LAS VEGAS — Pepperdine men's basketball (9-22, 4-14 WCC) begins its postseason run Thursday at 6 p.m., taking on ninth-seeded Portland (13-18, 6-12 WCC) in the opening round of the WCC Tournament from Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The winner will advance to Friday's second round, also at 6 p.m., with Washington State awaiting the winner. 

Roxy Bernstein and Dan Dickau will have the call on ESPN+ with Mariluz Cook on the sidelines.

The Waves look to make their mark in the conference tournament for the second straight season, having won three games in three days in 2025 to reach the WCC Semifinals, including a second round victory over Portland.

Tickets for the tournament are available for purchase here.
 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Waves earned an 88-79 win at home on senior night to close out the regular season against Washington State.
• Stefan Cicic logged a career-high in points (23) and rebounds (10) for his first career double-double.
• Styles Phipps scored in double figures for the fifth straight game with 16 points, while registering a game-high nine assists and five steals.
• Aaron Clark posted his tenth 20-point effort of the season, knocking down 8-of-9 looks from the charity stripe. Clark added seven rebounds and four assists.
• Pepperdine's 17 offensive rebounds marked a season-high in conference play while their 11 steals matched a season-high.

GAME NOTES

• Nine players have finished as the leading scorer in a game for Pepperdine this season,tied for the most in the country.
• The Waves are one of two teams in the West Coast Conference to have four players averaging 11 points per game or more (Aaron Clark, Javon Cooley, Styles Phipps, Danilo Dozic).
• On Feb. 18 at Portland, the Waves knocked down 16 three-pointers which marked the most threes in a game for Pepperdine since Jan. 8, 2008 vs. Hope International. The most recent time against a Division I opponent was Nov. 14, 2006 against Nicholls State.
• Pepperdine currently ranks 61st in the country in free throw percentage at .756.
• This mark ranks third in the WCC, as the Waves have shot over 87% from the line in the past two games, and made 20+ free throws in eight contests this season.
• Aaron Clark earned All-WCC Honorable Mention recognition and ranks seventh in the WCC at 15.5 points per game this season.
• Clark has scored 17+ points in nine of his past ten efforts, and has averaged 22.5 points per game over that span.
• Clark logged a career-high 33 points at LMU (Feb.14) while knocking down five of seven looks from three-point distance. He followed it up going 7-for-8 from three at Portland for 29 points, before logging 32 points at Oregon State.
• Clark is the only player in the WCC with four efforts of 30+ points this season while being one of six with ten or more 20+ point games.
• Clark is one of three players in the WCC to be averaging at least 15 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game (Graham Ike/Joel Foxwell).
• Styles Phipps is one of three players in the country averaging over 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and five assists per game (Quion Williams. Arkansas-PB/Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State).
• Phipps is currently fourth in the WCC in assists per game at 5.2.
• Phipps has led the conference in free throws made during conference play with 91(.820), having made 19 more than the next-highest mark.
• Phipps is the only player in the WCC to have both a points/rebounds double-double and a points/assists double-double this season.
• Phipps logged a career-high 12 assists last week at Portland, while collecting a season-high five steals. It marked the lone game from an NCAA player this season with at least 19 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and five steals
• Phipps has paced the Waves with 46 steals this season, ranking sixth in the conference.
• Phipps has recorded two of the four efforts in the NCAA this season with over 16 points, six rebounds, nine assists and five steals (Feb. 14 at Portland / Feb. 28 vs. Washington State).
• Javon Cooley comes in as the Waves third-leading scorer at 11.3 points per game while being second on the squad with 4.5 rebounds per game.
• Cooley knocked down a career-high five three-pointers at Portland last month on ten attempts, while matching a career-high four assists and career-high three steals.
• Cooley has scored in double figures in 19 games this season, including four of the past five.
• Cooley also ranks eighth in the conference with an .832 clip from the line, and had a streak of 44 consecutive made free throws this season from Nov. 7-Dec. 18.
• Stefan Cicic has logged 20+ minutes in six straight efforts, after never recording a 20-minute game prior, averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game over that span.
• Cicic set a career-high in points (23) and rebounds (10) last time out against Washington State, adding four blocks to his first career double-double.
• Cicic made his first career start at Portland (Feb.18), posting 17 points and seven boards.
• Cicic posted 13 points with six rebounds against LMU, having the game-winning putback dunk with 5.4 seconds remaining against the Lions.
• David Mager had a career-high 25 points last week against Seattle on 5-for-9 shooting from three, following up a 16-point effort at Oregon State where he hit on three of four three-point looks.

SERIES HISTORY

• Pepperdine holds a 71-44 advantage in the all-time series with Portland.
• The Waves earned an 86-73 win in the WCC Second Round last March, and defeated the Pilots in both regular season matchups this season.
• The Waves are 6-2 all-time in the WCC Tournament against Portland.
• The two teams have evenly split the past ten meetings, 5-5.

SCOUTING THE PILOTS

• Portland has registered a 13-18 record this season while being 6-12 in WCC play, securing the No. 9 seed in the WCC Tournament.
• The Pilots snapped a four-game losing streak to close the regular season, defeating San Diego by an 87-74 margin at home.
• Freshman guard Joel Foxwell earned All-WCC First Team honors, ranking sixth in the league in scoring (15.7 PPG) and first in assists 6.5 per game).
• The Pilots rank sixth in the conference with a .465 team field goal percentage, and have made the fewest three-pointers in the circuit with 190 this season.

The winner will advance to the second round Friday, matching up with eighth-seeded Washington State at 6 p.m.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.

FOLLOW
To stay up-to-date on the latest Pepperdine men's basketball news, follow the Waves on social media @PepperdineMBB.