MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (5-12, 0-4 WCC) returns with a pair of conference matchups this week, beginning Thursday night at San Diego (6-10, 1-3 WCC) at 6:30 p.m. from Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Waves will then return home Saturday, matching up with San Francisco (11-6, 3-1 WCC) from Firestone Fieldhouse at 5 p.m.

Both games can be streamed live on ESPN+, with Al Epstein and Joey Vergilis on the call for the Saturday contest in Malibu. 

Thursday, Jan, 8
Pepperdine at San Diego (6:30 p.m.) - WATCH | LIVE STATS

Saturday, Jan. 10
Pepperdine vs. San Francisco (5 p.m.) - WATCH | LIVE STATS | TICKETS

Saturday's home contest will feature free Irv's Burgers and Prince Street Pizza for all students as part of 'Welcome Back, Waves!' as we begin the spring semester.

LAST TIME OUT

• Pepperdine fell by a score of 74-69 at Pacific on Sunday afternoon.
• Javon Cooley led the Waves with 18 points and seven rebounds.
• Styles Phipps added 14 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.
• The Waves forced a season-high 18 turnovers from an opponent this season.
• Pepperdine shot 14-for-15 from the free throw line in the game.

GAME NOTES

• Pepperdine currently ranks 17th in the country in free throw percentage at .778.
• This mark ranks second in the WCC, as the Waves have converted 238 of 306 attempts from the charity stripe this season.
• The Waves have shot over 70-percent from the line in 11 of the past 13 games, knocking down 14 of 15 last time out against Pacific.
• The Waves are one of two teams in the West Coast Conference to have four players averaging 11 points per game or more (Aaron Clark, Javon Cooley, Styles Phipps, Danilo Dozic).
• Seven players have finished as the leading scorer in a game for Pepperdine this season,
• The Waves currently rank fifth in the WCC with 11.3 offensive rebounds per game.
• Javon Cooley comes in as the Waves leading scorer at 13.4 points per game while being second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game.
• Cooley has shot 41-for-77 (.532) from the field over the past eight games while knocking down 11 three-pointers over that span.
• Cooley is one five players in the WCC to rank in the top-20 in scoring and rebounding in the conference.
• Cooley ranks third in the WCC and 11th in the nation in free throw percentage (.930).
• Styles Phipps is one of three players in the country averaging over 11.5 points, six rebounds, five assists per game (Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State & Quion Williams, Arkansas-Pine Bluff).
• Phipps is currently third in the WCC in assists per game at 5.1.
• Phipps is the only player in the WCC to have both a points/rebounds double-double and a points/assists double-double this season.
• Phipps ranks 9th in the conference with 6.2 rebounds per game, as the Pepperdine point guard has also corralled 30 offensive rebounds through 17 games this campaign (1.8 per game).
• Aaron Clark ranks 21st in the West Coast Conference with 12.5 points per game, having scored 12 last time out on 5-for-8 shooting.
• Clark currently ranks seventh in the WCC with 26 steals on the season.
• Clark is one of three players in the WCC to be averaging at least 12.5 points per game, three rebounds per game and 1.5 steals per game (Josiah Lake, Oregon State / Brayden Maldonado, Seattle).
• Danilo Dozic has posted a pair of 20-point efforts this season and leads the team in three-pointers made with 27.
• Dozic knocked down three of five looks from distance last time out at Pacific.
• Pavle Stosic has drawn 11 straight starts in the frontcourt and has posted 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game this season.
• Yonatan Levy has knocked down eight three-pointers in his past eight efforts, after hitting one in the first nine games of the season.

SERIES HISTORY

• Pepperdine holds a 71-50 advantage in the all-time series against San Diego.
• This features a 30-25 record on the road against the Toreros.
• The Waves won the meeting in San Diego this past season 98-90, before claiming an 88-81 win in Malibu.
• Pepperdine is 4-6 across the past ten meetings against San Diego.
• San Francisco leads the all-time series with Pepperdine by a margin of 89-54.
• The Waves have boasted a 26-37 home record all-time against the Dons.
• The lone meeting this past season saw an 80-63 defeat at home for the Waves.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

• San Diego was selected to finish 9th in the WCC Preseason Poll.
• The Toreros fell at San Francisco and Santa Clara this past weekend, with their lone WCC win coming at home over Pacific.
• San Diego ranks third in the conference with 9.1 three-pointers made per game.
• The Toreros are led by junior Ty-Laur Johnson, who has posted 14.7 points per game this season while leading the conference with 2.4 steals per game.
• San Francisco was selected to finish third in the WCC Preseason Poll.
• The Dons defeated Portland and San Diego at home this past weekend to move to 3-1 in WCC play.
• Since league play started, the Dons lead the WCC in opponent three-point percentage (26.4%) while being second in opponents points per game (65.3).
• David Fuchs ranks fourth in the WCC in rebounding for the Dons at 7.1 boards per game while being top-25 in the league in scoring at 12.4 points per game.

The Waves remain home to host Portland next, tipping off with the Pilots at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14 from Firestone Fieldhouse.

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.