University of Portland's basketball team came up just short on Wednesday night as Pepperdine's hot three-point shooting led the Waves to a 95-87 victory at Chiles Center. Despite the tough loss, Pilots freshman Joel Foxwell had a historic performance, shattering multiple program records.
Portland freshman Joel Foxwell set two new Pilot single season records and erupted for a career-high 35 points, putting on a dominant display that included eight assists. Foxwell broke the single-season program record for assists previously held by Alec Wintering (187) during the 2015-16 campaign, finishing the game at 193 for the season. He also eclipsed the freshman single season scoring record set by Austin Rapp a season ago (428). Jermaine Ballisager Webb was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including three three-pointers, and finished with 16 points, while Garrett Nuckolls added 11 points and seven assists for the Pilots.
Despite Portland's dominance in the paint and efficient shooting, Pepperdine drilled 16 three-pointers and had a 35-22 rebounding margin to pull off the road upset. Aaron Clark knocked down a career-high seven triples on eight attempts to lead the way with a team-high 29 points, while Javon Cooley made a career-best five three-pointers, adding 21 points. Pepperdine's 16 three-pointers made and .571 clip from three-point range both marked new season-highs.
Portland appeared to have control of the game early racing out to a 9-0 lead and forcing an early Pepperdine timeout. The margin grew to 30-14 following a Ballisager Webb layup before the Waves used an 11-0 run capped by a pair of Clark triples to pull within 30-25. The Waves' comeback was relentless, and though Portland would cut the margin to 89-87 with 2:23 left after a steal and dunk from Foxwell, the Pilots couldn't complete their own rally. The Pilots will head north to visit the Seattle U Redhawks on Saturday with a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Redhawk Center.