MALIBU, Calif. – Portland built an 18-point halftime lead behind hot shooting and then cruised to an 84-64 road win against the Pepperdine Waves Saturday in West Coast Conference men's basketball action at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Max Mackinnon scored a game-high 24 points for the Pilots (8-16, 3-8 WCC) on an efficient 8-for-11 shooting. He added six rebounds and seven assists. Chris Austin also came up big for the Pilots with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Austin Rapp added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Portland shot 56 percent overall and held the Waves (9-14, 3-7) to 39 percent for the game. The Pilots drilled 13-of-28 three-pointers and gained a 37-33 edge on the boards.

The Pilots came out firing and used a 16-0 run to go up 16-2 after three consecutive three-pointers, two by Mackinnon and one from Rapp. That was a constant in the opening stanza as the Pilots shot 63 percent from the field and knocked down 11-of-18 triples in the half. Portland dominated the boards with a 14-7 edge in the period. Mackinnon led the way with 17 first half points on 6-of-7 shooting, while Austin added 10 points.

The Waves cut the deficit to 11 on a Jaxon Olvera three-pointer early in the second half, but Rapp answered with a three on the other end and that would be as close as Pepperdine would get down the stretch.

Dovydas Butka led the Waves with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Pilots will look to continue the momentum next week at home against the Santa Clara Broncos on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. It is the lone game of the week for Portland.
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