MALIBU, Calif. – USF completed its Southern California road sweep this afternoon with a 56-54 win over the Pepperdine Waves in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
The win, the Dons third in a row, improves USF's record to 12-16 overall and 6-10 in the West Coast Conference while the Waves fall to 16-12 and 9-8 in the WCC.
 
USF completes the season sweep of Pepperdine, which has now dropped its last seven games against the Dons.
 
Tim Derksen scored a team-high 19 points for the Dons while Matt Christiansen and Matt Glover also finished in double figures with 10 points apiece.
 
Stacy Davis was the only Pepperdine player to score in double figures, finishing with a game-high 23 points, 17 which came in the second half.
 
The Dons led by as many as 15 points in the first half but watched nervously as Jeremy Major's would-be game-winning shot from just inside the half court line bounced off the back rim.
 
Like Thursday night's game at Loyola Marymount, the Dons broke out of the gates with confidence and scored the first six points of the game. Derksen's driving layup at the 9:36 mark of the first half gave the Dons their first double digit lead at 19-10. USF led by as many as 15 points at 29-14 before taking a 31-19 lead into intermission.
 
USF's tenacious defensive pressure forced 10 first half Wave turnovers which led to 14 Don points.
 
Derksen scored nine of his 19 points in the first half and the Dons managed to shoot 50 percent from the floor compared to Pepperdine, which shot just 25 percent.
 
The Waves quickly turned the momentum to start the second half.
 
USF made just one of its first 10 shots from the floor and committed five turnovers as the Waves outscored the Dons 13-3 to cut the lead to 34-32 with 11:50 remaining.
 
Davis' offensive rebound and put back basket tied the game at 34 and his short jumper on the Waves next possession gave the Waves their first lead of the game at 36-34 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
 
The Dons answered the Waves run when Chris Adams and Glover nailed back-to-back threes to give USF a 40-36 lead with 9:17 left.
 
Pepperdine cut the lead to 45-44 on Raines lay in but Christiansen completed a three-point play on the Dons next possession to give USF a 48-44 lead with four and a half minutes left.
 
With USF leading 48-46, a turnover by Mark Tollefsen gave the ball back to Waves with 3:33 left. Lamond Murray Jr. then found Jett Raines alone under the basket for a slam that tied the game at 48.
 
After a pair of Davis free throws gave Pepperdine a 50-49 lead, Kruize Pinkins muscle basket gave the lead back to USF, 51-50. Derksen gathered a rebound off a Murray Jr. miss and was fouled by Davis. Derksen calmly knocked down both free throws to give the Dons some breathing room and a 53-50 lead.
 
With USF holding a 53-52 lead, the Dons called timeout with 24 seconds left in the game and just eight seconds on the shot clock. Derksen's driving layup through traffic just beat the shot clock and gave the Dons a 55-52 lead with 12.2 second left.
 
After Davis cut the lead to one at 55-54 with four seconds left, Glover was fouled after receiving a full length inbounds pass by Tollefsen. Glover managed to make just one of two free throws, giving the Waves life.
 
The Dons held their collective breaths when Majors' heave just inside the half court line bounced off the back rim, sealing USF's third straight win.

USF will return to action Thursday night when the Dons host the Saint Mary's Gaels beginning at 8:00 p.m.