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GAME NOTES: The University of Portland Pilots beat the Pepperdine Waves by 16 points last month, and the teams will meet again this evening in a West Coast Conference clash from Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Portland has been playing very well lately, winning two straight and six of the last seven outings to improve to 16-8 overall and 7-3 in WCC action. Last Saturday, the Pilots defeated a strong Saint Mary's squad in overtime, 80-75. Tonight, however, Portland brings a lackluster 4-5 record in true road games to Malibu.

The Waves are locked in their second seven-game losing streak of the season, and they will attempt to avoid their 20th loss this evening. They are just 3-7 in WCC play and are coming off a 62-54 loss to Santa Clara. Pepperdine has lost nine of its 14 home games, and there is little reason for optimism.

Pepperdine owns a 52-29 series advantage over Portland, but the Pilots won all three meetings last season by double figures.

Portland's leading scorer, Nik Raivio, has been out of action for a few weeks now with an Achilles injury, and the fact that the team has been able to find great success without him has been surprising. T.J. Campbell and Robin Smeulders have started all 24 games this season, and they are netting 13.5 ppg and 13.0 ppg, respectively. Campbell, a point guard, has 131 assists to his credit, more than double his turnover total. As for Jared Stohl, a 47.1 percent shooter from three-point range, he adds 11.3 ppg. The Pilots are generating 72.7 ppg while surrendering 67.0 ppg to opponents. Campbell posted 24 points and seven assists against Saint Mary's on Saturday, and Stohl added 16 points. Portland turned the ball over only five times in the win.

Keion Bell is scoring 19.4 ppg for Pepperdine, and he has dished out 94 assists to go along with 39 steals. Mychel Thompson is the only other double- digit scorer in the fold for the Waves, who are netting 12.3 ppg despite his 37.2 percent shooting from the floor. Pepperdine is generating 67.2 ppg while allowing 74.3 ppg to opponents. The Waves are shooing just 39.7 percent from the floor as a team and have committed 360 turnovers. In the eight-point loss to Santa Clara last time out, Bell poured in 25 points. Thompson added 12 points for the Waves, who connected on only 30.6 percent of their field goal attempts and shot 6-of-22 from three-point range. A 39-28 rebounding deficit also hurt the cause.

It is hard to pick Pepperdine to win, even though the team is playing at home tonight. Expect the Pilots to hand the Waves their eighth straight defeat.