Portland Pilots will face the Pepperdine Waves in the opening round of the 2026 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship. The game is scheduled for Thursday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will be broadcast on ESPN+. The winner of this matchup will advance to play No. 8 Washington State on Friday.
Portland enters the tournament as the No. 9 seed with a season record of 13-18 overall and 6-12 in conference play. Pepperdine holds the No. 12 seed with a record of 9-22 and 4-14 in WCC games. The two teams met twice during the regular season, with Pepperdine winning both contests.
The Pilots have a historical record of 15-37 at the WCC Championships and are 8-17 in Las Vegas tournaments. Their most notable achievement was winning the tournament in 1996, which earned them an NCAA Tournament berth. Last year, Portland was eliminated by Pepperdine in the second round.
Freshman point guard Joel Foxwell has received recognition for his performance this season, being named to both the All-WCC First Team and WCC All-Freshman Team. “He joins Greg Anthony (1987) as the only Pilot freshmen to earn first team recognition. Foxwell is the first Portland first team selection since Alec Wintering following the 2015-16 season and just the second honoree in the last 15 years.” Foxwell broke several school records this year, including single-season assists and freshman scoring marks.
Senior center Jermaine Ballisager Webb has contributed significantly in recent games, averaging over eight points per game and reaching double figures five times in his last seven appearances.
Injuries have impacted Portland’s roster throughout the season, leaving several players sidelined due to various ailments. Head coach Shantay Legans also suffered a torn Achilles tendon while filling in during practice for a short-handed squad.
Portland achieved a significant win earlier this year by defeating No. 6 Gonzaga, marking their highest-ranked victory ever according to AP Poll records and ending long losing streaks against ranked opponents and Gonzaga specifically.
Foxwell has earned seven WCC Freshman of the Week awards and was named both WCC Player of the Week and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week after leading wins over Gonzaga and Seattle U. Teammate Timo George had been a top scorer before his season-ending injury, while Dante Censori-Hercules has made key contributions as well.
The current Pilots roster features players from seven countries, with nine international student-athletes present this season—four from Australia alone—continuing a trend under Coach Legans’ tenure.
Legans’ teams have historically performed well late in seasons; since February 1 across his nine-year head coaching career, he holds a .634 win percentage.
Several players have represented their national teams internationally: Ballisager Webb played for Denmark’s senior team at FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers; George helped Netherlands’ U20 team to fourth place at EuroBasket; Matúš Hronský played for Slovakia’s national squads; Censori-Hercules trained with Canada’s U19 team.
This offseason saw changes to Portland’s coaching staff with Mark Berokoff and Anthony Separovich joining as assistants, while Decclan Mclean was promoted internally.
Pepperdine comes into Thursday’s game having won three out of their last five games, including victories over Portland during regular season play. Four Waves average double-digit scoring led by Aaron Clark at 15.5 points per game. Ed Schilling is serving his second year as head coach for Pepperdine.
Historically, Pepperdine leads its series against Portland with a record of 71-44.
