Pepperdine Has Little Trouble Getting Past Georgia State, 79-60

Byron Jenson scored a personal-best 18 points and Derek Noether scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Pepperdine breezed to a 79-60 first-round victory over the Georgia State Panthers Tuesday night at the Dr. Pepper Classic.

Steve Guild scored 11 points in the first half and Noether added nine as the Waves (6-2) jumped to a 45-33 lead at the break. Pepperdine built the lead to 75-53 with 2:22 to play on Jenson’s layup.

The Panthers (3-5) never got closer than 14 points in the second half.

Pepperdine outrebounded Georgia State, 46-21, and shot 52.6% (30 of 57), while Georgia State shot 42.6% (23 of 54).

Dana Jones scored 14, Guild finished with 13, and Bryan Parker had a personal-best 12 assists to go with his nine points, eight rebounds and four steals for Pepperdine, which has won four in a row.

Mike Nalls had 17 points for Georgia State (3-5), which has lost four in a row.

Pepperdine will play Tennessee Chattanooga (5-1) for the tournament championship tonight at 5 PST. Georgia State will play Southern University (4-2) in the consolation game.