MALIBU, Calif. – UC Irvine (3-1) dropped 64-55 to Pepperdine (4-1) Saturday evening as baskets would not fall for the Anteaters.

Despite not making any field goals in eight minutes, Pepperdine scored their final 13 points off of free throws.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Dawson Baker led the Anteaters with 12 points going 5-6 at the stripe
>Bent Leuchten led all players and set a new career high after grabbing 14 rebounds, 10 were defensive
>Leuchten added nine points shooting 2-7 with one from behind the arc
>Devin Tillis and DJ Davis each tallied seven points, both scoring on three field goals
>Houston Mallette led Pepperdine with 20 points on a 5-10 shooting, 7-8 on free throws

FIRST HALF
>Both teams had a possession before UC Irvine got on the board at 19:11 with a pair of free throws from Bent Leuchten, 2-0
>On the Pepperdine bad pass, Dawson Baker ran down to the court for the lay-up (17:22) before hitting one from distance (16:50) to increase the lead, 7-0
>The Waves were held scoreless for nearly three and a half minutes before capitalizing on a jump shot outside the paint, 7-2
>Baker would be fouled to earn his sixth and seventh points from the line at 16:26, 9-2
>DJ Davis (15:56) got on the board from a two-point basket from inside the paint, 11-2
>The two squads would exchange baskets before the under-12 media timeout with the Anteaters leading, 15-6
>UCI reached their largest lead of the game of 15 from two consecutive behind the arc shots from Davis and Devin Tillis, 21-6
>Pepperdine then went on a 14-0 run for the next three minutes to bring it within one at 6:39, 21-20
>JC Butler (6:14) would extend the lead off a second chance jumper, 23-20
>The Waves took their first lead of the game before the under four media break to go ahead by two, 23-25
>The contest would be tied twice before Justin Hohn's three-pointer put the Anteaters ahead to lead at the half, 30-29

SECOND HALF
>Pepperdine came out of the intermission to score five points, forcing UC Irvine to call a timeout at 18:42, 34-30
>Dean Keeler would fake out the Waves player after receiving the pass from Pierre Crockrell II to hit the right corner of the glass, 32-34  
>After two unsuccessful attempts on the Anteater offensive end, Pepperdine would score at 17:36 on the fast break, 37-32
>UCI would make three straight lay-ups from Crockrell II (2) and Baker (1) to bring the Anteaters back within one at 15:27, but a three from the Waves would spoil the 'Eaters run, 38-42
>The 'Eaters and Waves would exchange points from distance before Baker would head to the line again to make a free throw, 42-45 (12:23)
>Pepperdine would reach their largest margin of nine with 6:19 left in the game, 44-53
>Leuchten's pair of free throws and a Davis bucket off a turnover would put the Anteaters within reach, 48-53
>The Waves would continue to earn points at the charity stripe in the final two minutes for the 64-55 victory

NOTES
>Pepperdine has won their third straight game
>The last time an Anteater brought down 10-14 rebounds was Colin Welp who had 13 against Hawaii on February 19, 2022
>Baker has had double-figure points in all four games this season

UP NEXT
UCI will return to the Bren Events Center on Monday November 21^st for a 7 p.m. tip against LIFE Pacific.