PORTLAND, Ore. – Alec Wintering scored 23 points and dished out eight assists, while Jazz Johnson added 18 points as the Portland Pilots led from start-to-finish in a 73-60 West Coast Conference win over the Pepperdine Waves Saturday night at the Chiles Center. The Pilots improve to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in WCC play, while the Waves drop to 4-10 overall and 0-2 in league action.

Wintering recorded his third straight game with 20-plus points and eighth overall this season. He added six rebounds, was 8-for-8 from the foul line and played all 40 minutes.

Johnson drilled 4-of-8 three-pointers and scored 13 second-half points to help hold off the Waves. Johnson and Wintering, the nation's No. 3 backcourt scoring duo, have each reached double figures in every game this season.

Junior forward Gabe Taylor added 14 points and five rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting, while Portland centers Philipp Hartwich and Ray Barreno combined for 15 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Portland led by as much as 11 points in the first half, but Pepperdine had a tip-in to cut the margin to 31-23 at the half.

The Waves used a 12-3 run early in the second half to cut the deficit to 37-35, but Johnson buried consecutive three-pointers. Pepperdine whittled the margin back down to 51-48 on a Nate Gehring putback. Wintering then sparked a 10-2 run with a three-point play and Johnson capped the run with another three-pointer.

Portland's lead would grow to as much as 15 in the closing minutes as the Pilots pulled away.

Lamond Murray, Jr. led Pepperdine with 14 points, while Chris Reyes added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Portland shot 50 percent from the field and made 10-of-22 three-pointers, while the Waves finished at just 31 percent overall and 6-for-22 from three-point range. The Pilots also outrebounded Pepperdine by a 36-34 margin.

Portland will next hit the road to take on the Santa Clara Broncos on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. before returning to the Chiles Center to host No. 6 Gonzaga on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. The Gonzaga game is sold out, but tickets for all other upcoming Pilot home games are available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.