Rob Jones had 17 points and nine rebounds and No. 23 Saint Mary’s won its eighth consecutive contest with a 61-47 victory over visiting Pepperdine in West Coast Conference play Thursday.

Matthew Dellavedova tallied 13 points and Stephen Holt had12 points and four steals as the Gaels (18-2, 7-0) won for the 16th time in 17 games and beat the Waves for the 11th consecutive time.

Caleb Willis scored 14 points and Jordan Baker added 13 for Pepperdine (7-11, 1-6), which has lost six straight contests.

Saint Mary’s improves to 14-0 at home this season but didn’t put the game away until deep into the second half.

Pepperdine was within 50-44 after a basket by Joshua Lowery with 7:35 remaining before the Gaels rolled off nine consecutive points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Dellavedova and Holt to take a 15-pointlead with 5:49 remaining.

The Waves didn’t score again until Lowery hit a 3-pointer with 51.3 seconds left.

Saint Mary’s led 29-21 at halftime but Pepperdine scored the first seven points of the second half.

The Gaels hit 15-of-16 shots from the free-throw line and Pepperdine hit just 5-of-11 free throws.

Saint Mary’s has won 17 of the past 18 games against the Waves, who committed 17 turnovers.