THE FACTS - The Pepperdine men's basketball team's three-game conference win streak may be over, but the Waves hope to take any momentum created from a very good showing at #15 Gonzaga into Saturday's game at Portland. Pepperdine is in the middle of its first WCC road trip, and is going into its second game of a treacherous three-game stretch against what most consider to be the WCC's top three teams (Gonzaga, Portland and Saint Mary's).

GAME #21 - Saturday (Jan. 23) at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: Pepperdine (7-13, 3-1) at Portland (11-7, 2-2) at 7 p.m.

ON THE WEB - Subscribers to "Wave Casts" can catch all Pepperdine men's basketball games on the internet at www.pepperdinesports.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, now in his 25th season with the Waves, is behind the microphone. Most home games will have live audio and video, while road games will be audio only. Go to the Pepperdine Athletics website and look for the Wave Casts link. An annual pass costs $69.95 and monthly subscriptions are also available. Live statistics will be available for all home matches free of charge, and links are provided to the home team's website when the Waves are on the road.

PORTLAND - Pepperdine is 52-28 all-time against Portland, including a 22-15 record in road games. The Pilots won all three meetings last season, including a quarterfinal game at the WCC Tournament. The Waves' last win in Portland was in 2008.

LAST GAME - Keion Bell exploded for 34 of his career-high 37 points in the second half to help Pepperdine to one of its best showings at Gonzaga in years, but the #15 Bulldogs held on for a 91-84 home victory on Thursday. Although heavily favored Gonzaga won in Spokane for the 12th straight year, this was the closest margin in the last 10 seasons. Gonzaga led by as many as 15 in both halves, but Bell, Lorne Jackson (17 points) and Mychel Thompson (13 points) would not let the Bulldogs pull away. The Waves closed the gap to six points several times in the second half. Pepperdine scored a season-high 84 points, including 55 in the second half. The two old rivals entered the game as the only two unbeaten teams left in WCC play.

INSIDE BELL'S BIG GAME - Keion Bell's second-half slam dunk over Gonzaga 7-footer Robert Sacre made ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day ... Bell made 14 of 21 shots, three of four three-pointers and six of eight free throws ... He also had five rebounds, four assists and four steals ... He scored 22 of Pepperdine's first 24 second-half points in an eight-minute span ... His previous career high was 34 points against Monmouth set earlier this season ... The last time a Pepperdine player scored more points was in January 2001 when Brandon Armstrong notched 40 against Loyola Marymount ... It tied as the 24th-best single-game performance in Pepperdine history, and by players other than scoring great Bird Averitt, it was the eighth best.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Lorne Jackson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in victories over Santa Clara and San Francisco. Mychel Thompson shared the award the previous week, giving Pepperdine two WCC Player of the Week honors in the same season for the first time since 2004-05. Also, this is the first time Pepperdine has had back-to-back award winners since December 2002.

ROSTER - There are no seniors on the 2009-10 squad, and 12 of the 16 players are underclassmen. The roster features four juniors, seven sophomores and five true freshmen. Pepperdine does return 11 letterwinners from last season (believed to be among the most in school history). Twelve players are on scholarship and four are walk-ons.

SOPHOMORE SCORERS - Last season, Pepperdine's eight-man freshman class scored more than half of the Waves' points (57.4%). So far, the now-sophomore class has contributed 66.9% of Pepperdine's scoring. The sophomores have been the top-scoring class in every game this season.

THE TRIO - Lately, the Waves are at the their best when Keion Bell, Mychel Thompson and Lorne Jackson are all on. In Pepperdine's four conference games, all three have been in double-figures each game and have averaged a combined 54.3 points per game (that's more than 70% of all of the Waves' scoring).

BEYOND THE ARC - The three-point shot has been hugely effective for the Waves in conference play, as Pepperdine has made 48.1% (39-for-81) of them so far. Mychel Thompson has made 14 of 26 (53.8%), Lorne Jackson is 11-for-22 (50.0%), Keion Bell is 7-for-16 (43.8%) and Jonathan Dupre' has hit five of seven (71.4%). Thompson's 6-for-7 performance vs. LMU nearly equaled the school record for single-game percentage (6-for-6, 1.000).

CONFERENCE STARTS - Pepperdine won its conference opener for the second straight year (both times it came against LMU). With the win over Santa Clara, the Waves started 2-0 for the first time since 2005. Then, with the victory against San Francisco, Pepperdine moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2002 (a year that the Waves started 11-0 en route to a 13-1 record and a tie for first in the WCC with Gonzaga). The last time Pepperdine was three games over .500 at any point in a WCC season was 2004.

KEION BELL - Sophomore guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) has been one of the most exciting and prolific players on the West Coast in 2009-10. He is currently averaging 20.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He currently ranks #2 in the WCC and #24 in the nation in scoring (he ranked as high as ninth nationally in early December). Bell has scored more than 20 points in 10 games this season, including a career-high 37 at Gonzaga. He's been in double-figures in every game but two. At the pace he's on, he could become Pepperdine's 35th 1,000-point scorer by the end of his sophomore season (he's got 813). In the WCC rankings, he's also fourth in steals (1.7), sixth in assists, eighth in minutes (32.3) and 17th in rebounding.

MYCHEL THOMPSON - Junior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Stoneridge Prep) was selected as team captain for 2009-10 after a landslide vote by his teammates. He is Pepperdine's only player that has been with the team for two full seasons. Thompson is averaging 12.2 points this season (second-best on the team) and 9.6 points for his career. He has broken into Pepperdine's career top 10 in three-pointers made this season (he's now #9 with 123, Rick Welch is #8 at 125). Since a rough start to his season from beyond the arc (0-for-21), Thompson has made 32 of 68 (47%). He's been in double-figures in 11 of the last 13 games (averaging 14.8 ppg over that span), including a career-high-tying 25 vs. Utah.

LORNE JACKSON - Sophomore guard Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) is averaging 17.5 points per game in conference play, and he has seen his overall scoring average increase to 9.4 ppg. He's had four straight games in double-figures, including a career-high 21 vs. San Francisco. He's also averaging 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in WCC games.

DANE SUTTLE JR. - Sophomore guard/forward Dane Suttle Jr. (Los Angeles, Calif./Summit College Prep), fourth-best on the team at 9.3 points per game, is the team's top three-point shooter and one of the best in the conference so far this season. He is averaging 1.7 per game (ninth in the WCC) and making 42.9% of them (33-for-77, ninth in the WCC).

2009-10 NOTABLES - The Waves were down 12 to Cal State San Bernardino with 8 1/2 minutes to play but came back to win by three ... The Waves were the team champion at the World Vision Challenge in Wyoming ... Pepperdine's win over Utah came against a 2009 NCAA Tournament team ... In the 150th meeting ever with LMU, the Waves came back from a 17-point first-half deficit to post a victory in the first game of WCC play ... Pepperdine beat Santa Clara at home for the 13th time in the last 14 meetings.

2009-10 HONORS - Keion Bell was named to the preseason All-WCC first team ... Bell (26.7 ppg) was named MVP of the World Vision Challenge at Wyoming and Dane Suttle Jr. (15.3 ppg) also made the all-tournament team ... Mychel Thompson was named WCC co-Player of the Week on Jan. 11 after scoring a game-high 22 points and making six of seven three-pointers in a win vs. LMU.

RETURNERS - Four of the five starters from last year's team return (Keion Bell, Taylor Darby, Corbin Moore and Mychel Thompson). Pepperdine's returning players account for 82.5% percent of last year's scoring (1629/1974), 88.3% of the rebounds (919/1041), 65.4% of the assists (223/341), 95.0% of the blocked shots (96/101) and 77.2% of the steals (166/215).

WCC PRESEASON POLL - According to the WCC's coaches, the Waves are predicted to finish seventh in the conference. Their poll went in the following order: Gonzaga, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and Santa Clara (tied), San Diego, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Several national publications and websites have differing opinions on the Waves, including fourth (The Sporting News), fifth (The Sports Network), sixth (Athlon and Lindy's) and seventh (Rivals.com, CBSSports.com and CollegeHoops.net).

TELEVISION - The Waves are slated to appear on television several times once again in 2009-10. Six games will be shown locally - Nov. 23 at UCLA on Fox Sports West, Jan. 14 vs. Santa Clara on ESPNU, Jan. 21 at Gonzaga on Prime Ticket (delayed), Jan. 30 vs. San Diego on Prime Ticket, Feb. 18 vs. Portland on Prime Ticket and Feb. 20 vs. Gonzaga on Fox Sports West.

YOUTUBE SENSATION - Keion Bell, a preseason All-WCC first team selection, got Pepperdine a ton of publicity in mid-October. At Blue & Orange Madness, Pepperdine's event to kick off the start of practice, the sophomore guard finished up the dunk contest by leaping over five teammates and slamming it home. A Pepperdine fan happened to record the dunk on his iPhone and uploaded it onto YouTube. It quickly spread around the internet and at last check had nearly 1.1 million hits. ESPN's SportsCenter picked up the video and made the dunk the #2 Play of the Day.

TOM ASBURY - Now in his second stint in charge of the Waves is coaching great Tom Asbury. He returned to Malibu prior to the 2008-09 campaign to become the Waves' head coach again after 14 seasons away. Asbury was previously at Pepperdine for nine years as an assistant coach (1980-88) and then the next six as the head coach (1989-94). He went on to serve as head coach at Kansas State from 1995-2000 and was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2004-07. Asbury went 125-59 (.679) in his first head coaching job at Pepperdine and took the Waves to the postseason five times in six years with three NCAA Tournament appearances (1991, '92, '94) and two in the NIT (1989, '93). Pepperdine won three regular-season WCC titles and the school's only three WCC Tournament championships came under Asbury. Prior to the start of the 2009-10 season, his seven-year record at Pepperdine was 134-82 (.620) and his 13-year record as a head coach was 219-170 (.563).

ASSISTANTS - Upon his return, Tom Asbury wanted to find assistants with a passion for Pepperdine and an understanding of its mission, so he turned to three former student-athletes. It's believed that Duke and Pepperdine have the only two college basketball staffs where the assistant coaches are all alums. Associate head coach Marty Wilson (1985-89) and assistant coaches Damin Lopez (1990-94) and Will Kimble (2001-03) played in three different eras, all successful. In the 13 seasons that made up their playing careers, Pepperdine went a combined 261-135 (.659), had 12 winning seasons, won six WCC regular-season titles and three WCC tournament titles, and made six NCAA Tournaments and four NITs.

HECTOR HAROLD - There are no seniors on the roster but Pepperdine had one scholarship to offer for 2010-11. During the early signing period, they inked Hector Harold, a 6-foot-6 small forward from the Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) School. He was given a rating of 88 out of 100 by ESPN.com's recruiting site and is considered one of the top seniors in New England. He is originally from Pasadena, Calif.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - Tom Asbury believes in preparing his team for league play with a difficult non-conference slate of games, and so that's what the Waves did for the first 16 games of the season. The Waves played six games against non-conference teams that took part in the postseason last year: Portland State, UCLA and Utah made the NCAA Tournament, Miami (Fla.) was in the NIT, Wyoming was in the College Basketball Invitational and Pacific was in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Nine of the 16 non-conference games were at home.

LAST SEASON - Tom Asbury's return to Pepperdine brought much-needed stability to the program in his first season back. With only five players returning, Asbury and his new staff brought in 10 newcomers well after the regular letter-of-intent signing period. The young Waves posted a 9-23 overall record but got much better as the year went on, placing sixth in the WCC with a 5-9 record and winning a first-round game at the WCC Tournament. Keion Bell was named to the WCC All-Freshman team after averaging a team-best 12.9 ppg.

PEPPERDINE HISTORY - This is the 72nd season of Pepperdine basketball, and the Waves opened 2009-10 with an all-time record of 1,111-910 (.550). Pepperdine has been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times (last in 2002), and has won 12 West Coast Conference regular-season titles (last in 2002) and three WCC Tournament crowns (last in 1994).

BEST IN THE WEST - Pepperdine has long been one of the top Division I programs on the West Coast. Over the 31-season period from the 1978-79 season through the 2008-09 campaign, of the 32 schools that currently play Division I basketball in California, Oregon or Washington, the Waves began the 2009-10 season ranking third overall in postseason appearances (16) and fifth in both wins (525) and winning percentage (.565) over the past 31 years.

WAVES IN THE PROS - This is the 34th consecutive season where at least one Pepperdine alum has been on an NBA roster. Currently in the NBA is Yakhouba Diawara, now in his fourth season overall and his second with the Miami Heat. A total of 16 former Pepperdine players have gone on to play in the NBA, most notably Dennis Johnson (the 1979 NBA Finals MVP) and Doug Christie (a 15-year NBA veteran who was a mainstay on the All-Defensive Team). Some recent standouts have been playing in foreign countries, including Alex Acker (Italy), Tezale Archie (Netherlands), Brandon Armstrong (Venezuela), Gerald Brown (Poland), Jelani Gardner (Greece), Kelvin Gibbs (Germany), Chase Griffin (Germany), Dana Jones (Switzerland) and Glen McGowan (Dominican Republic). Robert "Hollywood" Turner, formerly a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, is now playing in Finland.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.