MALIBU, California – Skylar Chavez scored a season-high 24 points to help the Pepperdine men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over visiting Portland in West Coast Conference action on Saturday evening.
 
The Waves (11-10, 4-3) won for the fourth time in the last five games as they built a 41-24 halftime lead and went up by as many 21 points in the second half before the Pilots (9-13, 1-6) closed the gap a bit at the end.
 
All seven Waves that saw action had at least six points and four rebounds. The win boosts Pepperdine up to a tie for third place in the WCC.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC) had his second 20-point game of the season while recording his sixth straight game in double-figures. He tied his season high with five three-pointers made, and also had five rebounds and two assists.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had 12 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had seven points, seven rebounds and five assists before fouling out.
• Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) had eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Sophomore guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) had seven points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals while also posting a game-best +17 plus/minus.
• Sophomore center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS) had six points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

 KEY STATS

• The Waves were actually outshot 45.8% to 41.4%.
• But, the Waves made more three-pointers (13 to seven).
• Pepperdine also had an 18-8 edge in points off turnovers after forcing 15 and committing 10.
• The Waves grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and had a 46-34 rebounding edge.
• Portland was led by Tahirou Diabate's 25 points.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
After a slow start, Portland had a 14-9 lead just seven minutes in. But an Ohia Obioha follow dunk started a 9-0 run at that point. With the game tied at 20, Kessler Edwards sank two three-pointers during a 13-0 run that put Pepperdine ahead 33-20. Chavez scored the final eight points of the second half to put the Waves into the break with a 41-24 lead.
 
A Kameron Edwards three-pointer to start the second gave Pepperdine its first 20-point lead. Pepperdine's biggest lead was 21 points at 58-37 with 13:57 to go after a Kessler Edwards free throw. But, Portland immediately went on a 15-2 run over the next four-plus minutes, cutting the deficit to eight at 60-52 with 10 minutes to go.
 
The Waves got some breathing room again with a Kameron Edwards lay-up, a Polk Jr. three-pointer and an Ohia Obioha dunk, making it 67-52 with 8 1/2 minutes left. Pepperdine was up by 17 in the final minutes before Portland ended the game on a 7-1 run.
 
NOTABLES 

• Pepperdine has now won nine of the last 10 against Portland in Firestone Fieldhouse.
• Pepperdine used only seven players once again. It's the eighth time this season they've missed at least four players due to injury or illness, including each of the last six games. It's also the 18th time in 21 games they've been without multiple players.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine next visits BYU on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 6:30 p.m. MT / 5:30 p.m PT. It will be televised by CBS Sports Network and fans can also listen online via WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call.