1978–79 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team

1978–79 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball
1978–79 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	West Coast Athletic Conference
Record	23–9 (10–4 WCAC)
Head coach	Gary Colson (11th season);
Home arena	Firestone Fieldhouse

The 1978–79 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team represented Pepperdine University in the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Gary Colson. The Waves played their home games at the Firestone Fieldhouse and were members of the West Coast Athletic Conference. They finished the season 22–10 (later adjusted to 23–9), 10–4 in WCAC play to finish second in the regular season standings. Pepperdine received a bid to the NCAA tournament. In the opening round, the Waves beat No. 8 seed Utah before falling to No. 1 seed UCLA, 76–71.^[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G		Ricardo Brown	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Jr
SG	43	Tony Fuller	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Saint Martin de Porres	Detroit, Michigan
F		Ollie Matson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference Regular Season
Nov 24, 1978*	vs. No. 10 Indiana Great Alaska Shootout	W 59–58	1–0	Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska
Nov 25, 1978*	vs. No. 12 NC State Great Alaska Shootout	L 62–91	1–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska
Nov 26, 1978*	vs. Lamar Great Alaska Shootout	W 75–74	2–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Fort Richardson, Alaska
WCAC Regular Season
Feb 23, 1979	at San Francisco	L 69–72	20–8 (10–3)	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, California
Feb 24, 1979	at Santa Clara	L 74–85	20–9 (10–4)	Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California
Feb 26, 1979*	Centenary	W 104–86	21–9	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California
NCAA Tournament
Mar 9, 1979*	vs. Utah First round	W 92–88 ^OT	22–9	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Mar 11, 1979*	vs. No. 2 UCLA Second round	L 71–76	22–10	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

Source^[2]^[3]

Pepperdine Waves men's basketball
Venues	Firestone Fieldhouse (1973–present)
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25