks roster. Pepperdine's record-holder for scoring and assists Colbey Ross currently plays for Pallacanestro Trieste– one of the top teams in Italy.
 
CATCH THE WAVES
Season tickets for Pepperdine men's and women's basketball are currently on sale at PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets with single-game purchases to become available October 25. Season ticket prices begin at $99 and fans have the opportunity to purchase a pass for priority parking near Firestone Fieldhouse for $200.
 
PEPPERDINE BASKETBALL: This is the 86th season of Pepperdine men's basketball, and the 51st year that the Waves have called Firestone Fieldhouse home. The Waves has been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times (last in 2002) and has won 12 West Coast Conference regular-season titles (last in 2002) and three WCC Tournament crowns (last in 1994). The Waves won the College Basketball Invitational in 2021.
 
STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine hoops by following the team on X and Instagram and find more about Waves Athletics via @PepperdineWaves on all platforms.