Montana in Malibu to face Pepperdine

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The Montana men's basketball team (2-2) returns to the road Sunday to take on the Pepperdine Waves (2-4) in sunny Malibu, California in a nonconference matchup on Sunday, Nov. 29, with a 4:30 p.m. MT tipoff.

The Griz are looking to rebound off a tough 53-73 road loss to North Dakota State in Fargo on Wednesday, where Montana amassed nearly 30 personal fouls and gave up 17 turnovers.

Martin Breunig was a one-man scoring machine against the Bison though, accounting for more than half of Montana's 53 points with 28, approaching his career high of 31. Breunig picked up a double-double against the Bison with 12 boards as well.

After four games to open the season the Griz are led by Breunig in scoring, averaging 18 points-per-game and 10 rebounds, followed by Brandon Gfeller, who is averaging 11.5 points-per-game.

Staying out of foul trouble will be key for UM, with four of Coach DeCuire's projected starters (Breunig, Gfeller, Wright and Krslovic) picking up 13 personal fouls each thus far for the 2-2 Griz.

WATCH: The game will be web streamed for free on TheW.tv, the West Coast Conference's streaming service.

LISTEN: Mick Holien will bring you the action from Firestone Arena live statewide on the Montana Grizzlies Radio Network, and worldwide via gogriz.com/allaccess.

SERIES HISTORY: The Pepperdine Waves lead the all-time series with Montana 1-3. The Waves won the last meeting between the two schools 86-69 back in 2002 in Palo Alto, Calif. after the Griz had just knocked off Stanford on its home court under first year coach Pat Kennedy.

The last win for Montana over Pepperdine came in 1991 under first hear head coach Blaine Taylor, when the Griz beat the Waves 89-88 in Missoula.

SCOUTING THE WAVES: On paper, the Griz and the Waves match up evenly, with Pepperdine averaging just over 69 points to the Grizzlies 64, and each team allowing 66-67 points per contest.

The Waves are coming off a pair of losses at the Gulf Coast Showcase in the Fort Myers area of Florida's west coast. Pepperdine fell in that tournament to Murray Sate (59-55) and Drake (69-53), but picked up a win against Duquesne in the opening round (84-70).

The Gulf Coast Showcase first place trophy went to the Big Sky's own Weber State Wildcats. Weber defeated Central Michigan (63-60), Drake (74-58), and Murray State (75-59), providing a solid litmus test for the Griz to see where they stand before the conference schedule gets underway.

The Waves are led by two-time all-West Coast Conference forward, senior Stacy Davis (6-6, 235, Laveen, Ariz.). Davis surpasses 15-year NBA veteran Doug Christie on Pepperdine's all-time scoring list, and currently sits in in 16^th place with 1,395 career points. He needs 307 more points to become Pepperdine's leading scorer of all-time, and is averaging 14.7 per game so far this season.

Montana returns home to face another West Coast Conference foe on December 4, when the University of San Francisco travels to Missoula for a 7 p.m. tip off.

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Players Mentioned

Martin Breunig

Brandon Gfeller

University of Montana Athletics