Pepperdine University’s men’s basketball team lost a close game to Long Beach State, 81-78, on Thursday night in Long Beach. The Waves now hold a record of 4-8 for the season, while Long Beach State improved to 3-9 overall and 0-2 in Big West play.
Styles Phipps led Pepperdine with a career-high 25 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Javon Cooley contributed 17 points off the bench on efficient shooting, making seven of nine attempts. Danilo Dozic added 15 points and made three three-pointers.
Both teams had strong offensive performances. Pepperdine shot 58.5% from the field (31-for-53), their highest percentage this season against a Division I opponent. Long Beach State also shot efficiently at 53.6% (30-for-56). Pepperdine outrebounded Long Beach State by eight but struggled with turnovers.
“I thought we battled really hard,” said head coach Ed Schilling. “We gave up too many turnovers and had some breakdowns against their pick-and-roll. Offensively, we shot the ball really well. Styles had a big time game, he found guys and got shots for himself. At the end of the day, the turnovers and points off turnovers is what hurt us.”
The Waves started strong with early baskets from Phipps and Dozic to take a lead at the first media timeout. Their advantage grew to as much as eight points in the opening minutes before Long Beach State tied it late in the first half. Pepperdine led by one point at halftime after Yonatan Levy scored just before the break.
In the second half, both teams exchanged leads multiple times. Key plays included back-to-back three-point plays from Phipps that put Pepperdine ahead by four with just over six minutes remaining. However, Long Beach State responded with a run capped by Shaquil Bender’s three-pointer to retake the lead.
With less than two minutes left, Phipps made a free throw to cut Long Beach State’s lead to two points at 78-76. After trading baskets and free throws down the stretch, Pepperdine missed an attempt to tie at the buzzer.
Other notable performances included Yonatan Levy’s eight points along with six rebounds and three assists; Luka Vudragovic, Pavle Stosic, and Stefan Cicic each made their only field goal attempt of the game; and Pepperdine matched its second-highest total of made three-pointers this season with eight.
Pepperdine will finish its non-conference schedule at home against Rice on Saturday at Firestone Fieldhouse.
“Styles had a big time game,” Schilling said about his leading scorer’s performance during Thursday’s contest.
