MALIBU, Calif. – Junior forward Tahirou Diabate scored a career-high 25 points, but the Pepperdine Waves jumped out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back in an 80-69 victory Saturday night in West Coast Conference men's hoops action at Firestone Fieldhouse.

It was the fifth straight loss for the Pilots (9-13, 1-6 WCC), while the Waves (11-10, 4-3) moved into a tie for third place in the WCC standings with the win.

Diabate, who missed Thursday's game at LMU, returned to the lineup and produced his best game of the season. He was 9-for-12 from the field and 6-of-7 at the foul line and grabbed seven rebounds.

Jacob Tryon had another nice all-around game for Portland with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while JoJo Walker added 11 points.

Skylar Chavez dropped a game-high 24 points for the Waves and Kameron Edwards added 16 points and eight rebounds. Colbey Ross finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Tryon hit a pair of threes and scored eight straight points early to give the Pilots a 14-9 lead, but the Waves answered with a 9-0 run to retake the lead for good. Pepperdine closed the first period with back-to-back threes by Chavez along with two free throws make it 41-24 at the half.

The lead grew to 21 points early in the second half, but Takiula Fahrensohn buried a pair of three-pointers and Diabate hit a jumper to make it a 60-50 deficit with 11:26 left. The Waves immediate quelled the threat with a pair of three-pointers and the Pilots never got it back to single digits.

Portland shot 46 percent from the field compared to just 41 percent for Pepperdine, but the Waves dominated the glass and forced 15 Pilot turnovers to sway the momentum. Pepperdine had a 46-34 edge on the boards and 10-5 advantage in second chance points. The Waves also had a 17-8 margin in points off of turnovers.

Portland will now prepare for a tough road game at Saint Mary's on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Pilots will then return to the Chiles Center on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a doubleheader. The Portland women will host San Diego at 2 p.m. followed by the men vs. Santa Clara at 5 p.m. As part of Homecoming, there will be a BrewFest in the Chiles Center beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or by calling 503-943-4687.