By Morris Phillips

Most Pac-12 coaches play it smart when it comes to Malibu. If they want to celebrate a Southland recruit’s commitment, maybe they’ll make a side trip to Duke’s on the PCH for a frivolous cocktail and a steak–if it’s mid-afternoon and their flight schedule out of LAX isn’t compromised.

Power 5 coaches could care less about sightseeing so that’s it. A trip to Pepperdine to face the Waves in the Firestone Fieldhouse is definitely a Pac-12 no no.

But Mark Fox and his Bears ventured into the tiny gym with the expansive view on Wednesday, becoming the first Pac-12 team to do so since 2012, only the sixth conference team to play there, and the first since current Waves assistant Ken Bone’s Washington State team lost to Pepperdine in overtime.

Current Cal assistant Marty Wilson coached the Waves for six seasons, and only Bone accepted his offer to play. Apparently coaches let their guard down when they know each other.

See where this is going?

The Waves buried 12 3-pointers and led wire-to-wire, beating California 74-62. Kessler Edwards led Pepperdine with 26 points, eight rebounds, and reserves Jan Zidek and Andre Ball both scored in double figures as well.

The Bears got 27 from Matt Bradley and 21 from Grant Anticevich, but missed too many shots and were too careless with the basketball to keep it close. The Bears missed 19 3-point attempts and committed 15 turnovers, extending negative trends that have run through all six of their games to date.

Coming in the Bears ranked 201st in Division I, shooting just 30 percent from distance. Then they missed 19 of 24 attempts against the Waves, falling further down the rankings while calling into question why they even try to further their Steph Curry aspirations.

Pepperdine built a 10-point lead in the first 12 minutes, and extended it to as many as 19 in the second half. Ten of their 12 made threes came before halftime, part of their 51 percent shooting for the game.

With the win, the Waves have their first win against Cal after three losses.

The Bears return home on Sunday to face USF at Haas Pavilion at 12 noon.