BYU leads Pepperdine at halftime

Deseret News

MALIBU, Calif. — BYU got off to a horrible start Saturday against Pepperdine, perhaps carrying over from Thursday's home loss to Loyola Marymount.

But the Cougars stormed back to lead the Waves at halftime, 42-29, at Firestone Fieldhouse.

BYU trailed 11-2 in the game's opening three minutes thanks to a flurry of turnovers and missed shots.

The Cougars settled down and scored 12 consecutive points to take the lead, 14-11. The two teams traded baskets for a 10-minute stretch. Then, behind the scoring of Charles Abouo and Noah Hartsock, BYU started to pull away from Pepperdine.

The Cougars closed the half with a 9-0 spurt.

Abouo leads all scorers with 13 points while Hartsock and Brandon Davies have each scored 12 points. Hartsock is five points away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career.