Pepperdine men’s basketball fell to Santa Clara with a final score of 82-63 on Friday night at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, California. The loss brings Pepperdine’s record to 5-11 overall and 0-3 in West Coast Conference play, while Santa Clara improved to 12-4 overall and remains undefeated at 4-0 in the conference.
Danilo Dozic and Yonatan Levy led the Waves, each scoring 12 points and collecting five rebounds. Styles Phipps contributed nine points along with a game-high five assists. The Waves were within eight points with just over ten minutes left in the second half before Santa Clara went on a decisive 13-0 run that extended their lead beyond reach.
“We competed hard and did some good things, especially in the first half,” said head coach Ed Schilling. “However, their intense ball pressure caused us to turn the ball over 19 times and that was the key factor in the game.”
The Waves started strong offensively, taking an early lead after three-pointers from Levy and Pavle Stosic. Javon Cooley’s layup put Pepperdine ahead 10-5 before Santa Clara responded with consecutive three-pointers of their own. The first half saw eight lead changes, but an 11-0 run by Santa Clara gave them a seven-point advantage at halftime.
Levy had eight points at halftime as Pepperdine shot nearly 44 percent from the field during the opening period. Despite keeping close early in the second half—trailing by only four after free throws from Levy and Aaron Clark—the Waves struggled offensively as Santa Clara pulled away following a long scoring drought for Pepperdine.
Santa Clara’s Christian Hammond scored 12 points after halftime, while Elijah Mahi added ten second-half points for the Broncos. For Pepperdine, Nikola Radovanovic returned from injury for his first appearance since November 26.
Pepperdine finished shooting just under 41 percent from the field overall but committed a season-high 19 turnovers compared to Santa Clara’s twelve. The Waves made ten offensive rebounds for their tenth double-digit effort this season but were outscored by three off the bench.
Dozic matched his team-high with two steals and has now hit a three-pointer in five straight games, leading Pepperdine with twenty-four made threes this season. Phipps set a career high by making seven free throws.
The Waves will continue conference play on Sunday against Pacific at Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, California.
According to program history, Pepperdine men’s basketball has participated in thirteen NCAA postseason tournaments and won twelve regular-season conference championships along with three WCC tournament titles. The program recently claimed victory at the CBI Tournament in 2021 and has produced nineteen All-Americans as well as nineteen NBA players over its history.
