MALIBU, Calif. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears connected on 11 three-pointers Saturday but it was not enough as the Pepperdine Waves made 24 of 27 at the free-throw line to take a 92-79 victory at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Bears (1-9) were called for a season-high 29 fouls and the Waves (5-6)  were in the bonus for the final 14 minutes of the second half. Pepperdine went 18 of 18 at the line in the second half to answer every run by the Bears, who were just 16 of 20 for the game.

"Our guys never gave up,' said UCA associate head coach Anthony Boone. "There were a couple of times in the first half where it looked like they were going to pull away and the guys stuck with it. And then a couple of times in the second half. And then when they got up 20 or 22 (points), our guys easily could have let go of the rope. In previous games, that's blown out to 30 or 40 points, but our guys hung in and fought.

"We've been working the last few days on playing more free, and in the first half when the shots weren't falling, it's kind of hard to look at that. But we told them to keep taking good shots, keep getting open looks and keep attacking the basket. And they did and it helped us. Certainly proud of our guys' effort tonight.'

The Bears battled foul trouble the first half but still only trailed the Waves 42-34 at halftime as junior guard Rylan Bergersen converted a three-point play with 3.6 left in the half. UCA trailed by as much as 14 points late in the half before outscoring Pepperdine 12-6 down the stretch, courtesy of a three pointer by Jaxson Baker, a putback by SK Shittu and a pair of free throws by Collin Cooper.

UCA shot just 34.4 percent from the field overall in the first half but nailed seven (of 19) three-point shots, including two apiece from junior center Hayden Koval and sophomore forward Eddy Kayouloud. The teams combined to launch 36 threes in the opening 20 minutes.

UCA got an early three-pointer from Koval to open the second half and pulled to within 44-41. Free throws by Bergersen and a basket by junior Jared Chatham kept the deficit at just three points but a three-pointer by Pepperdine started the Waves on a run that would put the game out of reach midway through the second half. The Bears fought to the end, outscoring the Waves 10-6 in the final two minutes, including their 11th three-pointer by Bergersen with 1:10 remaining.

Kayouloud topped the Bears with 18 points, while the trio of Bergersen, Koval and Chatham added 13 points each. Koval also had eight rebounds and three blocked shotes, while Bergersen had a team-high six assists and Kayouloud added five. Chatham, a Los Angeles native, scored his 13 points in just 13 minutes of action off the bench, and also had five rebounds. The Bears remedied their turnover issue from recent games, finishing with 14 while forcing 12.

"Jared is playing well,' said Boone. "As long as he plays with energy, good things happen for him and good things happen for us. Eddy has been steady, He just goes out and does it. Some times he's in the right spot, sometimes he's not, but he's always giving great effort and he's always producing for us. 

"And then Hayden was incredible tonight. And we've got to have a little bit more of that. He certainly had a great game.'

UCA returns home for an early opening to Southland Conference play next week. The Bears host Incarnate Word at 12:30 Wednesday for Education Day at the Farris Center.