Pepperdine's comeback bid falls short vs. No. 19 Gonzaga

Field Level Media|published: Tue 31st December, 24:27 2024

Jan 18, 2024; Malibu, California, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few instructs from the bench in the second half against the Pepperdine Waves at Firestone Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Khalif Battle scored 21 points as No. 19 Gonzaga held off a furious second-half rally to win its 29th consecutive West Coast Conference opener, defeating Pepperdine 89-82 on Monday in Malibu, Calif.

The Bulldogs (10-4, 1-0 WCC) defeated the Waves for the 48th time in a row, a streak dating to 2002.

Gonzaga's Braden Huff scored 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, Graham Ike added 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds before fouling out and Ben Gregg tallied 12 points.

Jaxon Olvera led the Waves (6-9, 0-2) with a game-high 27 points. Moe Odum scored all 24 of his points in the second half and added eight assists, and Stefan Todorovic had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Gonzaga shot 54.5 percent (36 of 66) from the field despite being just 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs had a 64-34 edge in points in the paint and a 35-5 advantage in bench scoring. Pepperdine shot 47.1 percent (32 of 68) and was 9 of 29 (31 percent) from long distance.

Odum's three-point play capped a 22-4 run early in the second half and pulled the Waves within 56-54 with 13:08 left.

Gonzaga extended the lead to 72-62 on a jumper in the lane by Ike with 7:28 remaining before the Waves rallied again.

A fastbreak layup by Olvera with 2:12 left pulled Pepperdine within 82-78. Battle made a bank shot with 55 seconds to go and added two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to extend Gonzaga's lead to 86-78.

The Bulldogs took a 50-32 halftime lead as Huff came off the bench to score 17 on 8-of-8 shooting from the field. Battle, who was ejected late in the first half of the Bulldogs' 65-62 loss to UCLA on Saturday in the first college game played at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., added 11 points before the intermission of 5-of-7 shooting.

Olvera gave the Waves their last lead of the game, 11-10, on a 3-pointer with 15:43 remaining in the first half. His jumper tied the score at 13-all with 13:51 left before Huff sparked an 8-0 run with a three-point play. Pepperdine closed within four later in the half before a 10-0 Gonzaga run.

--Field Level Media