Johnson and San Diego host Pepperdine

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

Pepperdine Waves (5-12, 0-4 WCC) at San Diego Toreros (6-10, 1-3 WCC)

San Diego; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: San Diego hosts Pepperdine after Ty-Laur Johnson scored 21 points in San Diego’s 98-70 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos.

The Toreros have gone 5-4 in home games. San Diego is fourth in the WCC with 15.3 assists per game led by Johnson averaging 3.6.

The Waves are 0-4 in WCC play. Pepperdine has a 3-10 record against opponents over .500.

San Diego’s average of 9.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.7 more made shots on average than the 8.4 per game Pepperdine allows. Pepperdine averages 70.6 points per game, 7.5 fewer points than the 78.1 San Diego gives up.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Toneari Lane is shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Toreros, while averaging 10.2 points. Johnson is averaging 13.5 points and 2.2 steals over the last 10 games.

Danilo Dozic averages 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 35.1% from beyond the arc. Javon Cooley is shooting 50.6% and averaging 13.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Toreros: 3-7, averaging 73.1 points, 25.7 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 8.7 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.6 points per game.

Waves: 2-8, averaging 65.3 points, 27.4 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 5.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.8 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press