MALIBU, Calif. — With the college basketball season one month away, Pepperdine students, families, and the Malibu community packed Firestone Fieldhouse for Blue and Orange Madness during Pepperdine’s Waves Weekend on Saturday night.
Like they have done in the past, Pepperdine a capella group Won by One began the night with a rendition of the national anthem, then public address announcer Asher Low introduced the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Blue and Orange Madness also marked the first time that new basketball coaches Ed Schilling and Katie Faulkner were introduced to the student body after both coaches arrived in Malibu this past spring. After both coaches addressed the crowd, a series of competitions and games with Pepperdine students and members of the men’s and women’s basketball teams commenced.
For the first competition, dubbed “Shooting Stars,” a pair of Pepperdine students teamed up with one men’s and one women’s player to see which team could make a layup, free-throw, three-pointer and half-court shot the fastest. In that competition, the team with Makena Mastora and Stefan Todorovic came out on top.
A game of knockout ensued between several Pepperdine students, plus Ella Brubaker, Chloe Sotell, Dovydas Butka and Moe Odum of the basketball teams. Yet the lefty freshman Sotell won the game by calmly sinking a free throw to knock out Butka.
The dunk contest featured returning contestant David Mager squaring off against Jaxon Olvera and Taj Au-Duke. A longtime competitor in the dunk contest, Mager impressed a panel of judges consisting of Pepperdine President Jim Gash, head women’s basketball coach Katie Faulkner and Pepperdine Waves mascot Willie T. Wave.
The night culminated with one more competition: The half-court shot for tuition. Although President Jim Gash was unable to make the SportsCenter Top 10 like last year, the Firestone crowd was waiting with bated breath as he narrowly missed a pair of attempts that would have given two lucky undergraduate students free tuition.
Blue and Orange Madness wrapped up with performances from the Pepperdine cheer team, step team and the RND dance team before the Cupid Shuffle closed out the night.
Season tickets for both Pepperdine basketball teams are on sale now. Men’s season tickets begin as low as $170 with multiple season options. Limited courtside seats are also available and those interested should e-mail Alrick Drummond at alrick.drummond@pepperdine.edu. Women’s season tickets start at $85.
The women’s season officially begins on Nov. 4 with a home game against Cal State Fullerton, while the men’s season officially starts at home on Nov. 6 against Western Illinois.
