GAME #18 – Pepperdine (7-10) at San Diego (8-10) | Thursday, Jan. 12 | Jenny Craig Pavilion | San Diego, Calif. | Bally Sports | 7 p.m.

GAME #19 – Pepperdine (7-10) at BYU (13-6) | Saturday, Jan. 14 | Marriott Center | BYUtv | 6 p.m.
 

SAN DIEGO TOREROS	BYU COUGARS
2022-23 Record: 8-10     WCC Record: 1-3     Home Record: 6-5 Head Coach: Steve Lavin Website: usdtoreros.com Twitter: @usdmbb	2022-23 Record: 13-6     WCC Record: 3-1     Home Record: 8-1 Head Coach: Mark Pope Website: byucougars.com Twitter: @BYUMBB

 
WATCH — The game at San Diego will be broadcast on Bally Sports SoCal & San Diego for those in the region and on WCCSports.com for those outside of California. BYUtv will broadcast the second contest in Provo on BYUtv.com. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein will have the call for both games on WaveCasts. 
 
SURF REPORT
• The Pepperdine men's basketball team heads to San Diego and Provo to take on two more West Coast Conference foes this weekend.
• Sophomores Houston Mallette, Maxwell Lewis, and Mike Mitchell Jr. make up over half (53.7%) of the Waves scoring output.
• Lewis leads the Waves, contributing 20.1 points per contest as well as shooting 51.7% from field goal range and is currently on a seven-game streak scoring 20 or more points. The forward is also Pepperdine's second-leading rebounder, pulling down 6.2 boards per contest.
• Mitchell Jr. leads the Waves in three-point percentage, shooting 45.9% from beyond the arc while also averaging 10.6 points per game. The sophomore has totaled 83 total assists on the season, averaging 4.8 per game.
• Freshman Jevon Porter is the squad's leading rebounder, gathering 7.2 boards per contest while also averaging double figures in the scoring column at 11.1 points per game.                                                                                                                                            
• Among fellow WCC schools, Carson Basham leads the league in blocked shots per game with 1.3 rejections per game. Lewis is second on the scoring list, just behind Gonzaga's Drew Timme, and Mitchell Jr. ranks fourth in three point percentage at 45.9%. As a team, the Waves are second in the WCC in three-point percentage (38.4%), first in blocks per game (4.6) and third in rebounds per game (37.9).
• Lorenzo Romar is in his 26th season as a college head coach. It's his fifth season this time around at Pepperdine, and his eighth overall with the Waves. Romar will be inducted into the SoCal Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022.

SCOUTING THE TOREROS
The past three contests have been chaotic for USD, as the Toreros opened up WCC play at Saint Mary's where they saw an 85-58 defeat. San Diego then traveled to San Francisco and shocked the Dons, winning by 18 (80-68) at War Memorial. USD then fell to Pacific in a tight game where the Tigers went up in the final minute of play, handing the Toreros an 84-82 heartbreak loss. On a roster with 10 transfers, San Diego has three players who average just over 14 points in Jase Townsend (prev. Denver), Eric Williams Jr. (prev. Oregon) and Marcellus Earlington (prev. St. John's). 

SCOUTING THE COUGARS
After a tumultuous non-conference schedule capitalized by a Cougs upset of Creighton, BYU enters conference play at 3-1, with its only loss a 64-59 faltering at LMU last Thursday. The Toreros righted their ship, however, and defeated USD in a 20-point (68-48) drubbing that Saturday. Fousseyni Traore and Rudi Williams lead the way for BYU with 12.8 and 12.3 points per game while Traore also leads the Cougs on the boards, pulling down 7.9 rebounds per contest. BYU currently leads the WCC in rebounds, averaging 40.1 through each game this season and sits just behind Pepperdine in blocks per contest at 4.4.