# 2018–19 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team represented Pepperdine University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Waves were led by head coach Lorenzo Romar, in the first season of his second stint after coaching the Waves from 1996 to 1999. They played their home games at the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 16–18, 8–10 in WCC play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Pacific, Loyola Marymount, and San Francisco to advance to the semifinals of the WCC tournament where they were defeated by Gonzaga.

## Previous season

The Waves finished the 2016–17 season 6–26, 2–16 in WCC play to finish in last place. They defeated Santa Clara in the first round of the WCC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Saint Mary's.
On February 13, 2018, the school announced that head coach Marty Wilson would not return as head coach following the end of the season. He finished at Pepperdine with a seven-year record of 88–129 (91–139 when including his 3–10 record as interim head coach in 1995–96). On March 12, the school hired Lorenzo Romar as head coach. Romar returned to Pepperdine where he started his head coaching career in 1996.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Amadi Udenyi | 0 | G | 6'0" | 195 | RS Senior | Oakland, CA | Graduated |
| Elijah Lee | 1 | G | 5'10" | 160 | Sophomore | Houston, TX | Graduate transferred to Midwestern State |
| Trae Berhow | 11 | G | 6'5" | 195 | Freshman | Watertown, MN | Transferred to Northern Iowa |
| Caleb Martin | 15 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Sophomore | Los Angeles, CA | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Knox Hellums | 21 | G | 6'5" | 195 | Sophomore | Tomball, TX | Transferred to UTSA |
| Harrison Meads | 22 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Junior | New Plymouth, New Zealand | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Nolan Taylor | 31 | F | 6'7" | 260 | Sophomore | Keller, TX | Transferred to Cal Poly |
| Kevin Hempy | 34 | F | 6'6" | 200 | RS Senior | Santa Barbara, CA | Walk-on; graduated |
| Matthew Atewe | 41 | F/C | 6'9" | 250 | RS Senior | Toronto, ON | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Keith Smith | 11 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Junior | Seattle, WA | Transferred from Oregon. Under NCAA transfer rules, Smith will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| M. J. Cage | 35 | F | 6'10" | 225 | RS Sophomore | Santa Ana, CA | Transferred from Oregon. Under NCAA transfer rules, Cage will sit out the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting class of 2018

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Darryl Polk #86 PG | Long Beach, CA | Long Beach Polytechnic High School | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | 135 lb (61 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 ||||||
| Andre Ball #73 SF | Chino Hills, CA | Chino Hills High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Kessler Edwards #73 SF | Etiwanda, CA | Etiwanda High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Jackson Stormo C | Santa Barbara, CA | San Marcos High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Victor Ohia Obioha C | Owerri, Nigeria | Hillcrest High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: nr Rivals: nr ESPN: nr ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Pepperdine Waves 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2018 Pepperdine Waves Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN 2018 Pepperdine Waves Basketball recruits". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non conference regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Cal State Dominguez Hills | W 100–66 | 1–0 | 20 – Cooper Jr. | 13 – Edwards | 7 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,027) Malibu, CA |
| November 13, 2018* 6:00 pm, PlutoTV | | at Northern Colorado | W 88–80 | 1–1 | 22 – Edwards | 9 – Edwards | 4 – Ross | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,778) Greeley, CO |
| November 16, 2018* 5:00 pm | | vs. Towson The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase quarterfinals | W 74–65 | 2–1 | 23 – Ross | 5 – Smith | 5 – Ross | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (342) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 17, 2018* 5:00 pm | | vs. Georgia Southern The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase semifinals | L 78–88 | 2–2 | 25 – Ross | 9 – Edwards | 5 – Ross | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (523) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 18, 2018* 2:00 pm | | vs. Miami (OH) The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase 3rd place game | W 86–80 | 3–2 | 25 – Ross | 6 – Cooper Jr. | 5 – Ross | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (427) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 26, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 97–82 | 4–2 | 23 – Cooper Jr. | 7 – Edwards | 11 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (625) Malibu, CA |
| December 1, 2018* 5:00 pm | | Abilene Christian | W 77–62 | 5–2 | 19 – Edwards | 9 – Ross | 8 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,044) Malibu, CA |
| December 3, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Cal State Northridge | L 83–90 | 5–3 | 24 – Ross | 8 – Dunn | 11 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,215) Malibu, CA |
| December 6, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at UC Riverside | L 71–75 | 5–4 | 19 – Ross | 6 – Smith | 6 – Ross | Student Recreation Center Arena (414) Riverside, CA |
| December 8, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Jackson State | W 69–66 | 6–4 | 21 – Ross | 11 – Edwards | 6 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (715) Malibu, CA |
| December 15, 2018* 12:00 pm | | at Southern Utah | L 69–78 $^{OT}$ | 6–5 | 24 – Ross | 10 – Smith | 7 – Ross | America First Events Center (1,772) Cedar City, UT |
| December 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | L 67–82 | 6–6 | 15 – Ross | 6 – Smith | 8 – Ross | Gill Coliseum (3,534) Corvallis, OR |
| December 20, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Long Beach State | L 66–67 | 6–7 | 23 – Ross | 11 – Smith | 5 – Ross | Walter Pyramid (1,679) Long Beach, CA |
| December 31, 2018* 3:00 pm | | Alabama A&M | W 100–64 | 7–7 | 19 – Smith | 6 – Dunn | 13 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (725) Malibu, CA |
| WCC regular season |||||||||
| January 3, 2019 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Loyola Marymount | W 77–62 | 8–7 (1–0) | 15 – Smith | 8 – Smith | 12 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,118) Malibu, CA |
| January 5, 2019 5:00 pm | | San Francisco | L 69–72 | 8–8 (1–1) | 19 – Edwards | 11 – Edwards | 4 – Edwards | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,518) Malibu, CA |
| January 10, 2019 8:00 pm | | at Santa Clara | L 64–67 | 8–9 (1–2) | 13 – Edwards | 11 – Edwards | 10 – Ross | Leavey Center (1,650) Santa Clara, CA |
| January 12, 2019 1:00 pm, SPCSN | | at San Diego | W 76–71 | 9–9 (2–2) | 27 – Ross | 8 – Edwards | 3 – Ross | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,693) San Diego, CA |
| January 17, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | BYU | L 76–87 | 9–10 (2–3) | 24 – Ross | 9 – Smith | 5 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,714) Malibu, CA |
| January 19, 2019 1:00 pm, SPCSN | | at Loyola Marymount | L 70–74 | 9–11 (2–4) | 22 – Edwards | 6 – Edwards | 10 – Ross | Gersten Pavilion (1,646) Los Angeles, CA |
| January 26, 2019 5:00 pm, SPCSN | | Saint Mary's | W 84–77 $^{OT}$ | 10–11 (3–4) | 29 – Ross | 9 – Smith | 9 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,815) Malibu, CA |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Portland | W 83–58 | 11–11 (4–4) | 14 – Edwards | 12 – Edwards | 9 – Ross | Chiles Center (1,751) Portland, OR |
| February 2, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Pacific | L 59–66 | 11–12 (4–5) | 16 – Edwards | 12 – Edwards | 2 – Cooper Jr. | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,731) Stockton, CA |
| February 7, 2019 7:00 pm | | Santa Clara | L 71–79 | 11–13 (4–6) | 20 – Ross | 8 – Edwards | 10 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (874) Malibu, CA |
| February 9, 2019 1:00 pm, SPCSN | | San Diego | W 70–67 | 12–13 (5–6) | 19 – Ross | 10 – Edwards | 10 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,015) Malibu, CA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm | | at San Francisco | L 77–89 | 12–14 (5–7) | 21 – Ross | 7 – Edwards | 9 – Ross | War Memorial Gymnasium (1,836) San Francisco, CA |
| February 16, 2019 8:00 pm, SPCSN | | at Saint Mary's | L 65–72 | 12–15 (5–8) | 22 – Ross | 9 – Edwards | 5 – Ross | McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| February 21, 2019 6:00 pm, RTNW | | at No. 2 Gonzaga | L 64–92 | 12–16 (5–9) | 16 – Dunn | 7 – Dunn | 8 – Ross | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| February 23, 2019 5:00 pm | | Portland | W 86–80 | 13–16 (6–9) | 23 – Ross | 11 – Edwards | 10 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,045) Malibu, CA |
| March 2, 2019 5:00 pm | | Pacific | L 72–73 | 13–17 (6–10) | 36 – Ross | 7 – Edwards | 3 – Ross | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,157) Malibu, CA |
| WCC tournament |||||||||
| March 7, 2019 10:00 pm, TheW.tv | (8) | vs. (9) Pacific Opening round | W 61–53 | 14–17 | 15 – Polk Jr. | 11 – Edwards | 3 – Ross | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 8, 2019 10:00 pm, TheW.tv | (8) | vs. (5) Loyola Marymount Second round | W 68–65 | 15–17 | 20 – Ross | 9 – Ohia Obioha | 6 – Ross | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (8) | vs. (4) San Francisco Third round | W 89–72 | 16–17 | 26 – Ross | 7 – Edwards | 9 – Ross | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 11, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN | (8) | vs. (1) No. 1 Gonzaga Semifinals | L 74–100 | 16–18 | 20 – Ross | 9 – Smith | 3 – Ross | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||