MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine Waves used a 9-0 run early in the second half to break a tie and then defeated the Portland Pilots 78-60 Thursday night in West Coast Conference basketball action at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Portland sophomore guard Jazz Johnson scored a team-high 18 points, while D'Marques Tyson finished with 13 points and Gabe Taylor added 11.

The Waves (6-15, 2-7 WCC) snapped a five-game losing streak with the victory. Lamond Murray, Jr. finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Pepperdine, while Jeremy Major added 20 points. Chris Reyes also logged a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The Pilots (9-12, 2-7) have now dropped seven straight and played their third straight game without senior point guard Alec Wintering who has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

Trailing 38-32 at the half, Portland opened the second half with a momentum after a Philipp Hartwich dunk and nine straight points from Taylor to tie the game at 43-43. Taylor then picked up his fourth foul and Pepperdine responded with a 9-0 run and didn't look back.

The margin would grow to 14 as Jeremy Major beat the shot clock with a three-pointer for a 61-47 lead. Andre Ferguson's three-pointer pulled the Pilots within 10 with 5:21 remaining, but that would be as close as Portland would get.

Pepperdine out-rebounded the Pilots by a 38-25 margin with led to a 19-4 margin in second chance points. The Waves shot 49 percent from the field and held Portland to 40 percent overall.

The Waves caught fire early behind 16 first-points from Murray. Pepperdine made 14-of-20 shots to open the game before cooling off late in the period. Portland cut a 10-point deficit midway through the period to a 38-32 margin at the half behind 12 points from Johnson and 11 from Tyson.

Portland will return to the Chiles Center to host the San Diego Toreros on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets for all remaining home games are available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.