Guard won the conference’s Freshman of the Year twice, scored 27 in loss to nationally ranked Gonzaga
Pepperdine Waves men’s basketball player Jaxon Olvera closed 2024 in a high-scoring fashion.
The freshman guard scored 27 points in Pepperdine’s 89-82 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs, ranked 19th nationally, on Dec. 30 at Pepperdine’s Firestone Fieldhouse.
Olvera’s scorning barrage closed out a month in which he won the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honortwice.
The 6-foot-5 Olvera scored in a variety of ways — jump shots, three-pointers, and layups — against the Bulldogs. He made 21 of 21 shots including consecutive buckets with two minutes left in the contest to slice Gonzaga’s lead to four points.
The 27 points was a season high for Olvera and his fifth double figure scoring game of the Waves 2024-25 campaign.
He was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week on Dec. 16, two days after he scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the Waves’ 86-76 victory over Northern Arizona.
Olvera won the WCC honor again on Dec. 23. He dropped 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in Pepperdine’s 85-46 win over UC Davis. Olvera started for the first time in his college career that game.
Olvera scored four points in Pepperdine’s 71-41 loss to Saint Mary’s on Jan. 2. Two days later, he scored 19 points in the Waves’ 87-70 triumph over Pacific.
The Waves have a 7-10 record heading into their home game against Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The squad hosts San Francisco on Jan. 16 and Saint Mary’s on Jan. 18 at the same time.
