Photo by: Jeff Golden
Men's Basketball Rounds Out Regular Season
2/26/2025 1:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME #30: Pepperdine @ Portland | Thursday, Feb. 27 | Portland, Ore. | 7 PM | ESPN+
GAME #31: Pepperdine vs Washington State | Saturday, Mar. 1 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | ESPN+
SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday will mark the last outing in a Waves uniform for four Pepperdine seniors as the team will honor Stefan Todorovic, Boubacar Coulibaly, Alonso Faure and Alex Leiba before the 7 p.m. tipoff.
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 1,222 & 1,223-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.
LAST TIME OUT: Led by a Moe Odum career-high of 26 points, the Waves stayed close with LMU last Saturday evening but ran out of gas in the second half for a 93-82 final in Los Angeles. Dovydas Butka earned a 25-point (season high), 11-rebound double-double and gathered two blocks and two steals.
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 207, tying Colbey Ross from the 2020-21 season for fourth place all-time. Currently, he stands fourth in the country for total assists this season, sixth for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.2 apg).
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks fourth in the WCC for rebounds per game (35.4), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 6.6 and 7.1 per game. Butka ranks 11th in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly sits at ninth, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.8).
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 11th in the WCC in field goal percentage (.442), third in free throw percentage (.852) and eighth in threes per game (2.0).
SERIES VS THE PILOTS: 68-43 overall, 37-15 home, 26-26 away, 5-2 neutral.
NET RANKING: #289, 8th in the WCC.
During the teams' previous meeting, the Pilots took an 84-64 win from the Waves in Firestone Fieldhouse. Dovydas Butka recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jaxon Olvera added 14 points to go with two rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Portland has been trending upwards throughout the last month of WCC play, winning four of their last six over the Waves, Oregon State, LMU and most recently completed a season sweep of Pacific last Saturday.
A win Thursday would help solidify Pepperdine's spot in the #8/9 game Friday evening of the Credit Union 1 WCC Championships next week.
SERIES VS THE COUGS: 3-5 overall, 1-3 away, 2-2 home, 0-1 neutral.
NET RANKING: #108, 7th in the WCC.
In Pullman, the Waves led almost the entire 40 minutes of play and had a 12-point advantage with six points left in regulation but WSU mounted a comeback throughout the remaining clock. The Pepperdine game-winner was blocked at the last second and the Cougars escaped with an 87-86 win.
Washington State has dropped eight of its last nine contests with the only win coming against the Waves in their last meeting.
LOOKING AHEAD: Pepperdine will likely play in the #8/9 game next Friday at 6 p.m. in the Orleans Arena barring last-chance regular season upsets from Pacific. Although the Waves' opponent is still to be decided, Portland currently sits in the #8 position but is tied with Wazzu in conference-only standings where WSU holds an overall record tiebreak over the Pilots.
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.
GAME #31: Pepperdine vs Washington State | Saturday, Mar. 1 | Malibu, Calif. | 7 PM | ESPN+
SENIOR NIGHT: Saturday will mark the last outing in a Waves uniform for four Pepperdine seniors as the team will honor Stefan Todorovic, Boubacar Coulibaly, Alonso Faure and Alex Leiba before the 7 p.m. tipoff.
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 1,222 & 1,223-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.
LAST TIME OUT: Led by a Moe Odum career-high of 26 points, the Waves stayed close with LMU last Saturday evening but ran out of gas in the second half for a 93-82 final in Los Angeles. Dovydas Butka earned a 25-point (season high), 11-rebound double-double and gathered two blocks and two steals.
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 207, tying Colbey Ross from the 2020-21 season for fourth place all-time. Currently, he stands fourth in the country for total assists this season, sixth for assists per game and second in the WCC in the same category (7.2 apg).
BOARD BUDS: Pepperdine currently ranks fourth in the WCC for rebounds per game (35.4), largely due to the efforts of Butka and Coulibaly who average 6.6 and 7.1 per game. Butka ranks 11th in the WCC for rebounding average and Coulibaly sits at ninth, while the latter also leads the conference in blocks per game (1.8).
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 11th in the WCC in field goal percentage (.442), third in free throw percentage (.852) and eighth in threes per game (2.0).
SERIES VS THE PILOTS: 68-43 overall, 37-15 home, 26-26 away, 5-2 neutral.
NET RANKING: #289, 8th in the WCC.
During the teams' previous meeting, the Pilots took an 84-64 win from the Waves in Firestone Fieldhouse. Dovydas Butka recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jaxon Olvera added 14 points to go with two rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Portland has been trending upwards throughout the last month of WCC play, winning four of their last six over the Waves, Oregon State, LMU and most recently completed a season sweep of Pacific last Saturday.
A win Thursday would help solidify Pepperdine's spot in the #8/9 game Friday evening of the Credit Union 1 WCC Championships next week.
SERIES VS THE COUGS: 3-5 overall, 1-3 away, 2-2 home, 0-1 neutral.
NET RANKING: #108, 7th in the WCC.
In Pullman, the Waves led almost the entire 40 minutes of play and had a 12-point advantage with six points left in regulation but WSU mounted a comeback throughout the remaining clock. The Pepperdine game-winner was blocked at the last second and the Cougars escaped with an 87-86 win.
Washington State has dropped eight of its last nine contests with the only win coming against the Waves in their last meeting.
LOOKING AHEAD: Pepperdine will likely play in the #8/9 game next Friday at 6 p.m. in the Orleans Arena barring last-chance regular season upsets from Pacific. Although the Waves' opponent is still to be decided, Portland currently sits in the #8 position but is tied with Wazzu in conference-only standings where WSU holds an overall record tiebreak over the Pilots.
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.
Players Mentioned
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