PEPPERDINE VS. PORTLAND
Date: Saturday, January 16, 2021
Site: Firestone Fieldhouse (Malibu, Calif.)
Time: 4 p.m.
TV: none
Video: WaveCasts on the WCC Network
Series: Pepperdine leads 64-38
Last Meeting: Waves 66, Pilots 59 (2/20/2020 in Portland)

PEPPERDINE WAVES
2020-21 Record: 4-6
    WCC Record: 0-1
    Home Record: 3-3
Head Coach: Lorenzo Romar
Website: www.PepperdineWaves.com
Twitter: @PeppBasketball

PORTLAND PILOTS
2020-21 Record: 6-6
    WCC Record: 0-3
    Away Record: 1-3
Head Coach: Terry Porter
Website: www.PortlandPilots.com
Twitter: @PilotHoops

WAVEPOINTS
• The Pepperdine men's basketball returns home to host Portland in West Coast Conference play on Saturday.
• The Waves swept each of the last two regular-season series from the Pilots and have won five in a row. They've beaten Portland in Firestone Fieldhouse in nine of the last 10 matchups.
• Pepperdine played for the first time in three weeks on Thursday when the Waves visited top-ranked Gonzaga. Thursday was the first time all season that the entire roster was available.
• Colbey Ross was on the preseason Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy watch lists for National Player of the Year, as well as the Bob Cousy Award watch list for the nation's top point guard.
• Ross is Pepperdine's all-time leader in both points and assists, among many other school records. Among active Division I players, Ross ranks first in career free throws made (567), first in assists (719), third in points (1,943) and fifth in scoring average (18.0). He's #5 on the WCC's all-time assist list and will next pass San Diego's Christopher Anderson (757).
• Ross is first in the WCC in assists (7.2) and minutes played (37.6) and is tied for third in scoring (18.0). He's eighth nationally in assists per game.
• Kessler Edwards is up to seventh all-time in blocked shots at Pepperdine. He ranks sixth in the WCC in scoring (16.9) and fifth in blocks (1.3).
• Two scoring milestones are upcoming. Ross (1,943 points) will soon become the first player in program history to get to 2,000, while Edwards (951 points) will become the 44th player to get to 1,000.
• Pepperdine is #5 in the country in free throw percentage (80.7%).
• The Waves were picked to finish fourth in the WCC preseason coaches' poll.
• Ross and Edwards were named to the preseason All-WCC team (Pepperdine and Gonzaga were the only schools to put multiple players on the 10-man list).
• Lorenzo Romar is in his third season this time around at Pepperdine, his sixth season in all with the Waves over two stints, and his 24th season as a head coach.

WAVECASTS — The Portland game can be watched online via WaveCasts on the WCC Network. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who is now in his 36th season, will be behind the microphone. This will be his 1,080th consecutive men's basketball broadcast for the Waves.

ATTENDANCE — Per the current COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and Los Angeles County, fans will not be permitted to attend home games in Firestone Fieldhouse.

PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 18 schools to have accomplished this feat — and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.