With leading scorer Jimmy Miggins in foul trouble all night, the Waves got strong bench play from Robert Turner and Mike Westphal to help them start WCC play at 1-0.

Turner contributed a career-high tying 17 points and career-high setting nine rebounds, and Westphal added 13 points on a perfect shooting night. Westphal made all four of his field goals, three of them from three-point range, and both his free throws.

Alex Acker led the team with 18 points. Struggling from the field at just 3-10 shooting, Acker found a way to stay productive, making 11 of 12 free throws. Boomer Brazzle added 15 points and Terrance Johnson chipped in ten.

Miggins played just 20 minutes, scoring four points with three assists as he battled foul trouble from the opening moments of the game.

Dustin Geddis came off the Portland bench for game-high totals of 22 points and 18 rebounds. But the other Pilots seemed content to watch Geddis work. Geddis made nine of 18 shots, but the rest of the team shot just 15-48. Casey Frandsen scored 14.

Rebounds were a major factor, though only four Waves contributed much to the cause. Turner and Brazzle collected nine each, and Johnson and Acker grabbed eight apiece. The five remaining Waves managed just four total rebounds, but undersized Pepperdine did win the rebounding battle by a pair, always a concern with Will Kimble and Glen McGowan out for the year.

The Waves (9-5, 1-0) don't have to wait long for their stiffest challenge of the conference season. They visit WCC favorite Gonzaga at 1pm PST for early-season bragging rights in the conference. The conference race is expected to come down to these two for the fourth straight year, though several other WCC teams have shown vast improvement over recent years, including the Pilots.

Facing a short bench all year due to a rash of injuries, the Waves have become a remarkably balanced team, on which any player can step up and carry the team on a given night.

In Portland, it was a career night by Turner.

Acker scored 29 points against Arkansas-Little rock.

Brazzle collected 20 and 10 boards at New Mexico.

Johnson leads the conference in three-point shooting.

Westphal has scored in double figures in each of his past four games.

Even walkon Dustin Johnson turned a lackluster effort at Long Beach State into a comeback win.

And team MVP has to be Miggins, who has emerged as the team's emotional leader after being thrust into the role of primary ballhandler in the absence of Devin Montgomery.

They will need all of these players, and more, to step up with big games in Spokane if they are to knock off Gonzaga.

Sunday's showdown is broadcast live on Fox Sports Net 2 in Southern California.