LAS VEGAS – A tale of two halves finally went the Waves' way Friday evening as the Pepperdine men's basketball team overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat Portland 86-73 in the WCC Tournament's second round. Junior
Moe Odum earned a 31-point, 11-assist double-double to lead Pepperdine to victory.
The Waves (11-21) step back into the Orleans Saturday evening to take on Oregon State in the third round. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
BIG WAVES:
- Moe Odum (Bronx, N.Y./Pacific) obliterated his previous career high in scoring with 31 points while completing his sixth game this season with double-digit assists at 11. Five of those marks resulted in double-doubles. The junior delivered 26 points in the second half alone, going 6-for-10 from long range and 12-for-17 from the field. In the last 12 minutes of the game, he had a hand in 37 of the rest of the Waves' 44 points.
- Stefan Todorovic (Belgrade, Serbia/SMU/USF) added on 19 points and six rebounds to go with two steals. While not his hottest shooting night, the senior went spotless from the free throw line at 8-of-8.
- Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC) earned his fifth double-double of the season at 12 points and 11 rebounds, dishing out two assists and adding on a block and a steal.
- Zion Bethea (South Orange, N.J./Delaware) was a bright spot in the first half and finished with 10 points while going 3-for-5 from three and pulling down three boards.
KEY STATS
- Down nine at intermission and by 12 early in the second half, the Waves embarked on an 18-2 run to take the lead. Portland enjoyed the advantage for almost 32 minutes of the game, but Pepperdine stormed back and led for the remaining seven.
- The Waves went from shooting 34.5% FG in the first 20 minutes to 47% at the final buzzer. The team also made 10 of their 12 threes in the second half as well.
- Pepperdine defeated Portland on the boards 41-28 total and outscored the Pilots 26-22 in the paint.
RECAP
The Waves started the game with what seemed like a lid on the basket and both teams looked out-of-sorts, but Portland connected on 46.9% of shots from the field and drained seven threes to lead the majority of the half. On the other end of the floor, Pepperdine shot a measly 14.3% from beyond the arc, but stayed close enough to the Pilots by getting to the charity stripe and ruling the boards. Heading into the locker rooms, Portland led 38-29.
The Pilots kept the Waves at arm's length until the second media timeout of the half, where junior point guard
Moe Odum took over. Beginning with an assist to
Boubacar Coulibaly, Odum had a hand in 37 of the rest of the Waves' 44 points in the second stanza while either dishing an assist or scoring himself. The Coulibaly putback sparked an 18-2 run at just under 12 minutes, seeing Odum hit four threes in just over three minutes of play. The big man tied the game with an acrobatic alley oop-and-one from the man of the hour on the out-of-bounds play, nailing the following free throw to take the advantage. From that point on, it was all Waves as
Danilo Dozic decided to get in on the action with a couple of dagger threes. Pepperdine ended the game 86-73 as Odum dribbled the clock out and celebration ensued.
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